I broke the back of life yesterday & started down-hill toward old age. This fact has not produced any effect upon me that I can detect.

I suppose we are located here for the winter. I have a pleasant work-roomⒶemendation a mile from here where I do my writing. The walk to & from that place gives me what exercise I need, & all I take. We staid three weeks in Venice, a week in Florence, a fortnight in Rome, & arrived here a couple of weeks ago. Livy & Miss Spaulding are studying drawing & German, & the children have a German day-governess. I cannot see that but that the children speak German as well as they do English. Susie often translates Livy’s orders to the servants. I cannot work & study German at the same time; so I have dropped the latter, & do not even read the language, except in the morning paper to get the news. We have all had pretty good health, latterly, & have seldom had to call the doctor. The children have been in the open air pretty constantly for months, now. In B Venice they were on the water in the gondola most of the time, and were great friends with our gondolier; & in Rome & Florence they had long daily tramps, for Rosa is a famous hand to smell out the sights of a strange place. Here they wander less extensively, for Munich is a damp, dark, muddy place. The family all join in love to you all & to Orion & Mollie.