Dart spent the morning repairing the wooden walkways that run throughout Camp Shoemaker. The gravel walks they used previously get absorbed into the soupy mud because there’s so much rain here. He carried lumber, saw, hammer and nails all over the camp, replacing rotted planks as he went.
He got Dot’s letter where she mentions collecting cigarettes for Pop. Dart assures her that his dad will be pleased. “See, it takes a pretty face to get things like that – not even a uniform helps anymore.” I guess tobacco products were one of the long list of rationed commodities.
There’s a beautiful moon hanging out above Shoemaker, surrounded by a rainbow-hued halo that makes it look sort of tarnished. The night sky is uncharacteristically clear, so the stars are sparkling and plentiful. Dart recognizes the advantage to being 40 miles from a big city when he sees how close the stars appear to be. He always likes the stars in a winter sky because they seem to sparkle more.
His favorite time of day around here is late afternoon when the shadows lengthen and the clouds take on a golden or pinkish cast. “The whole world seems to take on an air of peace, comfort, and quiet.”
He decides to describe his surroundings, now that he’s had some time to observe them. “Each morning we awaken to cold quarters and a heavy front. A thick fog blots out the sky and all but nearby objects by 0700. The sun rises to disclose a ring of green mountains at distances up to six miles, which completely surround “Sleepy Hollow.” As the sun gets higher, the mountains seem to recede and the fog leaves entirely. About noon, we’re sweltering. Aside from the barren, unfinished, scarred appearance of Fleet City (Camp Shoemaker, Camp Parks and a hospital) the valley is a beautiful place, with green fields, white houses with red roofs, and here and there, a row of willow trees following a meandering brook, or tall poplars along the road.”
“The mountains are not high, but their tops are not forested… Toward evening, as the sun sinks lower, the mountains change their color to a blurred, heavy blue-green and they seem to be moving slowly in toward the center of the valley, forming an oppressing wall of darkness. At night, they’re visible against the black sky only as outlines where they blot out the stars.”
Today Dart saw the doctor about his back. They recognized each other instantly from their time at Great Lakes hospital. He said Dart should be on permanent shore duty, but such a recommendation can only be made by a ship’s doctor after he’s been at sea. The prediction is that Dart will be bothered by soreness whenever he’s in a damp climate, for years.
When he examined Dart’s scar, he said “Dr. Pumphrey didn’t do that job, did he?” Dart told him it was Dr. Woldman. “God! You’re lucky you can walk,” exclaimed the doctor.
“I guess the ill-fame of the ‘mad gynecologist’ who dressed open wounds with a smouldering cigar dangling from his mouth, has spread,” retorts Dart. Nothing but the finest medical care for our men in uniform!
He thanks Dot for sending a package, which he can hardly wait to receive, and which he will thank her for more effusively once it does.
He enjoyed her confession that she watches him while he’s not looking and admits she’s not the only one who steals glances. He suggests that they’ll have to practice looking into each other’s eyes when they see each other again. “Remember how we looked together when we saw ourselves in the mirror? We looked a bit tired, but very happy. I wish we’d sat up longer.”
He hopes it’ll take forever to tell her how much he loves her, but for now, he’ll kiss her goodnight and wish the kiss was real.
The two “scrumptious” letters that Dot got today put her into a wonderful mood. She truly appreciates his faithfulness at writing nearly every day.
She understands that he won’t give her any help in Christmas ideas. She thinks men, and especially sailors, are impossible to buy for, but she’ll do her best and he’ll be stuck with the consequences.
Wishing she were better at telling him how much she loves him, she instead must resort to writing down the lyrics of a popular Mills Brothers tune called ‘Til Then. This must have been a song written for the millions of lovers all over the world who endured long-term separation during wartime. It is quite poignant and sentimental, and definitely captures the longing that Dot feels.
In a strange change of subject, Dot gets a little serious and tells Dart he needs to stop talking about her in such glowing terms. She loves to hear them, but she has faults – lots of them – and fears the day when he’ll wake up and discover that his “dream” has become a “nightmare.” She claims her father says she is his little nightmare and El is his “day-colt.” Her low self image sometimes makes me sad.
She likes to hear about his plans for the future, but reminds him that he wants to finish college. She advises him to cross each bridge as it comes, but hopes the plans won’t take too long in coming true.
She has been transferred again – this time to the young men’s department, where she works with the only male sales clerk in the store. Dart might be jealous, but she assures him there’s no need. Mr. Goldstein is a veteran of the First World War. He is single, though. “In fact this morning, he asked me to marry him. I told him I was very sorry but I had other interests so this afternoon he bought me some cookies. He said. ‘I want you to get good and fat so your other interest won’t love you anymore.”
With a promise to join him again tomorrow night, she signs off, leaving room for Tonsillectomy to write a brief note.
