“Quite a view.”
Eddie didn’t answer. He wasn’t concentrating on the view, his mind was elsewhere, and he never looked at the stranger standing next to him. Both of them wore sweaters because it was windy and cold.
“From here you can see the remains of three shipwrecks,” he said.
Eddie looked at him for the first time and asked, “Where?”
“There. Over the edge. And there. Over there.”
“If I look, I’ll miss the sunset.”
“Yes, the sunset.”
“It’ll set in less than a minute,” said Eddie.
“Smell the air and the sea. Enjoy the surf. A fantastic place.”
“Yes, Land’s End is.”
While he spoke, Eddie’s gaze was transfixed on the horizon, frozen even, fixed. This seemed to annoy the person standing next to him, but Eddie didn’t care, and there was no mistaking the hostility. He didn’t appreciate being bothered
“The water, the wind, the smells…perfect.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, that’s so. And I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t appreciate it.”
It appeared that Eddie actually ate at the Cliff House, though it was pricey for him. It meant that he had to skimp and ate many of his meals in sandwich shops and hole-in-the-walls. Of course, he had to have Dungeness crab and sourdough bread at Fisherman’s Warf. The safest place to hold a Dungeness crab is its back.
Dungeness crab is named after Dungeness Washington.
Tom also ate Dungeness crab and sourdough bread at Fisherman’s Warf and sent his parents chocolate from there.
Highland Plantation, Maine
December 7, 1968
Dear Sport,
Lands End, the Cliff House, and I shall not hesitate to ask- where are you going from there? Hawaii? God, don’t tell me you don’t know. Perhaps Hawaii, for its beaches, or perhaps Tahiti for its women! Oh, how I’m jealous. Of course, I’m happy where I am, and I know you don’t like women, though I can say it now, married life is not bad, not bad at all; and who can testify to it better than a married man. I don’t mean to rub it in. So go to Tahiti and have the time of your life, but stay away from Vietnam. You haven’t lost anything there, and you could lose everything. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I won’t come to your rescue. I won’t leave my wife.
I’m having an awful time. I get a letter from you, and I feel jealous. No, I didn’t eat at the Cliff House or take in the air at Lands End. Do you remember what day it is? December 7th. AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. This same day my dad decided to sign up. Thinking of it almost makes me cry. If you’re looking for misery, there are plenty places to find it besides Vietnam. Don’t sign up. I know that you said that you wouldn’t but you say you’re going. You’re terrible. But please think before you jump off a cliff.
Please tell me what’s going on. I’ll be very nervous until I hear; as you know I’m 4-F. God had a hand in it, no doubt. May God be with you, poor God! How God weeps for all the dead. I don’t know how I’ll make this winter. It already has dropped below zero. Imagine what it’ll be like in January.
Smooth sailing. Yours truly, Shakes Spear
Randy Ford
