Gathering at the Bunch's

Late summer brought a trip to Newport, Arkansas and we had a gathering at the Bunch's house. Here we are gathered in the back yard. Suzanne is on the swing, and Carl Nave , Dorothy and Ed Tirey are taking it easy.

Suzanne seems to be having a great time on the swing. She captures the spirit of this relaxed gathering. Aunt Pearl watches from a rocking chair.

Volvo catches fire in Mississippi!

On September 9 we headed back toward Atlanta, but in rural Mississippi the Volvo caught fire with smoke boiling out from under the hood. I quickly pulled over and threw dirt on the right carbeurator to put out the fire. The Volvo had twin SU carbeurators and there was a history of such fires. We got the car towed to Corinth, Mississippi, but the available garage there didn't have the parts. But they were knowledgeable enough to order the necessary parts from Memphis to be put on a bus to be delivered the next day. We spent the night in a motel in Corinth, and sure enough, the parts arrived on the bus the next day ($5) and the repair was completed. My record shows that we also bought a fire extinguisher for $1.85 and a tool box for $7.15 before heading on toward Atlanta. We paid a grand total of $8.32 for the night at the motel and $1.80 for breakfast, and the folks there were very nice. The cost of the repair of the Volvo was $7.07 . For 6 tanks of gas on this round trip our average gas cost was 38¢ a gallon.

In writing this, we are looking back 60 years, so we don't remember all the details. Brenda recalls us going to a house there in Mississippi and that they brought us out a plate of food to eat outside. Brenda recalls that the man had mechanics skills but didn't have the parts to fix a Volvo. But he knew how to order parts from Memphis and was the one who guided us to have the parts put on a Greyhound bus to our location. Brenda thought the parts were delivered to that man and he fixed it, but my impression was that the bus brought them to Corinth and we had the repair done close to the motel where we spent the night.

September 26 Rod's first day of teaching Physics 207, Mechanics. Rod had entered graduate school in physics at Georgia Tech in the fall of 1961 and was employed as a Teaching Assistant.

Brenda finishes Nursing School

November 9. Brenda finished her nurses training at Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing and had her black band removed. She had gone through the graduation ceremony in June, but because of time lost from our accident, she had additional work to complete, extending into the fall.

November 16. I sent a letter to John Baxley conceding defeat on a wager about who would get married first. I included a check for $5, the amount of the wager.