416 2/7/1942 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson Box 582 Newburyport, Massachusetts Saturday, February 07, 1942

Sadie Erwin 1120 Cole St., Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, Elmer figured out how to fix the typewriter last night and now I'm going to see if I can get a ribbon for it in town today and it will be all fixed up and I will get more letters written. I have our cottage all fixed now and we like it so much. We are having stormy weather right now so Elmer and George have been working in the office. It snowed day before yesterday and yesterday and last night a strong wind came up and this morning everything is covered with ice and sleet. You should hear the ocean roar. When I go outside to the toilet I can really hear it and it sure is loud. Mary, the girl next door said there was a swell surf but I haven't walked over to look at it for a couple of days and can't see it from my window because it is foggy. It is nice and warm inside but night before last the kitchen stove went out so was quite cold in the morning. We had forgotten to look at the oil before going to bed and it all burned up. Everyone here keeps the stoves going all the time, night and day because it doesn't take much to cool the houses off and takes quite a while to warm them up again. It is nice having Mary live right next door and she comes over all the time and I go over there. Tonight we are going over to Ducret's place. It is hard for them to go out at night because of their three children and when she has to keep fires going she doesn't like to leave them alone in bed. When Elmer walked home from the office yesterday, which is just down a few cottages, he said the waves were so big they were splashing way up high. This afternoon we are going into Newburyport and get groceries and Elmer has to get a hair cut. The morning my kitchen fire went out I was glad I had my waffle iron because it takes a long time for the stove to get hot enough to cook on so I was able to make waffles. Last night I made some cookies and they turned out pretty good. They stove seems to bake just swell. That funny woman whose name is Mrs. Wolfe hasn't come over any more since that first day. Mary said she has a pump of her own in her house but she just likes to get it from other people. I bet Mrs. Eagon was happy that Dorothy was going to be sent to Fort Lewis. Dorothy must be doing pretty good and she will like being nearer home too. If I had known where she lived in Wash. and we had had more time it would have been fun to stop and see her when we went through there. I surely hope we will get to stay here at least for part of the summer but if the snow stays too long there is a good chance of either Elmer or George being sent to Virginia or maybe both of them. If they weren't going to be gone too long Doris and I would stay here but maybe they won't even have to go and I certainly hope not. If the weather isn't too bad tomorrow I plan on going in to church but hate to drive when everything is so icy. I am glad you told me what time the services start. Well folks, I want to wash out some underwear so had better stop but will write more later and now that I have the typewriter it is much easier to write letters. Hope Jim had a nice time when he was home. With Love, Helen P.S. I had smelts for dinner the other night and they were swell so I am going to buy some more today.