Dart is writing from Rocky Mount, NC in the middle of the night. He’s waiting on a stopped train which he deems the “coldest public conveyance ever invented.” It’s been raining for two days while he went about the business of checking out of Norfolk and he’s damp and miserable. Add to his physical discomfort the loneliness he feels, and you have one very sad sailor.

Fortunately, he received a bounty of letters at his last mail call in Norfolk and three of those treasured letters came from Dot. When he feels ambitious, he’ll dig into his seabag to retrieve them so he can respond.

A couple of his Haggard crew mates who’d been assigned to the new John R. Craig returned to Norfolk yesterday with tales of woe from their new ship. It’s noisy and it rides rough. There will be much more discipline expected aboard her than was required on the Hag. Dart is nervous and dejected. He doesn’t want to go back to sea, especially on a ship like that.

He finds himself wondering what they’ll do to fill up the daily schedule now that they aren’t at war. How much ammo will the ship go through? Will they still have middle-of-the-night general quarters drills? What about gun watches? All he gets for his musings is a serious case of the “I dunno’s.”

He interjects a bit of advice for Dot, in case she ever “wears the pants in the family.” He suggests she not wear wool pants. They’re uncomfortable for a trip like the one he’s currently taking.

Answering some of her letters, he gives her the following response about Christmas: He has no need nor space for much of anything. Maybe a couple pairs of dark blue socks, or a writing kit like the one she gave him a couple of years ago. Other than that, there’s nothing. All packages should be on board by mid-December, because there’s no way the ship will still be stateside by Christmas.

He begs her to give him a long shopping list of her wants and needs for Christmas so he’ll have a few ideas to pick from.

She’d asked about Puckett’s injuries that landed him in the hospital. Apparently he’s as reckless on his motorcycle as he is in a car. He crashed his bike while on leave, but his doctor took a single x-ray and pronounced him fine. It took the Navy to find all the broken bones.

He’s looking forward to getting her response to a couple of letters he’s written lately. When she’s not around, her letters are essential for his sanity, so she’d better keep them coming!

Apparently she had told him of being awakened with a kiss from a USAF private the other morning. It was Joyce’s boyfriend Bill who was home to surprise her and had gone to the wrong room. He’d simply seen a brunette head on the pillow and assumed he’d found his girl, but it was Dot instead! Dart wonders who was more surprised, and the image sent him off on a daydream of the day when he can awaken her that way.

He tells her not to worry too much about her lack of pennies for their collection. It’s really dollars that they’ll need for their house. Out of the blue he asks if she’d like them to have a baby before the house, or the house first. Should they just let Nature decide? Either way, money will be important and they’ll have to learn financial discipline. The $2.50 she has now would buy a lock for the back door, so I guess they’re on their way!

“That’s all for tonight, Dot. I love you very much and if I weren’t so darned tired and cold, I’d be awfully homesick.”