HYDE PARK, Sunday—In New York the other evening I went to see Phil Silvers in "Top Banana," presented by Paula Stone and Mike Sloane. This young married couple, with their theatrical ancestry, should feel at home in producing a musical play of this kind. "Top Banana" has humor, good skits all the way through, and catchy music. Someone said to me the next day that it was a play for theatre people rather than just a production for the public. While I can see why it would appeal to people who had known and been in the theatre for many years, I also think it is a kind of musical comedy where people really are amused. Certainly Phil Silvers produces laughter without effort.

This afternoon I attended a most charming country wedding. The daughter of one our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. James Bourne of Rhinebeck, was married in the garden of her parents' house. Many members of the Dulles and Bourne families were there and friends from near and far. I was amused to have one Mr. Dulles introduced to me as one of the few Democrats of that family. I asked him what relation he was to John Foster Dulles and learned he was a cousin. With a twinkle in his eye, he added: "Governor Stevenson wrote me he was glad to find one Dulles who would be with him."

The father of the bride offered a toast which I thought particularly charming. It was given in a foreign language but, translated, says: "May you have health, wealth and love, and time in which to enjoy them." In these hectic days, time in which to enjoy life is a very important wish. I sometimes think that we have so much to be grateful for and we give ourselves so little time in which to count over our blessings. For instance, everyone of us who is in the country these days should be savoring every moment of sunshine and summer weather. It will not last long, but it is perfectly wonderful while it does.

I took quite a long drive today through lovely rolling country with glimpses of the Berkshire hills on one side and, far away on the other, glimpses of the Catskill Mountains. The houses and farms we passed looked well-kept and prosperous. Crops being harvested were good ones. At the county fair here, Governor Dewey told the farmers that the Dutchess County corn was good this year. I understand one newspaper reporter was unkind enough to investigate the Governor's own farm. He found that his particular crop was poor, which must have hurt the Governor's pride as a farmer!

On the whole, however, as we looked at the fields both in New York and in Connecticut today, we were struck by how happy Mother Nature looks this year. I hope this isn't Indian summer we are enjoying now, for I always like to think as I did in my childhood that we get a little touch of Indian summer in November.

My new puppy, incidentally, is a joy indeed. "Duffy" is full of joy and pranks. He wants to be a big dog right away and can't see why we won't let him go hunting when the other dogs start trekking to the woods. Poor "Tamas" has been nearly a week in the hospital because of a scratched eye, but I hope he will be back with us on Monday. All these are things to find time to be concerned about and to enjoy these early September days.