Harold and I were finding that we enjoyed so many of the same things - ice skating, more than anything. We could usually count on Thanksgiving Day for the first good skating ice. So after Thanksgiving dinner, we would wrap up, throw our skates over our shoulders and hike out to Horseshoe Pond. This was quite a hike out by the State Fairgrounds, but we didn't mind. In fact, there were times when we had a bright moonlight night, that we made another trip in the evening.

The best place we had to skate was Epworth Lake Park. This was a very large lake completely surrounding a large island. This made for nice, long stretches of skating. They would build a huge bonfire on the island for the skaters to rest, get warm and visit. Because we had to take a streetcar from home to a town corner, then transfer to the streetcar took us to the corner of the park and then walk a piece, didn't dampen our fervor. We just always wished we could go there more often. But they only occasionally opened the gates for skaters.

With Christmas coming, Hazel's school would be closed for two weeks and she wanted to come home. Harold said why not get another couple, then he would get a rig from the livery stable and we would get her. I asked my friend Clarice Breece and Harold got Charles Wright. We got a two seated carriage with a top and a team of horses and started out. We certainly never expected what we ran into. We thought this would be a lark. There were patches of snow here and there from the last snow. The road was full of ruts and holes and in many places the road was so much higher on one side than the other that we had to hang out of the carriage on the high side to keep the carriage for turning over. It was slow and hazardous going. We finally came to a nice, neat farm where a man was doing something outside. We stopped and asked if we could rest a bit and water the horses. He said it was so cold we must come inside and get warm. The woman was baking cookies and had spread some out on the table to cool. She invited us to have a cookie - they were awfully good. We didn't rest long there though because we wanted to get Hazel and get back over that awful road before it would be getting dark. We arrived at the livery stable and settled up. Then we walked about four blocks to the corner where we would get the streetcar to take us home. When we looked around, Charles was nowhere in sight. Nobody knew when he left but guess he either got ashamed of himself or couldn't take any more "cold shoulder" because that's what he got when we found out he had stuffed every pocket full of cookies. The people were so nice, and we were so ashamed of him.

I hadn't seen Martha Somers since that party Claire and I had until I met her one day in the hall at school. She said she had been wanting to talk to me and would I meet her in the auditorium. She told me that she and Harold had been such good friends and since that party, she had never seen or heard from him. She said she felt awfully bad about it as she had thought they would eventually be married. This was a real shock to me. I had always thought the boys who came to the house or took me places were friends and nothing else. The idea of marriage had never entered my mind. She said, though, that she knew it wasn't my fault if he liked me better than her, and she hoped we could be friends. We were friends.

I went to a party where I met Faye Bunny. We became the best of friends. I guess we were both so alike in many ways. Faye's mother was killed in the San Francisco earthquake. Her father was a traveling salesman. He left one day on his regular business and was never heard from again. She was living with her older sister, Blanche, Blanche's husband and their two small children. We had awfully good times together. I remember one day when Faye and I were alone in her sister's house. We were doing the dishes. Faye spilled some of the soapy water on the floor. Kitchen floors then were still wood (no linoleum). The soapy water on the floor made it so slick. We skated around in it for awhile before cleaning it up. I guess we both were a little bit crazy, but we so often had the same ideas. One Sunday afternoon I went over to Faye's. Her sister said she was up in her room, to go on up. I found her soaking a red ribbon in a cup of water, trying to put some color in her cheeks she said like mine. And I was so embarrassed with so much color, I tried to cover it up. There was no make-up then except for show business and the like.

Faye's sister seemed to be very understanding and was very good to Faye, but the brother-in-law was quite critical at times.

When Hazel's school year ended, she came home to stay, cured of wanting to be a teacher. While thinking out what she should try next, she took music lessons from my teacher. As with everything she undertook, she was quick to grasp and accurate, but there was something more. Mama said even though she knew so little about music, she could tell which one of us was playing no matter where she was in the house. She put it this way, "Hazel turns square corners and Mattie turns round corners."

Gretchen took some vocal lessons but soon quit - guess it was too much with working. Those days work meant 8 to 6 every day except Sunday. She had a nice voice though. Maybe I have said how much I liked to hear her sing "The Holy City".

Lincoln had an Orpheum Theater which, of course, was all vaudeville. But Lincoln also had a very nice, big opera house. Some of the very best grand opera, concerts, etc., were shown there. I saw Maude Adams, (considered one of the greatest actresses of the day) in "Peter Pan". I saw Maeterlinck's "Bluebird", (very beautiful). I saw "Bird of Paradise". Everything there was live because there was nothing else. Since the High School was so close, when there was a matinee we wanted to see, (if we could raise the price), we would skip classes and go. We always saw the other students there, too.

Madame Schuman-Heinck (I'm not sure of the spelling) gave a concert there. John Selby wanted to go. Libbie wasn't interested, so she asked me to come there and stay all night and go with John. And so I saw and heard the great Madame Schuman-Heinck.

When the" Merry Widow" came here, it was at night and Harold asked me to go. I wore a new dress Mama had just finished making. It was what they called "electric blue" in a silky-like material and made Russian blouse style (the latest). There was about a two inch band around the neck, all the way down the long left side, the belt and cuffs on the short sleeves. This was elaborately braided with what was called "rat-tail" braid and of matching color. Mama had transferred the pattern for it on the band and then hand-sewn all that on. I also had a new hat - Milan straw trimmed with black velvet ribbon and two black pompoms. I thought I was some pumpkin.

Between the High School and the Theater was everybody's favorite drug store - Meier's - famous for their hot fudge sundaes which were the best ever. They called them "Goop Sundaes". Another popular special was their "Tri-chocolate". This was a slice of rich chocolate cake, on top of this, a scoop of chocolate ice cream, and hot fudge poured over this. Yummy!

Our uncle Charlie and our cousin Paul Burke became real buddies. They liked to come to our house. Very often on Sunday afternoon, they and Gretchen and Hazel played cards. The fellows always seemed to play against the girls. I remember one Sunday afternoon they beat the girls so badly, Charlie started crowing and laughing. He could laugh so hard so I don't know whether he fell off his chair laughing or whether he deliberately laid down on the floor. Anyway, it went on and on, so Gretchen picked up his chair and sat it over him and sat down on it. She told him she wouldn't let him up until he quit laughing. They had such fun with their card games - they usually played High-5 or Pitch.

The grocery stores had in something new - Jell-O. For Sunday dinner, Mama made some and added sliced fruits in it. Charlie and Paul were there for dinner and they were both crazy about it. Paul said he was going to ask his mother to make a boiler full of that stuff.

Gretchen had been working at the Burlington long enough to have a vacation. Since Burlington was a Railroad Company and she was also entitled to a free pass for traveling, and since she had never been any place, she decided to visit Aunt Effie and family in Pennsylvania. Walter and Louise showed her around and entertained her generally. She had a real good time, but the first night she was there, Aunt Effie told her when she went to bed not to blow out the gas light and showed her how to turn it off. Gretchen resented this somewhat because we had had gas lights for quite a while. She said Easterners thought that where we lived (they called it the West) was still very crude and very far behind the East in every way.

Aunt Rena left the Lincoln Police Department where she had been matron for so long and went to the Old Soldiers' Home in Midford, Nebraska as matron. She made the acquaintance of a man who had a cottage he rented to vacationers. Through this, we got it for a vacation. Mama said she would go with us. So there were seven - Mama, Floss, Lela, Hazel, and myself and we asked Claire Blumenthal and Faye Bunny to go with us. The location of the cottage couldn't have been better for us. From the back door, it was only a very short distance to the river - this was the Blue River - not a great river, but clean and clear and not very deep. Since none of us could swim, we could wade a paddle around in it all we wanted without fear.

Milford was a pretty town and we hiked around here and there looking it over. Mama seemed to enjoy it all and went everywhere with us. Myron Noble showed up not far away. We didn't know any reason for this except that he had such a crush on Faye, but Faye was not interested and we never asked him to join us.

There was a local train that ran from Lincoln to Milford in the morning and one in the evening from Milford back to Lincoln. So Libby and John came down for a day. We all went up to see Aunt Rena. She got someone to show us through the Home. When we got to the top floor, he asked us if we would like to try their spiral fire escape. Of course, we would. Mama. Libby and John went down to watch us come out. We took turns. We had to climb in and sit with our feet straight out while hanging on to arm holds on both sides. The minute we let go of the side arms, we went zipping round and round clear to the bottom. This was all metal and slick as could be. Mama saw Lela was getting in. For those below watching, there was no way to see us zooming round and round inside. Mama thought Lela wasn't coming out as fast as she should and she kept saying, "Where are you,Lela. Come on out!" In due time, her fat legs popped out of the opening below.. She always had fat legs when she was a kid. She had pretty arms with dimples in her elbows. How I envied those arms because mine were always so skinny and ugly.

There were a few girls' club meeting afternoons - mostly called Kensington Clubs. We were supposed to take some needlework to work on throughout the afternoon, otherwise the time was spent visiting and, of course, there were always refreshments. Occasionally there was an afternoon card party - all girls. The card game was called "Hearts".

Hazel was still undecided what to get into. She liked cooking and especially liked to plan the meals and do the buying. In the meantime, she did some sewing for herself. She didn't like sewing much. If something had to be ripped and done over , she was likely to discard it. Finishing she especially hated. Since there was no such thing as zippers then and we had to depend on buttons and buttonholes or hooks and eyes, it made getting a garment ready to wear a long and tedious job. She knew she would never do that for a living. She was still getting things said backwards. Myron Noble liked to tease her with "Gow's the hirl? " Harold said he wanted to get a job during summer vacation with the Basket Store. This was Lincoln's new and first big cash and carry market. Hazel had been watching the want ads so was familiar with the Basket Store ad. So she said to Harold, "You can't get a job there. They want someone who doesn't smoo, choke or drink." She knew that Harold smoked sometimes. However, Harold and his friend Oscar Wallin did work at the Basket Store during summer vacation.

Lela and Floss has always been pretty genial, even chummy. But sometimes something happened and tempers flared. I remember one day when something happened and they were really "at it" Mama stepped in. She gave each one of them the name of a famous fighter, then shut one in one bedroom and the other in another bedroom. She told them they couldn't come out until they could settle things without fighting and get along together again. It worked..

Every year in the late summer the Epworth Assembly put on their Chautauqua at Epworth Lake Park, the same place we went to ice skate. This was a very large park. A great many tents were set up surrounding the lake and people came from near and from far and camped for the duration, (which I've forgotten, but was about ten days or two weeks). There was a variety of programs every day and they had printed programs with time and all so you could choose easily. Faye's sister, Blanche, her two small children Marian and Robert, also Faye, and she asked Hazel and me. Of course, we thought it was great to camp like that and sleep on the ground. Of course, local folks attended days and the streetcar now went right to the gate. The folks always planned one day there. There were sing-a-longs, sermons, all kinds of musical programs, travel talks, bell-ringers, magicians - really a great variety and many to choose from daily. If you were not in the mood for programs, you could rent a boat and row around the island in the shady, cool clear lake. There were the usual pop-corn stands, hot dog stands, ice cream stands. All in all, it was quite a thing and we enjoyed every bit of it.

Things have been happening for the folks. The lot Papa rented for a garden was sold and they said a house was to be built there. Seems like no sooner said than the house was there and we had new neighbors. Then there was some question about keeping chickens inside certain city limits. Also, good as this house had been for us and as homey as it was, we were all growing up and needed more room. To modernize would be a tremendous undertaking and expense in this old house, so it seemed like the time had come for new plans and some kind of a change.