Betty MacDonald's tracks

Emilie:

Thank you for Letizia Mancino's article. I enjoyed it very much.

Letizia Mancino's essay reminded me that I have never followed all of Betty MacDonald's tracks. I have seen the Egg and I Road, but I wouldn't know which of the farm houses on it was hers. I don't think it exists anymore.

I also have been to Vashon Island for a garden tour (yes, Bainbridge and Vashon have lovely well-kept houses and gardens), but I never went to the house where Betty MacDonald had lived.

I also don't know which hotel the parents of Monica Sone owned. I will have to find out and go and see it. We will stay in Seattle for a couple of days. Maybe then I will find out where Betty's and Monica's tracks.

I found it funny that Letizia Mancino thought that Seattle has steeper hills than San Francisco. I have never slipped and fallen on the hills in Seattle, but I once took a bad fall in San Francisco when we were living in California. Eveyone passing by just stared and made comments, but no one helped me up. My purse had opened and the contents were spread all around me. I had to painfully get up, gather up my belongings and hobble back to the beauty salon on Knob Hill to recover myself. I had fallen so hard that I found a hole in the knee of my pants.

About those geoducks (pronounced "goo-eee"), I have never tried them, but then like Letizia, I enjoy salmon better. I don't like shellfish; I heard they are not good for you---too much cholesterol, and at certain times of the year they can be poisonous.

That Alaskan Way Viaduct that is so ugly on the waterfront and so noisy because of the traffic will some day be a thing of the past. They have already started to build a huge auto and train tunnel to replace it. The waterfront will be a thing of beauty then, just like San Francisco's after they had to dismantle the same kind of viaduct that had collapsed trapping cars and people between the upper and lower parts. It really opened up that city, and I am looking forward to the same thing in Seattle, but it will take years. In San Francisco, they didn't have to build a tunnel.

The developers are already buying up old factories and warehouses near the waterfront to re-develop into luxury condos for the wealthy. They will be prized once the viaduct is completely gone.

Since Letizia made her trip to Seattle in August, I am not surprised to find that she couldn't believe what she had heard about all the rain we get. August is about the only time that we have a couple of weeks of sunshine and no rain, so she got the wrong impression. Everything here is so green because we average about 80 inches of rain annually.

No, Seattle is not the beautiful city it was when Betty was alive. Neither is San Francisco, no place is. Every city I go to in this land seems to always have construction road blocks and cranes, etc. and over-development, and more traffic, even in this economy. People will always keep building into the voids, and here in America everyone loves the freedom a personal car gives.

About the Olympic Mountains west of the Hood Canal, and even Mt. Rainer on this side of the big Hood Canal, yes, they are far away, but are so huge that on a clear day they look like they are just a few miles away and not over 100 miles away. There hardly is any snow on the Olympics, and it has started to snow on the Cascade Range that divide this state, but not like before and not like our Eastern states. However, the winter is very cold, in the 20s and 30s farenheit most days now.

I don't know what hotel Letizia stayed in---right by a 16 lane highway? Probably not too far from the airport. We avoid those freeways. We take the ferry to Seattle, then hire a taxi to take us places. She also could have taken a bus tour - GrayLine--- and maybe the driver would have known about the places Betty and Monica lived, etc. We plan to do that one of these days to get to know the city better.

Oh, I also loved Letizia's website called Art for Cats. There is one painting that I would love to have a print of---Color Cat II. My sister has a kitten that looks just like that. Letizia's art is so wonderful, so colorful, makes me almost want to take out my paints again.

Best wishes,

Emilie

Wolfgang Hampel Founder of Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society
http://wolfganghampel.blogspot.com/

Wolfgang Hampel Society
Wolfgang Hampel, winner of first Betty MacDonald Memorial Award, author, journalist, artist, poet

http://wolfganghampelsociety.blogspot.com/

Wolfgang Hampel Fan Club

Wolfgang Hampel, interviewer of Betty MacDonald's family and friends and many other famous artists and writers. Wolfgang Hampel is also famous for his satirical poems and stories.

http://wolfganghampelfanclub.blogspot.com/

http://wolfganghampelsociety.blogspot.com/

Wolfgang Hampel Fan Club

Wolfgang Hampel interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends and many other famous artists and writers. Wolfgang Hampel is also famous for his satirical poems and stories.

http://wolfganghampelfanclub.blogspot.com/

Letizia Mancino's website
http://www.letizia-mancino.eu/

Letizia Mancino, beloved artist and writer, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Member
http://letiziamancino.blogspot.com/

Letizia Mancino's Homage a Betty MacDonald
http://www.letizia-mancino.eu/index.php?page=gallery

Hilde Domin Fan Club
http://hildedominfreundeskreis.blogspot.com/

Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter, Betty MacDonald's friend, described as Kimi in The Plague and I, honour member of Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Betty MacDonald Society
http://monicasone.blogspot.com/

Monica Sone Society
http://monicasonesociety.blogspot.com/

Monica Sone Fan Club
http://monicasonefanclub.blogspot.com/

Gwen Grant's website

http://www.gwengrant.co.uk/

Gwen Grant, beloved writer and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Member

http://gwengrantsociety.blogspot.com/

Eva Vargas, Eva Vargas Fan Club, Eva Vargas Society, Künstlerin, Autorin, Komponistin, Sängerin, artist, author, composer, singer
http://evavargas.blogspot.com/

Alison Bard Burnett, Betty MacDonald's and Mary Bard's brilliant sister, beloved all over the world. Her very funny and witty interviews with Wolfgang Hampel about her famous sisters Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard are real treasures.

http://alisonbard.blogspot.com/


Ma and Pa Kettle Society
http://maandpakettlesociety.blogspot.com/2010/05/betty-macdonalds-ma-and-pa-kettle.html

Betty MacDonald Fan Club
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bettymacdonald/

http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/06/betty-macdonald-fan-club-items-comments.html
http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/betty-macdonald-fan-club-items.html
http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/betty-macdonald-interviews-on-cddvd_17.html

Alison Bard Burnett, Betty MacDonald's and Mary Bard's brilliant sister, beloved all over the world. Her very funny and witty interviews with Wolfgang Hampel about her famous sisters Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard are real treasures.
http://alisonbard.blogspot.com/

Darsie Beck Artist and writer of Your Essential Nature - A Practical Guide to Greater Creativity and Spiritual Harmony - nephew of authors Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard - Honour Member of Betty MacDonald Society and Fan Club
http://darsiebeck.blogspot.com/

Linde Lund created the Betty MacDonald, Monica Sone and Wolfgang Hampel Blogs
http://www.blogger.com/profile/15388942569315864610

Betty MacDonald Interviews on CD and DVD

http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/06/betty-macdonald-fan-club-items-comments.html
http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/betty-macdonald-fan-club-items.html
http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/betty-macdonald-interviews-on-cddvd_17.html

Betty MacDonald Community
http://bettymacdonaldcommunity.blogspot.com/

You can find more info about our Betty MacDonald projects and events in the future.

Wolfgang Hampel, author of the Betty MacDonald Biography and winner of the first Betty MacDonald Memorial Award founded Betty MacDonald Fan Club and Society in 1983. We are the largest Betty MacDonald Fan Club in the world - with members in 35 countries. Join our wonderful international Betty MacDonald Community!
We have tons of fun!

Betty MacDonald - Fan Club of Betty MacDonald and Society of Betty MacDonald
http://bettymacdonald.blogspot.com/

Betty MacDonald Fan Club
http://bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/

Betty MacDonald Forum
http://bettymacdonaldforum.blogspot.com/

Betty MacDonald Society
http://bettymacdonaldsociety.blogspot.com/

Mary Bard Jensen Society
http://marybardsociety.blogspot.com/

Alison Bard Burnett Fan Club and Society
http://alisonbard.blogspot.com/

Nancy and Plum Fan Club
http://nancyandplumfanclub.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Fan Club
http://pigglewigglefanclub.blogspot.com/


Darsie Beck Artist and writer of Your Essential Nature - A Practical Guide to Greater Creativity and Spiritual Harmony - nephew of authors Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard - Honour Member of Betty MacDonald Society and Fan Club
http://darsiebeck.blogspot.com/