Sandy Perlmutter, you are a good egg. Your two kind responses, and your easy disregard for my brother’s opinions, demonstrate that you are an intellectual with management “potential”. The Mill is closed for the season, but come Spring you have a job if you want one.

Have you ever operated a cod-head splitter before? And are you, by any chance, allergic to naphthalene? It’s not a problem if you are, we just would have to find you a bunk at least 150 yards from the bunkhouse. At least, that’s what the insurance guy says, but who listens to him anyway? That guy told us we couldn’t store ladders by leaning them against the barn. How else are you supposed to store ladders?

We could use someone who can sing, too. The only hymn we sing on Sundays is “Come, Labor On” and during the week we sing folk songs. How many verses to “Barnacle Bill, the Sailor” do you know? How about “Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat?” I know a lot, but I’m always looking for more.

Congratulations on your wedding. Your mom must be a good egg too. Not many people find ways to enlarge their heart at 96.

You should write about your “social life.” We’re all ears.