From seasick to sunburned, Dart’s not having much fun in Panama. He’s covered with tanic acid, jelly and a “lovely bunch of stuf they use to cover burns.”
He was the only crew member whose duties called for him to spend the entire day in the sun. In Panama this time of year, the sun shines straight down and allows for little to no shade. The uniform of the day was white pants, undershirt and white sailor hat, with no exceptions. Consequently, he’s a sick puppy. His eyes are so sore and tired that he fears he’ll bleed to death if he’s not able to shut them soon. He’s even giving up a chance to see the nightlife on the other end of the canal.
“I still have my indescribably crummy Cristobal-Colon liberty to write about, and maybe a letter or two about the Canal, but I’m TIRED!”
“Do you mind too much, Dot, if we don’t talk anymore tonight, but just go to bed instead? Wish it were talk and we were going to sleep – in each other’s arms, even on a hot night like this.”
# # #
Dot writes the longest letter of the week – almost three full pages!
As she looks around her room all she can see is laundry – laundry drying on clotheslines, freshly ironed laundry hanging from lights, dirty laundry awaiting it’s turn in the machine. Someone might think she and her roommates were making a mint by taking in laundry, but this is what happens on a Thursday night when they’re all going somewhere for the weekend.
Dot is excited about going home with Joyce. It’ll make the week go faster and give he something to write about next week. And it will get her a couple of days closer to the day Dart’s letters start coming again.
She had lots of fun in her education class today, but a lot of the fun was at her expense. They were talking about how nice it was to have movable desks in the classroom so that children could form circles and converse with everyone in the class during group discussions. The professor said, “Why, the way this class is set up now, I doubt Mr. Onaly has ever seen Miss Chamberlain’s face.” Naturally, Dot piped up with “He doesn’t know when he’s really well-off.” Of course the class burst out laughing and lost momentary control with their giggles. Then Miss Van Campen explained to Mr. Onaly that Miss Chamberlain really wasn’t too gruesome. “Why, she’s even got a man, and that’s more than I ever got!”
She tells Dart that he’d be shocked if he walked into her room right now. She and Joyce are sitting on the bed eating oranges and wearing their p. j.s. Ellie on the other hand is parading around the room wearing little more than God gave her. “And the window shades aren’t even closed! No wonder those boys next door don’t get much studying done!”
Dot can hardly wait for two weeks from now when she spends the weekend at his folks’ house and attends the Andrews Alumnae Banquet.
But what she’s really looking forward to is the day his letters come back, bringing daily reminders that he loves her as much as she loves him.