Ontario, Calif.
Good Friday- 1943
Dear Nell-
Suppose I won't hear from you, only at Xmass, since the 4 [cent] is in effect on letters now. Pearl was boiling the fact she had left it too long to answer me, & her "Porter" blood was all in a ferment over the extravagance.
Well we are living "Porterish" these days too; since we've started buying a home again. It really is the only way to make Bob save tho', & I'm sure glad we couldn't find a place to rent as this way, he has to put 30 [?] into the real-estate hands every month & our igloo money made a down payment; so there isn't a darn nickel on the loose to spend.
I think we have a cute little home; & do like Ontario. Our house could be a little larger, but three thousand is a big enough sum to swing on a salary, & after all, one does spend most of their time [?] down here, so why worry over a big home to keep clean. I have a fairly large living room & kitchen, & a cozy bed-room & pretty big bath-room with clot[?] press & big blanket drawers; a small scullery with a stationer[?] wash tub. There is a double garage, so we can store all our suit cases & trunks out there, & I've filled all Bob's work clothes in them, & the fun[?] we won't use, so our big clothes closet in the bed-room is ample. Bob has to wear his good suit & shoes to his work now; so poor Bob hasn't anything in the closet but his over-co[?] & a few shirts.
Just received my California nurses license form from Juneau Alaska to-day. Had to send it up there to be signed & sealed that I was affiliated with some Association or I would have had to make my Washington license good, & imagine, I gave that up in 1932 when I went north.
Had to go up town, & be sworn before a notary Public that I was the Said Edith Harrison B[?] & have just enclosed the darn document with my naturlization papers off to Sacra[?] again. If those "Birds" don't come thru' with a California license I'll change my mind & don over-alls & be a [?] or grease monkey out at the Lockeed Air Craft- more money too.
Bob is on a grave-yard shift this week & neither of us are Keen about it. He works from 12 to 8, & gets home at 830. One thing[?] I can sleep is the A.M. but I can't make any noise during [?] day, as he is a very light sleeper. Have a lot of house cleaning to do too, but had to put it off. We put our garden in, as soon as we got here, as its pretty late for this far south. Bob dug up the whole back yard, & we have planted peas beans, carrots, turnips, onions, lettuce, swiss [?] chard, radishes, parsnips, egg plant, tomatoes, squash & 100 straw-berry plants. How are prices up there for fresh vegetables? Gosh' they're high down here, almost think I'm back in Alaska. Pretty nearly every vegetable is 15 cents or 20 a lb. & you know a lb. isn't much. I paid 25 cents for a box of straw-berries to-day. Had a box too, last week, & Bob gasped at the price and said ‘we would wait for the next box from our own garden. I just couldn't resist tho', they looked so lovely & juicy in the stand.
Spent an hour at noon at our Good Friday's services. I went to church on Palm Sunday too, & for a frightened [?] thought I had wandered into the Catholic church. This is [t?] queerest Episcopal service I've ever attended; I believe [t?] priest is form New York, & he follows a strictly High Church Candles, incense, Holy water & Confession. They say that most of Ontario's Episcopalians go to up-lands the town 3 miles north of here; but if I wait for Bob to cart me there & back, I wouldn't be attending service very often I can tell you. I told the priest I couldn't follow his service very well, but he only laughed told me to omit those extras I wasn't used to, & enjoy the se[?]. He really is a culiered man, & his sermons are a [?] to hear, so I guess I'll continue to sneak in the back pew, so no one can see me not bending at the knee every 2 minutes, and crossing my-self at the [?]. It seems too un-natural for me not that I don't conform to their way of worship [?] if I went through all that ceremony, I would be losing the best part of the service to my way of thinking as it's the [?] droning service with-out fuss or noise that has always given me such peace & happiness. I'm going to go for Commun[?] on Easter Sunday, & I'm not too sure of getting it as I d[?] intend to go to Confession, which one old dame told me was necessary; & also they asked for a strict fast before Comm[?] I'll fast, but I still believe in confessing my sins to God personally.
We sure got a set-back when our freight arrived here from Cariago[?]. The frigidaine[?] eveidently had a patched line in the cooling system, & all the bouncing coming down here it parted & let out all the dioxide, or whatever is in there. Had a General Electric guy looking at it, & he says we will have to have a new generator altog[?], & that costs around $80. Can't buy those things any-more until after the war, so Bob says we may as well go ahead & have this repaired, even if it is $80, as it is a real necessity in these hot days.
Bob got another Draft notice from Fairbanks Alaska. M[?] they're stupid; he had his umber transferred to L.A. last Fall. He didn't dare ignore it, so asked the Head Chemist at Kaisers' what he would do about it. He said to go to the Draft Board here in Ontario & have it straightened out. Well, he did & they wrote Fairbanks, that they didn't think it advisable to pa[?] Mr. Bowmans[?] way up north & back, seeing he had been turned down for combat duty, both by the Army & navy, on account of his perforated ear drum & any-way his number was on file in L.A. So to be sure & remove his number from their files.
Where I sit, I can look at our back-yard: I see our beans & peas & lettuce & radishes & turnips are up; won't be long before weeding t[?].
Guess I'll close, as it's close to 5 P.M. & my old man will awaken any-time now, & be hollering , & will keep hollering-- Wh[?] do we eat' & and he keeps it up till its on the table; so I had better get to peeling spuds. Have a gas range & they're quick "Thank Goodness" -
Lots of love & Happy Easter Wishes
Edith
P.S. Have discontinued out Box NO. as the past-man deliver[?] so are saving the 2 [?] a month.
