The Craig pulled into Colon at noon today, cutting through white hot, oppressive air. “I’m sitting here on my locker in my — well, the suit’s pink, anyway, and I’m waiting for liberty to be declared. I’ve showered and shaved and am waiting for the signal before putting on my whites and getting all heated up again.”

There’s an ARD docked near them and Dart plans to check it out to see if Burke is aboard. It’s probably not his, but he needs to  be sure. “This place is beautiful from the bay. Palm trees, tropical-style, modernistic buildings, planes, cars and sailors in whites. All just like the movies.”

Next morning he writes about his hours in the city. “Oh Lord! What a liberty! I’ve heard about this place, and now I’ve managed to see it. A rugged few of us managed to keep away from IT and THEM, and we feel comparatively safe from all the evils. ( “IT” being you-know-what, and “THEM” being bad drinks.) Now we are scheduled to get underway through the canal at 0630. I’m already in whites and have my face, arms and neck greased for protection from the sun.”

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Another day of short letters from both kids. Dot writes of going to see “Mildred Pierce” with Joyce and Ellie last night. They enjoyed seeing the mellow drama to spice up their “hum-drum lives.”

Ellie didn’t get the letter she expected from Tip today, so she threw a little tantrum and tossed his picture, the recording of “their” song, and other mementos. Dot emptied the waste baskets shortly after Ellie’s tirade, but pulled out what Ellie had pitched. A few minutes later, when Ellie realized how childish she was being, she was quite relieved to discover that Dot had salvaged her precious items.

Dot confesses that this has been a long and lonely week. Even though she tried to prepare herself for the absence of both Dart and his letters, she didn’t do a very good job of it. Nothing has any meaning to her unless it involves him in some way. Of course, she’s been reviewing all her memories – from their first dance at Andrews to his face as she boarded the train at Christmas, and those memories have helped a bit.

She included two quotations she found today that have given her some things to think about. “Before we set our hearts too much on anything, let us examine first how happy are those who already possess it.” (La Rochefoucauld)   And “While we consider when to begin, it becomes too late to do so.” (Quintilian) I’m not sure what captured her interest in those lines, but it helped to fill some space in a letter.