April
27, 1942
643
Cedar Street
Dear Mom,
We got your letter this morning, and it is the first we've had since your letter last Mon. It
was good to hear from you, altho I’m sorry you've got house cleaning to
do. It is always such a job, but then
you always feel better when it is done.
Today is the 27th and I guess Royce is on his
way home, or almost. Tell him hello for
us. Some of the missionaries here that
knew him or of his work speak highly of him.
I hope that you will know when Lois is going to have her baby so you can
be home when Pearl is married. It seems
strange to talk of her getting married.
She thought all of us would be able to be at the temple when she did,
& here none of us will hardly. If
she is going to use my clothes perhaps Helen can wash the veil and do it
up. It needs cleaning badly, altho I
believe everything else is ok. Jean
Carlson wanted to borrow them around the first of June too.
Harold & I walked down by the river tonight and the
fireflys are beautiful. Looking at them
from a distance it looks as tho you are looking at a city from a hill with a
thousand glittering lights. We've never
seen anything quite like fireflys at home.
But it is after 10 o’clock & I’m tired, so I think I shall finish
writing in the morning.
April
28
The frig hasn't come yet, altho we are expecting it
today. I have stayed home all morning
waiting for it. It will seem so good to
have a place to put our food. I've just
put Alvin to bed, and here I’m sleepy again.
April
29th
Well Mom, this is the 3rd day I've been at
this letter. The weather has been so
sultry for the past few days I haven’t felt like doing anything. Today the wind is blowing quite stiff, &
it feels so refreshing. We sweat all the
time, day & night down here. You can
wake up in the middle of the night as wet as can be, yet you feel cold. It is just like our July days not now, hot &
sticky. You have to bathe every
day. I don’t know if you could stand the
heat if you did come down this summer.
We’ll have to wait & see how it is.
I told you about Mrs. Magee didn’t I? She lives across the street, and she has
surely been kind to us. She has taken to
Alvin as if he were her own child. The
other night we went over & sat on the porch visiting till 8:30 or more. They had a child’s porch chair that their boy
& girl had used, and they gave it to Alvin.
It is really large enough for me to sit in, and yet it is very low. Alvin insists on climbing up on me, & if
you can read my writing
[type written letter in the
same envelope]
May
2, 1942
Dear Mother,
I had just about given up trying to get a letter off to
you this week. It has been so hot and
sultry, and sticky I just haven’t done anything. Even at night it is so hot we can hardly
sleep. The last two days Alvin has had
heat rash on his chest and shoulders quite bad.
I have put his sleeveless shirts on, and he has been wearing that little
short suit you gave him, but I will have to cut off the sleeves. They come just a little below the elbow, and
are too hot for him. He won’t be able to
war the long pants I made of the denim very much longer.
It seems as tho something is trying to stop me from
writing. Mrs. Powell, a young neighbor
just dropped in to see how I was, and stayed talking half an hour. She has been asking me all kinds of questions
about our church, and she has never heard of it before, and it is hard for me
to explain it all to her, so I decided to start on something easy, and tell her
only so much at a time. She will ask me
a little every time she comes over, and it is certainly easier than trying to
sit down and tell her the whole plan and program of the church. In fact I find it impossible to do that, and
very impractical for her to grasp too.
Monday we have to go and register for sugar rationing,
and we will be allowed ½ lb. Per person a week.
This week we are unable even to buy sugar. But then I suppose you are having the same
thing at home. I got in 25 lbs. before
this week, so I will be able to put up a little fruit. Strawberries are almost over here, and they
are 1.50 for a case of 24 cups. They are
almost as good as those we have at home, but not quite. Dewberries are on in full swing now too, and
they are the biggest nicest berries I have ever seen. They are 2.00 for a case of 24., but I’m not
going to put any up unless they last till after the end of next week, and I’m
sure they will. The new vegetables are
just coming on now. Radishes, beets,
carrots, and potatoes. We bought a bu.
of potatoes at the market (new) for 60¢.
They are all small, but they are very good. Fish seems to be getting cheaper all the
time. Last night I bought 20¢ worth of
fillet of red fish which tastes very much like trout, and we had enough for
supper last night, and enough for mine and Alvin’s lunch today. I’m glad we can get some things cheap down
here anyway.
Yesterday fishing season opened here, and it was Harold’s
day off, and for a couple of hours he went down to the river and fished. You don’t even have to have a license here to
fish like they do at home. He caught a
couple of cat fish, but gave them to a little boy on the stream.
Today is Saturday, and we are going out to the park for a
picnic for the closing of Mutual. Alvin
and I are going out about 4, and Harold and the boys are going to meet us out
there at 5:30. I told you they were
getting a day and a half off didn't I, and they have to work a half hour longer
at night. Now they are going to work at
8, and working till 5. They leave here
at 7:15 in the morning, and by nine I have all my work done, and then it starts
getting hot.
I’m sending $6.00 in this letter. The one I owe you, and 5.00 more to pay the
Star. Then will you let us know if that
pays them in full. I’m very glad you did
send the ten on, because it was just before payday, and we were pretty low. The frig. Just got here yesterday. It was held up because of flood waters in
western Texas, and we were surely glad to have it. The last few days the milk wouldn’t keep
fresh one day, altho Mrs. Brown next door gave me a pan of ice cubes every day,
or I don’t know what I would have done.
We turned the frig on last night about 4, and it ran till bed time, then
stopped. This morning the box was hot
again, and I took the cord to an electrical shop up the street, and there was a
loose connection. We were glad that
nothing else was wrong. In coming down a
little of the enamel was chipped off the front, and the men that delivered it
said they would send the claim agent out to retouch it. The box it came in was almost in splinters
when it got here. The only thing it
could be used for is kindling wood, and it is no wonder, the thing is so heavy.
We will send some pictures of Alvin the first of next
week, altho they aren't very good, because the sun was so bright they are
somewhat dull. I got a letter from Mary,
and one from Dan this morning. They are
all well, altho Mary says she is having a time getting caught up after two
trips to Salt Lake. She also said that
Mary Jane had cut her first tooth, which reminds me that Alvin now has 3 double
teeth thru. We also got a letter from
Jennette yesterday, and one from Harold’s brother Gorden the day before. Jennette seems to be quite satisfied with
their house now, and I am glad.
I went to the Dr. yesterday, and he says I’m all ok,
except I've got to watch my weight. I
could tell I was gaining too fast, so I had been watching what I ate before I
went. It seems that the change of
climate has something to do with it.
Don’t worry about me, because I will be careful. The Dr. also told me to walk more each day,
so I’ll have to get out in the mornings before it gets too hot.
Write and tell me when you are leaving for Oregon, so I
can keep in touch with you. Alvin is
asleep now, so I think I’ll lay down for a while because I have to make two
dozen sandwiches for the picnic, and I don’t want to be too tired to go. And next time I hope you don’t have to wait
so long for a letter from me.
With love from all of us,
Your loving daughter Laura
Alvin, and Harold
Alvin, and Harold
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