Vancouver, August 2nd, 1936

Dear Donald,

Just a few lines today to wish you a Happy Birthday. You will soon be 18. Just a boy yet, and I hate to think of you passing beyond the boy stage, but such is life, and I guess there is nothing we can do about it. Do your work faithfully, have as good a time as you can, and grow old gracefully. Be sure and train yourself never to worry. It is only a habit anyway, and I know from experience it is a bad one. We are mailing you two small packages to-day, and we hope you will not be disappointed, especially in the quality. The tie isn’t an expensive one, and if you don’t like it, you can pass it off on some of your pea soup friends next Xmas. Stew and I called at Woodward’s yesterday to buy one for you, and we didn’t like a single one that was on display, so we picked up a red one at a smaller store. Stew & I drove uptown in the morning and did a little buying for the store. Had diner at a White Lunch restaurant, the kind where you load up your tray at the counter, pay for it, then carry your tray to a table & eat. You can get a full course meal for two bits. After that we sat on the Union docks watching the excursion boats load up and pull out. Five pulled out within a few minutes and it was a very pretty sight to see them filing up the bay. A sea plane took off at the same time, and a large Norwegian freighter also pulled out while we were there. The harbor is a pretty sight anytime. Boats of all descriptions passing up & down all the time. The water is always blue & calm, and the mountains on the opposite shore make a lovely background. It’s a fine sight at night too, with the lights of North Vancouver blinking part way up the mountainside. Weather was bright & warm all through July.

This is the first Sunday we have been home all day. Didn’t have any store lined up to go & look over. Mack was invited by a boy friend down the street to a picnic at Boundary Bay. He took a lunch, & left this morning by auto. It is now 9 P.M. and he hasn’t returned as yet, but should be along soon, I hope. Remember I took pictures of you boys at Halbrite & never had the film developed. There was on exposure left, so I took a snap of the store building. Am enclosing it. You can see Stew standing in the doorway. The guy in the white coat peddles ice cream in the furniture factory to the right, at noon. He also sells nut bars & does us out of a lot of business. The old building doesn’t look so bad in the picture, but is a sore sight viewed with the naked eye. Still we are getting used to it, and Uncle George said it could be a lot worse. I was sure that car zipped by just as I snapped the picture, but I see now it was a happy occurrence, as it hides the worst part of the building. The windows on each side of the door are OK but there is a second window the same size along the left side. It is boarded up from the inside, & it looks awful. If we stay here this winter, will have it opened up. There are shelves across it on the inside. never did hear why it was boarded up, & seems a foolish idea. The Inter Urban line turns at this corner & you can just see one rail at the extreme right of the picture. It is an awfully busy corner, night & day & that is our bedroom window behind the ice cream peddler. No wonder I don’t sleep well at night. Some contrast to Halbrite, eh? Porteous family sense of humour ahead:  The furniture Co’s saw mill is at the left of the store, and the screech of the saws ripping logs into lumber is very pleasant music when you don’t hear it. But the noise really doesn’t bother us any more. Always have to close the front door when using the phone or it would be impossible to carry on a conversation. Dunc spoke in his last letter as though he wouldn’t be coming out. Wish he could afford the trip, as we would enjoy showing him around. Guess buying that car put a crimp in his finances. We didn’t call at Charnell’s about those pictures before we left. Will have to write & get the matter settled up. Don’t remember how much we owe on them. The last one I took of you & Rex is good, and so is the one of Dunc & Bob. You can see them when you come out. Tell Dunc he had better sell his bus & come out for a couple of weeks. He could ride out with someone else if he watched for a ?.

Business was somewhat better in July; sales were $98 over June and I figure we earned our living and operating expenses for the month. Let’s hear from you soon again, and I hope we will have the pleasure of seeing you before another birthday rolls around. Mack got back & had a fine time. He was over in the U.S.A.

Best regards, and love from us all.

Dad