Belated congratulations on your new granddaughter, Sophia.
Beth and I made an impromptu lunch visit to Bo & Terri at their Leesburg, Virginia home last Sunday by plane. They look well and seem to be enjoying their retirement.
I was telling a story about your father while there. A few weeks ago, while searching for something in my attic, I discovered a box of old letters that my mother saved when I moved away to college, forever. At the very bottom of the box, I found a letter from your father, with a postscript from your mother.
Dyess Hartley Letter
Uncle Dyess had a framed print of Washington Crossing the Delaware in his office for as long as I can remember. When I visited your family a few years ago, I could not find anyone who remembered that print, but I did remember that it was important to him for some reason. One summer evening, he asked me "Does that river really get ice like that?" Noticing the confused look on my face, he advised that it was the Delaware River in the painting. 'Still no response from me, he explained that it was right near my house in New Jersey.
Later that year, hopefully not on a day that I should have been in high school, I must have been driving near the Delaware River at Washington Crossing and took a photograph, showing no ice as I recall. I must have sent him a letter, and he responded with some interest (this does appear to be a big, damn-Yankee Naval operation of some sort).
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Attached is a copy of the letter I found, along with a copy of the painting. I won't ruin the surprise, but if you are ever in Manhattan, please visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there is a room dedicated to the display of this painting. You will see why your father admired it.
PS: I drive along the Delaware River daily to my office in Princeton, and I have never seen the river frozen. However, there have been several occasions when the upper river freezes and becomes covered with several feet of snow. When the pressure builds behind the ice dams, the ice and snow break loose and flow down-river in pieces, creating the exact conditions depicted in the painting.
'Hope you are all well.
Regards,
Paul A. King
1 comment:
Paul - thanks for sharing the letter and the picture. When I was in the Navy, my father would sometimes dictate a note to me via my mother. As she did with you, she would add her private thoughts at the bottom. Brings back great memories. Thank you.
Rick Hartley
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