South Hadley, Mass.,
Dec. 9, 1906.Dear Carrie:-
Your letter reached me in due time and was read with interest and pleasure. [Fanny changes pens here.] I was glad to know you were better. I hope you will soon be hale and rugged in health again.
You will probably be puzzled by the date in the heading of this letter and the date when you received it. So I must explain. I began your letter on Dec. 9th and something happened to prevent my going on with it. I laid it aside and now to-night, Dec. 26th, I hope to finish it.
I am spending my vacation in South Hadley, at the home of Mr. Porter. This is the third vaation I have spent here and have come to the conclusion there are many worse places to live than here. I am far enough away from the dormitories to feel a little change of surroundings. The other evening a Freshman, who lives in South Hadley, and I walked down College Street and we looked at the dark, desolate-looking Halls. I think I should become lonely if I had to look at those dark windows very often. This is a beautiful moonlight [sic] night. It is so bright that you can see quite a distance. About 5:00 P. M. I went up to the Post Office. And, as it was so pretty outside, I walked on down past Mary Lyon and down almost to the Sash Factory. I did not gaze very long in the direction of the dark buildings. I looked at the stars instead.
I think, Carrie, we had planned to take the same astronomy, didn't we? There are two seniors and two juniors in the class. - Esther Sears, Catherine Meister, Angie Heartz and myself. I like the work. It is hard, and some times the lessons are not very clear, but usually Miss Young is good to explain. I dread the final examination. Perhaps when I review well and the time comes I shall not be so timid. We have not had one written quiz this year so far in Astronomy. We have had oral ones. The Stars, the sun, and the moon mean more to me now than they ever did. We all like Miss Young so well too.
I think Zoology is even more interesting this year than last. I find it so any way. We have had two student lectures already, and I think there is one more this semester. Dr. Clapp lectured until we finished the subject of bones, then we had a student lecture by Mabel Pratt, and then Miss Turner lectured until we had the second lecture which came the last Saturday of the term. Oh yes, she did lecture the next Tuesday too. After hearing her say something about Dr. Clapp's taking up the nervous system with us, I supposed Dr. Clapp would lecture after vacation was over. It was surprising how we got accustomed to things which we thought impossible once, - cutting up cats for instance. I wanted to tell you that Julia Adams gave the second lecture. Both girls did very well.
I think, on the whole, I am more busy than I was last year. Sophomore year we had so much lecture work that it was possible now and then to have a free evening. But this year I have very little lecture work and a great deal of recitation work and that makes it necessary to prepare work for each day almost. And yet I like my work, taking it as a whole.
Yes, we had a fine mountain day. A junior and a sophomore, - Lena Brockmeier and Edith Cassett, wanted to go to Old Deerfield. As I had been there and they hadn't, I went with them to show them the way. We had a pleasant time. We started at 8:30 before the crowd departed and returned early, about 5:00. I remember about our plans a year ago. Wasn't there some misunderstanding about the car we were to take? Wasn't that the reason we missed each other? Well, I hope you will be at College, well and strong, next Mountain Day, and that there will be no misunderstanding in regard to any detail.
Now I must close. I wish you a happy new year. May it be the very best and happiest year you have ever lived, Carrie!
With much love,
Fanny V. Bixler.Please give my love to your aunt and sister whom I met last fall at college.