Well, September is half over now. We are still getting more days that are reasonably warm. Every once in a while a dismal day will show up. You just make the best of it.
As usual, news is scarce around here. The Real Estate Tax Bills have been mailed out and most people have received them. If you did not receive a bill, contact the Town Office at 207-836-2115.
Mike Kelley and his crew have been wrapping up the work on the Town Hall. Hugh asked him if when he was done we could hire him to do a project for us. The old deck needed to be removed, and the cellar hole filled in. Since he had his equipment on site already, the work was completed quickly. (Even though we border with the Town this was a separate project and paid for by us.)
Gilead Historical Society
Reminder: The Annual Meeting Date has been changed from September 19th to September 26th. GHS is providing the food. Open to the public.
May’s Letters continued
Letter #8
Pension Kaufmann Lucerne, Switz.
July 27, 1905
My dear Family,
If I remember correctly I closed my last letter just as we were about to start on our second diligence ride, from Brieg to Gletsch. We left Zermatt Tuesday morning, July 18, and changed cars at Visp where we had luncheon. Then on to Brieg, all this over the same road we had travelled in going to Zermatt. (This was the first time we have had to go over the same route a second time.)
When we got into the hotel it seemed like a haven of rest for there was a big open fire in the office and ever so many people enjoying it. This little picture shows all the buildings in Gletsch; the hotel with its dependence across the Rhone, the post-office, stables, and two or three little houses. Our rooms were in the dependence so we had to leave the cheerful open fire and dash across the bridge in the wind and rain to rather bare and cheerless rooms. The beds were good and we were so tired that nothing else mattered. That night the wind whistled in a way which reminded one of Gilead.
The next morning [July 19] we were up early and after breakfast we walked to the glacier. The color was a beautiful green and it was rather weird as we went through this winding passage farther and farther into the ice. Our first day in Interlaken [July 21] was a quiet one. We had not fully recovered from the effects of Zermatt and Gletsch.
Saturday [July 22] we took the excursion of Interlaken. That was an all day trip; we left Interlaken at eight and were back at the hotel just in time for dinner at seven thirty.
Sunday afternoon we took the steamer and sailed to the end of Lake Thun and back again. It is much larger than Brienz and the villages on its shores more picturesque and the surrounding country more varied and attractive. The water in all these lakes is a beautiful green. I never saw anything like it.
Our trip to Lucerne was by boat, and by rail; by boat to Brienz then by rail over Brunig Pass. It rained all day which saved us from dust but obscured the view. [July 24] There is a quaint old covered bridge in Lucerne across the Reuss with paintings in the roof illustrating the history of the town.
July 28, Heidelberg.
The last of this letter I have written here. We came today. It was a long, hot, rather monotonous railway journey from Lucerne. Will tell you all about Heidelberg in my next letter. I am anxious for letters from Gilead. The last letter from Mother was written at Belmont and I have had but one letter from Ada. Lily’s letters come pretty promptly, I found two at Lucerne, and she enclosed one from Ethel. Am so glad that Ethel and the baby are so well.
Much love to you all and keep well please.
Affectionately,
May G. Peabody
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