Michener

Dear Dad,

It’s been so cold this week. Yesterday, the feel-like temperature didn’t leave the single digits. Today, it was a bit warmer, but it still never rose above freezing. On Sundays, I like to get out of the house, even if it’s just for a short outing. Being stuck in the same house, day after day, gets boring. Besides, you know I like to stay active. I thought about hiking today, but at twenty degrees, I didn’t think that was wise. So I decided to head into Pennsylvania to do some caching. There are three Adventure Lab caches centered around Doylestown, so I figured I’d head there. Usually, I like Sundays to be family days, but it was way too cold for Kati to even consider leaving the house. Besides, she doesn’t exactly like caching. I would have enjoyed G3’s company, but he still hadn’t completed his math work, work he was supposed to have done on Friday. As a kid, even as an adult, I don’t like to put anything off — ever. I’m the one who always has their thesis completed months in advance. G3 doesn’t not take after me. He is the king of procrastination. But this morning, he learned the price of not doing his work in a timely manner. Instead of having fun with me, he had to stay home and work on fractions.

The first cache brought me to Fonthill Castle. It was built in the early 1900s by Henry Chapman Mercer who was an archeologist and tile make. The castle is absolutely stunning. It was built out concrete and is a blend of  Medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architectural styles. It looks like something that belongs in England and seems completely out of place in Pennsylvania. Disappointingly, it was closed due to COVID — they are doing a deep clean after all the holiday tourists —  so I couldn’t go inside or a take a tour. But perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing. I think G3 would like to visit the castle, so now I have cause to go back. Let’s hope he gets his school work done next time so that he can accompany me.

Did you know that James Michener, your favorite author, grew up in Doylestown? I didn’t. Not until I was wandering around downtown and came across a historical marker. It said: 

James A. Michener (1907-1997)

The world famous author grew up in Doylestown and graduated in 1925 from the public school formerly here, having been a top-ranking student. His first novel, “Tales of the South Pacific”, received the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. His many other books include “The Fires of Spring” (1949), “Hawaii” (1959), “The Source” (1965), & Recessional” (1994). He traveled widely and was a noted art collector and philanthropist.

Tales of the South Pacific won the Pulitzer the year you were born. I was happy to see that your favorite of all his novels — Hawaii — was noted on the sign. I took a picture and wanted to send it to you, but since I couldn’t, I sent it to Mom instead. I figured she’d smile to think of you, and also, to see that her favorite Michener novel — The Source — also got mentioned. 

My final stop of the day brought me to author Pearl S. Buck’s house. Her most famous book, of course, is The Good Earth, though she wrote dozens of works  — both fiction and non-fiction — during her lifetime. I had no idea that she lived so close to me. How is it I never visited her house before? The cache took me to her grave and then I was hoping to get a tour of the house, but I struck out for the second time today. Tours end early on Sundays, and I missed the last one. Oh well, when I take G3 back to the castle, we’ll have to stop in and visit Buck as well.

I came home early, hoping that maybe we could play a few games and still have somewhat of a family afternoon, but G3 still had not completed his work. And when I walked in the door, his resistance devolved into a breakdown. Oh how I wish you were here. If you were, I’d have called you up and asked you to speak with him. He’d have listened to you. He always did. You’d have been able to calm him down and get him to think clearly. You always were the only one who could reach him when he got this upset. But you aren’t here, and so the math reminds incomplete while he sits in his room and writes. Since there is no television until the assignment is finished, he’s writing a story. At least he is now using his time productively.

I miss you!