April 5, 1936,
Palm Sunday.
Dear Mother:
Here I am again, like Finnegan, “Off again, on again, Gone again, Writing again,” and that without anything more to say than had the Irishman Finnegan. But force of habit is strong; and as long as I have the postage I will probably be writing to you about this time every Sunday. But I don’t know how it will be about the postage. I still have one stamp left after sending off this letter to you, but I may have to use it before another week rolls around; and then I will be in the middle of a bad fix, as I put my last coin in my collection envelope to-day. I should have put 25₵ in, but I had only a nickel left; so I put it in as “the married man’s mite,” or all that I had in the world. It’s a very trying situation for us professors to do our work promptly and then have to wait month after month to get our pay for it. But it is still better than to be idle and have no pay at all to expect. So we just have to “grin and bear it” and to think after all the “it will be the making of the pup” or professor, as the case may be.
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Last Friday evening at 4 o’clock our Easter vacation in the Seminary began. This will continue until Tuesday after Easter, at which time lectures will be resumed and continue for a couple weeks, when they will be followed by the final examinations – a precursor of the end. So we are beginning to see the setting rays of the close of another scholastic year. It won’t be long now till all is over. I intend to use the Easter vacation holidays in finishing out my exegesis of Revelation, of which I still have two chapters to do, and in preparing my final examination papers, so that I will be all set when the period of examinations arrives. Early in the week I received a card from Herbert, containing what purported to be my “horrorscope”. It was for the most part good – rather flattering, I should say and wasn’t so horrible after all, except for the “cut up” and the “clown” insinuation, which was neither a “hit” nor a “fit”; but which Bonnie thought was “just it”. But you know the old saying of how a husband has no honour in his own house or family or from his own wife. So, you can tell Herbert that I think he would do well to keep his “horrorscopes” at home and not be spreading heretical views all over the country and even out of it. I was glad to hear that he and his are well, however, as in spite of “horrorscopes”, I wish him no evil. In my last letter, I think I spoke to you about going in swimming as soon as the swimming hole should open up. Well, it opened up in part on March 30th, and I was
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right on deck and had my first swim of the season – after a long dreary wait from December on. About half the ice was out of the lake that morning. The next morning it was nearly all out, and I had another good swim. But April came in with an April fool in the return of winter weather. It became very cold and the lake froze over again, and snow has been falling off and on every day since. The lake is partly open again, and I could have gone in this morning, but didn’t like the walk down there through the snow. So to the great disappointment of the lake, I didn’t show up. But I expect to be down there a few times this week if nothing happens. I am enclosing a couple little pictures of Carolus’ new house. He was going to do some filling around it yesterday, but the ground was frozen too hard and too deep, and he had to await the pleasure of the frost to come out. This week is holy week and there will be a great multiplication of services in our Lutheran Churches. I am engaged to help out in St. John’s on Thursday and Sunday evenings and in St. Matthew’s, Kitchener, on Wednesday evening. My work will be for the most part in connection with the communion services. Wishing you, one and all, a happy Easter and rich blessing from the Lord, I am
As ever
Most Sincerely yours, [signed] Carroll
