HYDE PARK, Wednesday—When the children were safely in bed last night, the adults returned to my cottage to eat cold turkey which I sometimes think is better than hot.

We were all weary enough to sit around the fire afterwards in a very contemplative mood. I think everyone of us went to bed with a prayer in our hearts that now and always we may be conscious of our blessings in spite of our sorrows.

Above all else, I want to feel the continuity of life, so that I will be reminded that all we do here is imbued with the spirit of those influences and associations which have gone into the building of our lives in the past. May this spirit flow through us to shape the future, and may our children and grandchildren be the kind of people who will help to build the world that all of us want here on earth.

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In expressing thanks for my own Christmas cards in my column the other day, I did not mention another member of our household who certainly has a place in the hearts of all dog-lovers.

Fala and his master were so much associated in people's minds that Fala still has the affection and attention of a great many people. So may I extend thanks for the cards which were sent to Fala and for the gifts which came to him?

I want particularly to say that I appreciate the fact that so many people spoke of his master as well as of the little dog himself. I think Fala has had a happy day. We have acquired a playmate for him, aged about seven months, and even though Fala is more sedate than she is, he is still young enough to find that having a companion to run with in the snow and to chase in and out around the garden is really very exciting.

Frannie has a sweet disposition and is curious about everything in the world. The two little black Scotties together in the white snow are really an engaging sight. They were the joy of the party of children who came here this afternoon.

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At Wiltwyck School across the River there are always a few children left at Christmas-time, who are unable to go home for the Holidays. This afternoon, the day after Christmas, four of the members of the staff brought over some ten or twelve of them. Mr. Josh White and his little boy came up from New York and gave them a blissful hour of song, in which they were quite ready to join. Then everybody had presents from the very small Christmas tree which I have in my cottage, and ice cream and cake disappeared in astonishing quantities. It seemed to me a very happy party and I hope the boys found it so.

One of my old friends, Mrs. Charles Hamlin from Albany, came to lunch; also, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, the superintendent of the government properties here, and we had a most interesting time. Mrs. Hamlin is a mine of historical information about everything concerning the Hudson River, the early Dutch settlers, this country as a whole and Europe from which so much of our art and history stem.

I must go back to New York City and then my last busy days will begin, but wherever I go I will carry with me the memory of evergreen trees, white snow, frozen brooks and family and friends around an open fire in an American home.