Mrs. M. Foster, R.R.1, Barrhead, Alta. T0G 0E0

Greg Foster, 15120 – 86th Street, Edmonton. T5E 5X6

Dear Greg: Here it is winter again; snow on the walk that you used to shovel. Dale swept it for me; I hadn’t been out that day.

Do you play Scrabble still? Your Auntie Bernice comes quite often to play with me, and I play Solitaire when I am alone. I have the most extraordinary luck. Last night my first word was Home. Then I got a n d y m a n, and put that under H to get handyman — all my letters. Then I got a n a c l e s, put that under M to get manacles — all my letters again. I never did anything like that playing with you. Remember? I am thinking of teaching Goldie to play. I think she would look cute sitting up to the table, deciding what to play. All would be well so long as she was winning, but if I happened to get into a corner she had planned on, she might swipe the whole thing off on to the floor in a fury. She remembers you. She and I had a little conversation — Goldie (snuggling into my lap) There used to be a boy. Where is that boy? Me: (not wanting to get into an argument) Your face is dirty.

Goldie: Don’t change the subject. Where is that boy? Me: He went to Edmonton. Goldie: Whats Edmonton? Me: It’s a place. Goldie: Like the farm? Me: No, not like the farm. A city. Goldie: What did he go there for? Me: To go to school. Goldie: What did he want to go to school for? Me: To learn things. Goldie: I never went to school, and I know everything. Me: Well, people are different. Goldie: Why are they different? Me: I don’t know. Let’s talk about something else. Goldie: You see? You can’t answer a simple question. (This goes on for some time.)

I don’t know how much homework you have, and I certainly don’t want you to neglect anything, but if you do have time to read there is a book you could get at the library. It is Gipsy Moth Circles the World, by Sir Francis Chichester. Of course he

wasn’t Sir Francis then; he was knighted by the Queen after the voyage. It is not only a great adventure story, but would be especially interesting for someone with a scientific mind such as yours. All of the principles of balance and wind power come into it, as well as the equipment necessary for one man alone to manage everything: navigation, steering, putting up and taking down sails, taking photographs, writing all his experiences in the log, cooking (he made his own bread) even sleeping for short times while Gipsy Moth sailed herself.

He sailed from Plymouth, England to Sydney, Australia non-stop, over 14 thousand miles. He did this in 9 days, a record. He made the fastest voyage around the world by any small vessel. Twice he broke the record for a singlehander’s week’s run by more than 100 miles. He made the third true circumnavigation of the world rounding the Horn by a small vessel, where the track passed over 2 points antipodean to each other.

He saw plenty of sea-birds. He fed them scraps which they enjoyed. One of the albatrosses had a wing spread of 8 feet. He wanted to take pictures of some big waves, but he found out that the surest way of calming a rough sea is to try to photograph it. He would wait for an hour, then give up, and as soon as he got back into the cabin and his oilskins off, Wham! Wham! Wham! But he did take some fine pictures, and they are in the book, including those of the Queen.

There are also lists of stores and equipment, going and coming, and a lot of line drawings and maps, very interesting even to me.

It all depends on your school work: don’t, whatever you do, neglect that. But if you do have time, read it.

I am going to get this out to the mail box now (Monday morning) and trust I don’t freeze an ear or a finger before I get back.

I hear you are doing well in school. This is no surprise to me. So —

With Love, Grandma