I hope your headache is better and your weekend
is not too arduous. Thank you for looking after
Mrs. Lipman; please don't feel any obligation to
her or to me, if she proves too much of a burden.

Here, matters are under control. The lawn is neatly mowed,
the gravel that obstructed the driveway had been removed
by the Highway Department's contractors before we arrived,
leaving the surface between the two old locust gateposts
level as it has never been. I had no difficulty in sectioning,
with the chain saw, the two large wild cherry trees blocking
the western extremity of the loop of the abandoned driveway
around the house. Now I need to get fresh gasoline for the
chainsaw to finish the job. Mommy has kept busy sorting
clothing and groceries, rearranging their storage. Both
of us tire easily, - as is to be expected.

In the context of Helmut's inquiry about the Updike poem
about "Fair Helena", I've spent much time rereading
Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Goethe's Faust, part 2, and the 1588
Volksbuch in which the popular fantasies about a renegade
scientist-magician first coalesced. I was surprised to
learn that many of the details of Goethe's account were
not, as I had supposed, his inventions, but derive from
the original account and were already appropriated by
Christopher Marlowe 200 years earlier. I'll forward to
you my letter to Helmut, but I don't expect you to
take the time or energy to read it.

After observing, on the trip down, the long toll-booth
lines on the Mass turnpike even on a non-holiday, I
concluded that it would be unwise to return on July 4,
as I had planned. We'll therefore be back, either earlier,
or more likely later, perhaps as late as July 20, unless
unforseen circumstances require an earlier return.

I hope your weekend won't be too taxing. I wish I could
help you. Don't bother to telephone if it's inconvenient.