October 7^th/1917.

My Dear Mother,

Here’s another week gone by, and for us, things are running the same as ever, though I suppose we are a week nearer the end of the war, and home again. Thanksgiving Sunday too. I can turn my imagination loose and I think I’ve got all your doings for today in my head. The only thing that takes some imagining is the dinner. We had a lovely? dinner of McConochie stew today. Ed. will enlighten you, and the cooks per usual spoiled a lot of good water trying to make tea. How [?] when I consider where we were last year at this time, we sure have got a lot to be thankful for. If I ever get about a whole week to do nothing but talk in, I’ll spin a real live yarn about last rights of October. We’ve been with the Chaplains Service for six months now too.

We’ve had some beautiful rainy weather the last few days and it sure put the roof of the shack to a test. The first day it rained there were regular Niagara’s all over the place but we’re closing them off, and its not too bad at present. A whole lot better than what we had in worse weather last year.

We’re getting greatly excited here over the worlds series in baseball, and that’s taken the place of the elections in the nightly arguments. “The Daily Mail,” the only paper we get here, is printing the results, so we’ll get them pretty early.

We haven’t seen any Canadian mail since I wrote last, and we’re sure waiting for it as per usual, with mouths wide open. I hope Dorothy lets me know that she’s kicking occasionally, in Brandon, for it would be like enjoying a course there by proxy, if she would. Speaking of Brandon reminds me that one of the old battalion band came over the other day. He came out to a battery here after the artillery band he transferred to, was broken up in England and then he transferred out here to the twenty eighth band. He was saying that he had been married before he left England. I think this war would drive any body nutty if they stick at it long enough. That’s the only way I can account for M. O’Neil. I’m still pretty sane myself though.

I’ve run across both Joe & Ken. Hill lately and they both seem to be going strong. The last I saw Joe, who is a drummer in his battalion pipe band, he was starting out on a long route march working overtime at the head of a company. His partner doing ditto on the pipes. One of the best known and most capable Y.M.C.A. officers out here is a friend of theirs from Ourillia, Captn. Plunkett*, perhaps you’ve heard of him. He’s sure a live wire.

Do you remember Ma, the happenings of two years ago. I think I got a pass from Sewell for a few days [?] everybody got away for threshing and we got a group taken, I remember the civies. Then three years ago I was on the homestead. Four years ago Mick Musgrove and I took a pretty long hike with J. Whitewater and came in in some snowstorm. If it turned cold, we’d have a pretty good sample of the same storm right now, but its trying hard to rain enough to make up for it.

How often do you see Ed now I suppose he’ll get frequent passes out. Does he know yet what he’ll do when he gets his discharge?

Well Ma I’ve nearly reached my limit for today for its so wet and every things so blue that it doesn’t make for good letter writing, but I may add to this before I post it. Love to all.

Your loving Son
Charlie.

[*The reference is likely to Captain Merton Wesley Plunkett of Orillia, Ontario.]