Chapter 29: 1947 • Sonora ~ On his twelfth Christmas, Larry received a small five-year leather-bound diary with room enough on each page for three lines per day.
Jan 1 Am just getting over sickness and added a small piece to my room in which I keep my books.
Jan 2 I bought another book, The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn, which makes 107 books that I have.
Jan 3 I quit the Union Democrat route in afternoon but retained other afternoon route and two morning paper routes for San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle.
Jan 4 My mother gave me her bookcase!
Jan 5 I bought two books, A Touch of Glory and An American Guerrilla in the Philippines.
Jan 6 I went back to school from Christmas vacation. The class has a new teacher.
Jan 7 They had some Boy Scout films at school and some talks about scouting. Have gotten lights at school that kills germs within contact.
Jan 8 I bought four more books: Secret Cargo, Johnny Tremain, Royal Shooting, and a mystery.
Jan 9 I counted my stamps as far as Hungary; I have thus far counted 1,581 different stamps, with 346 different U.S. stamps.
Jan 10 I have finished counting my stamps. They total 2,520 different ones, not including duplicates.
Jan 11 I have started a stamp notebook. I brought a boy up to my room and we went through my stamps.
Jan 12 All of us except Carleen and Betty went for ride to Pinecrest. The lake was all dried up except for patches of ice
Jan 13 I may get another bed and I am pretty sure I am going to get it.
Jan 14 I am entering into my teens, and for my 13th birthday I got a pair of Levis.
Jan 15 They had some more films at school. The films are supposed to be played once a week. I also bought a book We Hold These Truths.
Jan 16 I went to the scout meeting. Mr. Cassina who is our music teacher and gym instructor is now our assistant scout leader. I also paid my 2 dollar scout dues.
Jan 17 We had a music test at school. Stayed up after midnight to do my homework. Am trying to put things to hold the pages in my stamp book.
Jan 18 I went to the Uptown Show. It is the first time I have gone to the show since 3 months ago. Also bought 2 pocket books.
Jan 19 I went for a hike with Carleen to Phoenix Lake and it was mostly iced over. Saw lots of snow.
Jan 20 The other paper boy got fired for not delivering his papers right and I will take his paper route.
Jan 21 I got a new bed. I also got a folder of 15 old Current Events for 25 cents. Dad was elected to the Sonora City Council.
Jan 22 We had some moving pictures at school about the Red Cross. Made joke book for Red Cross.
Jan 23 The 7th and 8th grade had a basketball game. We won by 23 to 19. Went to scouts.
Jan 24 I went to my first basketball game. The game was between the Wildcats (Sonora) and Edison Hi (Stockton). We won both games 35-22 and 36-20.
Jan 25 I bought another book. Finished putting gummed patches on pages of my stamps book. Rearranged bookcase.
Jan 26 Nearly finished reading Huckleberry Finn. I bought some campfire marshmallows; they are the first ones I have seen since before the War.
Jan 27 I went to the show. It was called Boys Ranch. My cousin Pat Conway was visiting us with two other sailors, they stayed with us for two days.
Jan 28 It is still is snowing. The snow was very thick and I was in some snow fights. Changed mattresses with Mother’s and Father’s.
Jan 29 I bought a pocket book entitled Wild Animals I Have Known for Current Events.
Jan 30 I went to the Boy Scout Court of Honor a little while ago. They had ice cream and cake.
Jan 31 I used to get 15 dollars a month a year ago. Mr. Mouron wanted me to take the route again. Yesterday he offered me $15, today $20 a month.
To be continued…
Catherine Sevenau is a writer, humorist, and storyteller living in Sonoma, California. The stories in this series are excerpts from her book, Through Any Given Door, a Family Memoir, the full memoir is available at.Sevenau.com. Catherine is an author of three books, several volumes of family genealogy, and a longtime Broker/Realtor at CENTURY 21 Epic Wine Country. Csevenau@earthlink.net
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