Dart missed his bride-to-be at church this morning. He also missed her when they received an invitation to a picnic on July 10. He’ll go if his homework schedule allows, but it would be much more fun if Dot were there.
Dart’s minister, Mr. Kershner is vacationing in July in Connecticut and will be preaching at two different churches. He told him that Dot lived nearby and he said he’d be delighted to meet her.
He writes a paragraph about an “atom boom” today being nothing more but a bunch of static. “Nothing shook the world, but it sure set fire to the lagoon. We heard the broadcast.” I have no idea what he’s talking about here, so if any of my readers have a clue, I hope you’ll enlighten me in the comments for this post.
After planning all week to express the package of things he’s been promising to send to Dot, he forgot to go to the post office on Saturday morning. Now it looks like the only way to accomplish this task is to request that a postal truck pick up the parcel from his home.
He sure would like to drive to the northeast in September. It would be the nicest and cheapest way to see the country, but a new Peterson car will not be available by then and he shudders at the thought of driving all that way in their old rattletrap.
With no new letter of Dot’s to answer, he’s left to his own devices for filling a couple of pages. That means…railroad talk! He collected a large piece of plywood and some stitches from Homer’s house today. Yesterday, he “couldn’t talk fast enough to get out of going to a fellow’s house for an evening’s bull-session of the old interurban days.” He claims he doesn’t want to spend any more time on railroads than he already does, but he had a nice time anyway. He met a deaf-mute guy who spends all his time on the subject. A really nice guy, says Dart.
Yesterday morning, he, Homer, and Mr. Greasel had a little excursion to Collinwood Yard of the New York Central in the hopes of taking lots of pictures. It was a slow, hot day with few photo opportunities.
He tells Dot that he doesn’t want to spend much time going to railroad meetings, other than that monthly one he’s attended a few times because the time involved could become extreme. He admits that he’d like to go to any and all such meetings, but his school work comes first. On the other hand, several of these groups plan special trips or excursions to which wives, girl friends, parents and kids are invited, and he doesn’t want to miss any of those “gala occasions.”
He continues with the topic on which he wishes to spend less time. “Besides the time consumed which might better be spent other ways, there is the financial angle, which I must learn to watch more closely than before. Furthermore, when we are married, I’ll not want to be away very much to meetings of that type. One a month is all you or I should expect for me.” Does it sound like he’s trying to convince himself here? I find it astounding that there were so many train enthusiasts back then, but I guess there may be an equivalent number of video gamers or sports fans in modern times.
“I’ve been thinking of the nights in which we spent so many pleasurable moments. Enough said? Do I need to make any statements about how very much I miss you, Dear? I hope you’ll wake me up sometime. Wish it could be tomorrow morning, and every morning after.”