520 8/16/1943 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 401 Alexander, Monroe, Louisiana Monday, August 16, 1943

Sadie Erwin 1120 Cole St., Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, It’s going to be another scorcher today so I want to hurry and get downtown by nine o’clock so will write a few lines to you now. It was hot all night long and even though we had the fan on us it stayed hot and didn’t even cool off a little toward morning. Everyone says this summer has been much hotter than usual and that means an early Fall but I don’t know about that. We have had months of this heat now and very little cool weather in between. I’m glad we don’t still live in that garage apartment because it would be much hotter there than in this apartment. Elmer feels pretty good now and is back to work again. Barrows, the people across the hall, are leaving in about two weeks for Lake Charles. The company found them a house so they don’t mind going and then they are from Houston, Texas and will only be about a hundred miles from there so are anxious to get to Lake Charles. We are pretty sure to leave the last of September and maybe sooner. I don’t know yet where we will go but if Elmer stays with the company I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Lake Charles too because they don’t have so many jobs going on right now so there isn’t much choice. I had a nice letter from you yesterday written while you were on watch, Mom. Tell Glad I am going to write to her tonight. I’ve started working on my rug again and have been spending every evening with that. For a while we were going to the library all the time getting books so I read all the time. Jimmie is busy mussing the house up. He pulls all the magazines out and does everything. Yesterday while I was taking a bath he got the can of powder and sprinkled it all over the living room rug and it was really hard to get it up. When was it Jim went into the army. The time goes so fast it doesn’t seem like he has been in long but it must be quite a while now. I wonder if he has changed much since going in. It doesn’t sound like you have had a very hot summer. You have mentioned rain and in your last letter you said it seemed like Fall that day. That is the kind of weather I love. Sometimes the mornings here remind me of Washington but they haven’t been cool for a long time. Well Folks, this isn’t a very good letter but I better stop and get ready to go to town. I bought a dress for Betty Anderson’s baby and want to get it mailed. I’ll write more later. With Love, Helen