Saturday noon

[May 29, 1943]

Dear Mavis and Johnnie:

This is "Pay day for the Boss", but will take time to let you know I haven't forgotten you all.  It is almost miserable hot here today, and it looks like rain again.  We have done a lot of work since we started this week.  We have the combine out and we are trying to get it ready to start harvesting oats next week. I had to go to Cleveland this morning after some parts for it.

I wonder if you are up yet?  I hope you are. How is my Little Johnnie doing today? If he were in Mississippi he could go without clothes for it is real summer here now.  He could use that bathing suit in the Mississippi River for I believe it is deep enough for him to learn to swim. (How is that for silliness and nonsense?)

When I stopped by the Post Office yesterday afternoon, Billie Mills was there and she asked all about you and Johnnie, and if I was getting used to being a bachelor again.  When I told her that Johnnie didn't have any teeth yet, she said Flora's baby didn't have any either.  She said he was tongue-tied and that Flora wanted to have his tongue clipped.  I wonder what that is?  She said Big Ben had his clipped when he was a baby.

You said Stewart and Gladys's baby has them all beat.  I wish I could get hold of you now for there is no baby ahead of our Johnnie, for he is tops.  It would have been all right for them to have said it.  I know it will be hard for Stewart to go to the Army and leave Little Sonny.

They brought Tommie Harris home yesterday.  He is doing all right now; maybe they will be more careful about his diet.  They don't seem to know what brought the trouble on him, but anyway he had a close call.

Evelyn is still in Athens, Alabama.  Mama had a letter from her yesterday; she seems to be having a big time. Hiram is still in Pennsylvania.  Mama got a letter from him yesterday.  He is expecting to leave any day now.

I had to go look at the calendar to see when the twenty-first is; that is: what day of the week it is on.  I suppose I can count days now, for up until now I had nothing to look forward to.  You wouldn't know anything about looking forward to a certain date, would you?

I saw our neighbor, Mrs Barr in Cleveland this morning.  She said she had been planning to come up to see you and the baby.  She didn't know that you were away from home.

This is about all the little details I can think of,   Ruel