Sam C. Jones was at the Pocono Pines Inn, which (in the context of the message) seems to be a summer camp or resort.
The community of Pocono Pines is a census-designated place along the Tunkhannock Creek in Monroe County of northeast Pennsylvania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocono_Pines,_Pennsylvania
Originally developed around a large artificial lake for an ice company, the community quickly evolved into a Pocono Mountains summer resort – drawing vacationers from New York (94 miles southeast) and Philadelphia (100 miles to the south).
There were church conferences and youth conventions in the area throughout the early 20th century.
Today, the once sparsely-populated area is growing rapidly as a home for New York workers.
In July of 1911, Sam received a postcard from Papa.
The postcard was mailed from the Germantown Station of Philadelphia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germantown,_Philadelphia
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The face of the postcard displays a lovely example of postcard art.
In this painted scene, we see a rustic home surrounded by a garden and many flowering trees and shrubs.
A sailing vessel is moored at the edge of a nearby river, and mountains loom on the far horizon.
The scene is inhabited: a solitary figure stands at the gate to the house, some figures are grouped near the boat, and the figures of a young man and two young women are sharing some activity in the foreground.
There are wildflowers at their feet, but it is not clear if the group is holding or braiding flowers.
A printed title identifies, “A Peaceful Retreat”, and another small line of print identifies the artist, “A. Kenyon”, (who, unusually, copyrighted his work in 1905).
The identification of a “retreat” might suggest that this was a summer home or a vacation spot.
Some time ago, we saw Kenyon’s portrayal of a mischievous kitten in the postcard story, “The Death of Mrs. Esser”.
Published by the American News Company of New York, Leipzig, and Dresden, the postcard was printed in Germany.
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On the reverse, Papa greets “Dear Sam”.
Papa asks, “Is the water wet?”
Papa announces, “I expect by this time that you are swimming like a duck.”
The message was sent, “With love”.
Sam preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout his life.
One hopes that Sam became an accomplished swimmer and that he and Papa maintained a postcard correspondence for many years.
