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Martinez, Cal., August 17, 1888. Dear Papa: Your letter from Yelm Prairie with the fresh dainty mosses, comforted us
for a while, and we try to feel that the glorious sunshine and moonloght have been with you all the way, but o beloved, we
shall be thankful when we see again your own handwriting and know that you are safely away from the awful peaks and crevasses
of Mount Tacoma. Oh if the children and I could only be at Seattle to meet you, and rest there together beside the beautiful
waters, or among the roses and spiraeas of the mossy woods. Wanda and Helen miss you sorely,--they are both very well, but
baby seems always a little homesick, and more determined not to let me leave her for even a minute without fretting. I can
not understand it, and of course poor Grandma feels justly indignant. I have promised the schoolteacher to move home early
next week, and take her to board, so I hope we may be well settled by the time you reach home;--but it is dreadful to think
that you have to come to such a parched dusty desert of a place, after the deep clear lakes and flowing streams, and the bloom
and fragrance of the wilderness. And I too, alas, feel as parched and worn and thirsty as a bewildered traveler in the Sahara.
O for the singing of waterfalls and the dewy freshness of gleaming rivulets in the Canada del Hambre Have just received a
long letter from Aunt Annie with more glowing descriptions of the grand scenery of Utah and Colorado on the way to Nebraska.
She wrote me also 6 postals, which is doing very well, and she felt well after reaching Lincoln so it seems probable that
she may improve during the fall months, and enjoy many pleasant visits among her friends. Emily Swett has returned, and spent
Saturday and Sunday at the ranch; the others of the family are well. Mrs. Williams is making a long visit at Menlo Park.
Dr. W.P. Gibbons wrote that he intends going to Oregon next week, and would like to meet you there and arrange some excursion
together, so I gave him your address at Seattle, about August 23d and hope he will find you there. Helen is very sleepy but
says she must write a little letter to dear Papa, tell him come home to see baby and stay with his own baby. Wanda is writing
too. Ever your own, Louie Muir.