Can you read this?

The question refers to the letter shown here. It is a scan of a letter Mary Jane Holmes, noted Brockport author of a century ago, wrote to a friend in 1884. The letter, as was the common practice then, was written in cursive penmanship. Nowadays many younger people do not learn cursive writing in school, and when confronted with a handwritten document like this are often at a loss to read it. The letter will be posted soon in the Mary Jane Holmes section of our Digital Commons; perhaps we should make a print transcription of it first!