March 27th, 1911
Jim, who has been working for CP Railroad, is apparently on assignment in Guelph Junction, Ontario. So obviously, since mid-February, he's regained his health enough to be back at work. It is interesting to note that Guelph Junction has had a little spur off the main CP Rail lines for more than a century, connecting Guelph with Campbellville, Ontario.
Jim writes that he wishes he could join Jennie at "the Arena." A little research reveals that this probably was the venue that had one of the world's first purpose-designed indoor hockey rinks. Located in Westmount, it was the first home of the Canadiens, until it burned in 1918. I doubt that Jennie was a hockey fan or that, as a member of the strict Plymouth Brethren sect, she would have been interested in or permitted to attend a hockey game. But other sorts of events took place there: musical performances, for example, even performances of Handel's Messiah and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.
And what is going on with Jim's comments about kissing Flossie (Jennie's sister, Flora)? Was he somehow trying to date both sisters at the same time? Was Flora flirting with Jim? If so, could that have been the source of some of the legendary tension between Flora and Jennie that my mother observed as a girl growing up?
