It may be that at some time when our home here is fully made as we
would have it, I can tell you how we live, what odd Spanish dishes
we have on the table, how great a profusion of fruit is at our hand
for the gathering, and very many other things which to me are most
interesting.
I have learned to love this land even more than I did Pike County,
which at one time I believed the most beautiful spot on earth, and
although it pleases me now and then, when settlers come over the long
trail, to hear the younger members of the company singing "My name it
is Joe Bowers," I have almost forgotten that Missouri was once my home.
I have come to look upon myself as belonging to this beautiful valley
where Nature is so lavish with all her gifts, and therefore, instead of
calling myself a Piker, as in the days gone by, I dearly love to write
so all may see, that I am now, and ever shall be as long as the good
God allows me to remain in this world, Martha of California.