Yes, the pictures are of the family at Lake Winnipesaukee (note the spelling). Our Dad, sister Peggy, and the two of us boys spent a week or two at a cabin on Bear Island, the largest island in the largest lake in New Hampshire. The year was probably 1942. Could have been 1943. I'm not sure. The pictures of the cabin back in the woods, the stone outside fireplace, and the little pier and rowboat brought that summer adventure back to me with a rush. I have no idea who the third boy was.

Mother was too ill at the time to accompany us; Grammy Dunlop, who lived with us in South Orange, NJ, stayed home with Mother. And Peggy had her first taste of being responsible for the housework (and she was only 16!). Peggy is the only woman in the pictures. As I recall, Dad borrowed the cabin from an acquaintance. The island was accessible only by boat. The mailman came a couple of days a week to a wharf down the island (around a point as I recall). The grocery man came to the same place every other day, or something. I don't believe there was electricity at the cabin, but I may be wrong about that.

The handwriting, I don't know. It could be my dad's. Yes, it was a wonderful, clear lake. Maybe all New England lakes are like that. One of the memories -- clear lakes to swim in when I was a kid. Dad had a knack for finding them: Bear Lake (I think it was) in Maine one summer, and then several summers at Silver Bay on Lake George in upstate New York. And I'm sure you heard of Nojiri, the summer place in Japan. After those, one would never think of swimming in the Mississippi River -- or the Hudson! jds