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Sat Jul 6
Spent the morning at Dental College. Oh I can't remember what I did. July 12
Sun Jul 7
My first free Sunday this year. It seemed quite natural to stay home. Helped Mila all morning; it provoked me to have her scold me for wasting time, when it took me 40 minutes to telephone and do some marketing. I hadn't wasted any time. But it is a good plan to make me angry before I start working. I always do better and quicker work. After dinner Rose and I called on Jo Hoveman. There is a girl, so good-hearted but slightly vulgar (how she would squirm if she knew that!) who has all the material comforts anyone could wish, a good voice, and agreeable parents, but somehow I wouldn't change with her, in spite of our troublous times at home. And oh! Mother gets on all our nerves, she is so utterly unreasonable at times. I wonder, if she had had opportunities for study like ours, whether this awful collapse of self-control could have come about.
Mon Jul 8
Poor Rose and I were "white slaves'' again and washed clothes with a vengeance till one. We both retired for repairs till 3 and then I descended and swashed the kitchen floor clean in what Charlie calls "lazy-man's way.'' I don't mind standing in the pools at all and at least one's back doesn't break, as it did in the old way. Had a delightful note from Bess De Bow; she is a friend worth having and just the sort of girl I love to cultivate; - intellectual, without being a blue-stocking, and with a strong sense of humor. She has been so pressing in her invitation and I am so happy to be able to visit her. Duras called yesterday, and as I was decently civil he fancies all is well -- He'll wake up suddenly one of these days!
Tue July 9
We started in on a rush day, as Mila was home to sew and had heaps of work -- I was in Chas's chair at nine. At 10 had a lesson with Mrs. C. but oh the beastly voice was so "tief heinlin" and it was only after working for an hour that I managed to bring it out on "L'Heure Exquise". Of course, after I got home I sang well. Its always that way. But after luncheon, just when we were head over heels in work, Ella called and there I played the dual role of delighted hostess in the parlor and meekness personified everytime I went back to get more work. Mila was black as a thundercloud for she thought she would have to give up the Coney Island trip. But I decided to go on a later boat tomorrow, so we were able to go. An ideal trip to the Island as the sunset was so pretty and the air cool. We went on everything and had a jolly time. Duras was quite gay and Mila found him charming, but somehow I can only succeed in feeling tolerant toward him.
Wed July 10
We retired alone and were up at 5. So I scarecely feel strenuous. And yesterday I upset a little vase at Schirmer's and broke off a bit and heavens how it worries me. Wrote to Mr. Sch. To tell him about it, but I am afraid it was upset him dreadfully. Had a pleasant sail to Atlantic Highlands and from there went by train to Ocean Grove. Bess greeted me enthusiastically, and her two friends entertained me while she finished giving a singing lesson. Then we all went down to the beach while I took my first dip. The surf is splendid and we can see the ocean from the windows of the house only a half a block away. In the evening we strolled along the board walk; it looks like Atlantic City but is not quite as crowded and "Jew-y.'' Bess has two brothers and a grandmother here -- Her parents are in Europe.
Thurs July 11
We went into the surf at eleven and it was perfect. I found I could swim, and Bess's younger brother, who is a crack swimmer, taught me to do a few things. It was delightful and we stayed in for two hours, and came late to dinner. I was so sorry. I have a coat of sunburn which gives me amazing color and I see quite another girl in my mirror than the one who arrived yesterday. In the P.M. Bess' brother took me over to Deal Lake for a canoe ride. It was delightful; the lake is very long and we stopped off at the Casino at Wanammassa for a rest. Coming home I had planned to paddle but it rained a little, so we hurried. Bess's brother is a nice boy of 19, huge in size, who seems to love poetry and can quote it by the ream. Which sounds molly-coddle-y, But he isn't. A young fellow with a taste for poetry is a new experience. But the De Bows all seem to have a preference for the best. It's nice to grow up in a family where culture is a part of the family life, not an acquisition from outside. Yet at home, we have that taste and love for the things that are worthwhile. The trouble is we have never had the leisure to blossom out -- nor the means to run the household with the machinery out of sight. Mr. Tapper was right when he said "The more modern conveniences are used -- the more time a man has to develop himself.'' And if you can't afford the convenience of a woman to do your washing and a few other things and to send send your mother away for a long rest in different surroundings, then there is senseless worry and friction and depression at home. I never feel all this so much, as when I see how well ordered a house may be when there is plenty of money to run it and the cheerfulness which results.