cams_hparker_2311_f002_021_1

San Francisco Dec 26th 1853 --

Dear Mother,

I take this early opportunity
to answer your kind letter of the 17th Nov which
I received the 16th inst. I was extremely happy to hear
that you all continued to enjoy good health &
were getting along so nicely in every respect.

For my part I am enjoying the best of health which
I consider much better than gold. You wish to know
if I board myself now on corned beef & cabbage in
answer to which I will tell you that I do not --

I have got a room partitioned off in the back
part of the store which is papered & carpetted [carpeted] with
straw matting, so for California I have got a very
good room. My meals I get at the restaurants
sometimes at one & sometimes at another & as
living is much cheaper than what it was last
winter I get along "first-rate" considering
where I am. When at home I should have called
as good accommodations as I have now, hardly
fit for no one, & I have seen the time since I have
been here when I would have been glad of as
good a place as the hen-house is, which Chas. & I
built -- Those times are past now though & I hope
forever. Dont [Don't] you think I ought to know how to
appreciate the comforts which you now enjoy & which