Brattleboro, Vermont, September 1, 2011

Oooooh, how time flies when I'm not with my grandmother and thank you one thousand times for asking about her all these long months when I just couldn't blog blog blog her diary and my life...  As you probably know, I was passed out with Lyme disease for almost the entire year, and I am just now opening my eyes like Sleeping Beauty, except she's blonde, to the kiss of the prince, which is, of course, life and everything it brings including the aftermath of mean Irene, which rocked our gorgeous state this past weekend.

Many of our neighbors, in the wake of rising rivers and torrential rains are trying to piece their lives together again.  Much of the landscape no longer makes sense.  Whole villages washed away, and we are just now catching our collective breath and trying to bail out neighbors.  VermontSover.net is doing a matching grant for people who would like to donate money to help Vermonters in need. The money is going to the VT Foodbank , a very good group. And Sover.net will double your money if you give to them.  You can call in your donation by phone (877.877.2120, option 4) or send a check (please indicate that it is a donation for the Foodbank) to Sovernet, POB 495, Bellows Falls VT 05101. Mother nature tends to teach humility in devastating ways.

We love you Vermont, thank you for holding us in such majestic power, may we rebuild quickly with the help of our communities.  Here's to hoping a visit with my grandmother on Saint Mark's will add a little levity to our steps, right now, she's in March. There are never any hurricanes in March and if I could just crawl into her diary it would be four days before my birthday. Let's crawl in together and watch her hired help wash her clothes with a washboard in the bathtub, we can be glad Hitler's dead.  Oh my...   XXXXOOO  stay high and dry until next time...

Maggie Duffield, St Mark's Place, New York, March 4, 1937

Lunch with Edith over at Charles's, pleasant gossip.  Home for afternoon.  Grace doing washing in bathtub with washboard she bought for purpose, kneeling prayerfully on the bathmat. Then uptown by bus and to dinner at Bleek's with M.  Arthur Mann had a drink with us and discussing story he on when LaGuardia called Hitler "brown-shirted fanatic" said effigy of should be in chamber of horrors at coming World's Fair here in NY and Germans terribly incensed, calling LaGuardia Talmudic Jew (one of his grandmothers was Jewish) procurer, NY gangster and otherpretty names.  Then up to Rivoli to see Roland Young in movie by H.G. Wells, "The Man Who Could Work Miracles"-- message seemed confused, but Roland Young grand as usual and we took childish delight in miracles.  Also a Mickey Mouse.  Home by taxi through light rain.  Fine first evening out, felt very gay.  Began mystery story by Dorothy Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon, which M renting from  Clarissa who renting from Stern's for 3cents a day.  Fed baby and listened to F.D. speaking over radio from Victory Dinner in Washington and he gave the Supreme Court such a lashing, while baby sucked, saying third of people ill-nourished ill housed etc.. now and we must do something about it now and everything did to help poor declared unconstitutional.   Swell speech and so dramatically and effectively done. Splendid day!  By the way, bathed baby for first time myself and we both lived through it.  Also gave M. cold serum which harrowing as usual though not quite so much so.