PROLOGUE: Louise visited PA in the fall and took some photos of the house we bought there in 1970. She shared them with me, and I am including a gallery of those pictures, and early ones I have.
The man and his dog is the third owner/resident. We bought the house in 1969 from the developer, sold it CASH to an older woman who wanted a single story house in 1981 and this man bought the house from her. For a house built almost 50 years ago, it has held up well. The foundation plantings are new, but I believe I planted the trees at the rear property line. The drive and front walk look as they did when I had them put in. I am sure they were maintained different times over the years. The house has held up well and not decayed, I think of our family as its first curators of this house, and it has passed along with, I think, the same spirit. If the local economy had not tanked in the late 1970 decade, I think I would still live there. I liked the house and I think all of us did.
In December ’74 we began sending Christmas letters in lieu of cards. I know Hallmark is disappointed but exchanging cards with people who sent us one did not really saw anything personal. At one time, we did try linoleum block printing but that was quite time-consuming though somewhat creative.
One of the reasons we did not get around to card making was that we had a house guest for about 3 weeks. We did not plan on this but through the home church movement that Marge belonged to she learned about this young woman who was having problems. Her name was Claudia, that’s all I remember. Claudia had found herself without a place to live and no money. Marge wanted to help so she invited Claudia to stay with us until she got her act together. I don’t remember much about Claudia, though she smoked, and though I still did, not inside. I do remember Claudia asked us to go bowling with her. I had never bowled, but I took her to a nearby alley and did what I could to support. The stay was longer than we expected, but that month she did have a job offer.
We learned that she can get welfare help and won’t be totally penniless. Also, another family who have internal problems of their own, agreed to let Claudia room with them. Claudia did have some behavioural issues, can’t remember what exactly now, and wrote nothing about them. I did have some doubts, which I kept to myself, it was not my business and we did move her out of our home to the other family. I don’t know how that turned out, but we tried and I hope the situation resolved. We did what we could.
In Dec. ’74 we still did not have any snow, although the western part of the state had very much. PP&L did send some employees to aid West Penn Power as they did not have enough people to cope with all the snow problems, mostly downed overhead distribution.
Heathkit Logo
Time is moving along and both my Heathkit stereo and my TV were not working properly so I took them to Heathkit in Philadelphia.
Heath Stereo
I can do basic trouble shooting, but I don’t have all the equipment to trouble-shoot. At least I built them by myself.
Louise and her wart parted company, though it did take 2 trips to the doctor. He used some form of acid patch to remove it, but the patch slipped and did not remove everything. Now that is over. Health-wise we are in good shape. Ingrid was sick for a few days, but nothing serious.
Christmas is coming so we went and picked out our Xmas tree. A local farmer owns a meadow with a gully in it that is not good for farming. Trees grow wild and we buy one for $4. The farmer tags it for us and when we want it, will chainsaw it down. a good deal for both of us. He clears out these trees to start clearing the gully, and we get a fresh tree at a low-cost.
As the year comes to a close the work situation at PP&L is uncertain. Gas prices are going up and companies are going out of business. The economy was hit hard by the first oil shock and the company may have to cut staff again if things do not improve. Fortunately I feel secure, but what will the future hold for me?
55 Years Together 
I do like that picture window.
Yes that was the front living room window. The dining room in the side had a smaller one that overlooked the valley.therewas a half bath in the front near the kitchen that featured a triangular John. I never saw another like that. If the economy hadn’t turn bad and my employer was going down the tubes, we would never have moved.