Dart’s letter today is his best attempt to keep in touch, even though he has still not received any news from home. His job in the kitchen (galley) has begun to wear on him. He say’s it’s a great assignment for those who don’t object to petty theft (or grand larceny), but for him, it’s just plain hard and tedious work. It’s made more difficult by the “gold brick twins,” two men who are on permanent KP because no other division on the ship will have them. They are lazy and surly and Dart tries to keep his distance. He’s gone from scullery to steam table to bread table and is now “cox’n of the spuds,” peeling all manner of vegetables all day long. He still doesn’t know if this is a 6-week or a 3-month assignment, but either way, he’s looking forward to its end.
“As in everywhere else I’ve been, there’d be some changes made if I were in charge. I don’t intend to be, nor do I expect to be, so my changes will remain inside my head. They probably wouldn’t be much good anyway.”
He saw a movie last night that he remembers Dot writing about months ago. It’s called “The Navy Way” and it’s a kind of soft propaganda film about boot camp at Great Lakes. Dart enjoyed seeing all the familiar sights of his months there, but thought it was a fairly sanitized version of boot camp.
Some of the guys created a diving mask so they could explore water deeper than Dart wants to swim in. They used some rubber hose and an old gas mask – ingenious! Recently they brought up a piece of live coral. Rather than the brown, twiggy stuff Dart was expecting, it was a beautiful thing – dark glossy green at the base, bright red in the middle, and pale pink at the tips. He reports, however, that it really stinks as it’s dying and drying.
Now comes a clear example of how fouled up communication can become when mail is delayed by weeks. We see that he is still obsessing about the whole WAVE issue. “Dot, I’ve thought a great deal about your wanting to join…Perhaps I should never have said a thing. Regardless of the censure…I believe that all I said was true. But I also believe that it’s your decision to make as you see fit. So do as you please. I’ll be proud of you and my faith in you can’t be lowered by a mere thing like that. It’s my nature, though, to say ‘I told you so.’ There, you know what I thought when I first heard the news, and what I think a month later. I hope that when mail again gets to us, I’ll have the news that you changed your mind.”
The lack of mail is having an affect on the whole crew, especially when they see ships all around them getting regular mail deliveries.
“Goodnight, my Darling Dot. I look forward always to the far-future date when every evening can be like our last Thursday in Cleveland; and more than that.”
Dot writes that today was E-Bond Day at Franklin Simons I’m not sure what ‘E-bonds” are, other than war bonds, but maybe Mom will remember and can enlighten me. Anyway, for one hour, starting at 11:00 AM, no merchandise could be sold at the store so that sales clerks could concentrate on selling the war bonds. Dot reports that some customers resented the idea, but others got into the spirit of it all. She sold a total of $150 worth to add to her $100 sale the other day, putting her at half her quota. She certainly hopes she can sell a lot more.
Tonight when she got home from work, she decided to mow the lawn. She was rewarded with several blisters and very sore hands, but the place looks much better. I wonder where her teenage brother Doug was when the lawn needed mowing? That reminded me of a story that became family lore when I was a kid. Doug, who spent most of his life living at home with his mother, was very concerned when her saw his old mom struggling to mow the lawn with an old push mower. He was so excited and proud when he gave her a power mower for her 75th birthday!
Dot got new glasses today – not much of a change from her old ones, but she hopes it helps with the headaches she’s been getting.
Betty B. is feeling poorly today, so Dot’s father brought some ice cream home to make her feel better. She’s sharing it with the whole family, but Dot is determined not to fall into temptation. She’s still trying very hard to trim down.
She’s sorry this letter is short and uninteresting, but she’s sure Dart could help if he’d just come by and change up the routine of her days a little. She also hopes that by now he’s received word that she is NOT joining the WAVEs! She reminds him to please write to her friend Nancy, or ask one of his buddies to do so. With that, she signs off with all her love, forever.
