Carolyn Dodge resided in Ellensburg, Washington, in the Badger Pocket area on a farm with her family and her letters describe her daily life as a farm wife and later as the wife of a potato broker in the Quincy Basin. Dodge also wrote letters to her cousin at her residences in Kittitas and Quincy, Washington, following her time in Ellensburg.https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/dodge_letters/1083/thumbnail.jp

Dodge, Carolyn Broan

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Central Washington University ScholarWorks@CWU Carolyn Brown Dodge Letters Community Projects 2021 1953 Sept. 13, Dear Carol and all: Carolyn Broan Dodge Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/dodge_letters Recommended Citation Dodge, Carolyn Broan, "1953 Sept. 13, Dear Carol and all:" (2021). Carolyn Brown Dodge Letters. 82. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/dodge_letters/82 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Community Projects at ScholarWorks@CWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Carolyn Brown Dodge Letters by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@CWU. For more information, please contact scholarworks@cwu.edu. Letter #8 (medium blue ink, highlighter yeller clip, a note attached that states “not it took 8 years to get steps put in for front door, polio scare, broken collar bone) Sept. 13, 1953, Dear Carol and all: I see its just a month plus one day since you wrote & I’m ashamed for my delay – not because of the letter but because I’m not sure I sent the card I thot of writing upon receiving the slides. The slides are ready to mail & if I’d had my head about me — they would have been mailed yesterday. But as it is — I hope I’ll get them mailed this week.  One night I was all by myself, except for an occasional influx of boys going rabbit hunting, and I spent the evening looking at slides. Did it until I’d seen them all & was thoroughly exhausted. Then we showed them for Dodges sister & family as well as our gang. Since – I have kept them out in plain sight so I’d get them going — but I’m not so good. But you should have them by October 1 now.  What a summer this has been. We have had no extras except visitors – the first time in years. That I enjoy – as would you. You can appreciate this. We haven’t gotten all of the proposed jobs done but we never do. However we’ve done a lot & feel we look better around here as a result. Even have the new clotheslines I needed so badly about five years ago. With automatic washers – lines are seldom filled but when I first suggested them — I really needed more. But it was an idea Dodge liked so now we have them. Are steel posts & are removeable so if we wish we can take them down. Are set in boxes which are installed in cement – All the same Sears Roebuck. And we have cement front steps & sidewalk and now we are waiting for someone to use our front door. What a difference something like that can make in the looks of a place. The drain is dug & all the spurs filled in but have stalled on the main ditch to see how it goes. We are having to use 8 x 10 inche pipe I guess. Quite a flaw. The well still overflows if we ---don’t use water generously & we have watered much of the garden & all of the lawn with hose this year. Dodge thinks now he will lift the pump & set the overflow pipe in between the present base & the new heighth. Will have to break a hole in the cement wall of the pump room and then run a drain out to lay the pipe in to take water away from the house. Quite a deal.  I’ve been canning about as usual. Thot I’d cut down some but seems like it piles up pretty fast. One sister in law wanted me to go to Yakima with her last week & we went on Tuesday in a pickup and brot back 22 boxes of peaches for our selves – our families & friends. These were Hales & Elbertas, tree ripened and $1.75 per applebox – averaged 45 lbs per box – And then on Wednesday five of us – plus a little boy – went almost to North Bend (on Seattle Highway) and picked wild blackberries. We averaged about four gallon apiece. It was a new experience for me but some of the crows were veterans at it. I’m still working stickers out of my hands. I froze most of them – made a little jam & a deep dish pie & was surprised at the boys lack of enthusiasm. Maybe they don’t care enuf for them for me to put in the effort on them. We did have fun tho — just doing it with the group.   The peaches are going up as well. Still have a few to do – They’ll probably be ready in another day or so. The Hales were hugh. I weighed one of the large ones & it was almost 1 ½ lbs. Practically all had to be quartered to get them in the jars & I could get only about 18 quarters in a two quart jar. They weren’t fuzzy so I canned part of them with skins on to save time. Have done it before. It saves so much time & we like the looks of peach when you slip off the skin to serve them. They look commercial then. I want to get the rest of the corn in the locker this week. We’ve had warm weather & it has matured so fast. Pears, prunes & grapejuice should finish the canning now. I hope we eat it all.   Our orchard is young but have a few apples this year. The yellow delicious I think are most plentiful but I imagine even that has only about a half box. The trees look so little to bear fruit yet. We did get all the pie cherries we needed, there were 16 peaches on one tree – still too green to use & a few prunes. Our apricot trees are older ones and swamped us with the fruit. I canned more than I expected to, made three kinds of apricot jam & many batches of it & gave hired mans family all they wanted & three others – no five – came and got some for that extra jam. The fruit so nice to have here & how I love to share the surplus with others. And what nice things they do for us too.  I’m in the process of killing off my old hens & am glad we don’t have more of them. Only six to go now. May buy eggs for the winter. Haven’t decided for sure. A neighbor has lots of chickens & I can get her checks. They do me & take them off her hands. But if I get a chance at some pullets will probably fall for it again.  We have eleven little ducks with the mamas & papa on the pond & how they grow now. I’m afraid we have lost a lot in the drain ditch for a neighbor found one coming up to their place one A.M. But if we raise these ten or eleven – I imagine we’ll be glad there are no more by another year. They are surely cute & might even taste good about Christmas.  We’ve had some funny (odd) things happen this summer. Early in summer a power pole with transformers on it blew down as Jack was going along with a truckload of gravel & landed right across the truck. But by the time he got the truck stopped he was clear of the wires. $250.00 damage to truck. There were burn spots on the cab so it was “hot” and he felt that he had used up much of his potential life expectancy that day. He wasn’t hurt a bit but we were surely a restless family that night.  Then on Sat. August 29 – the boys had a party here for a friend who was to leave for Pensacola on Sept. 4 – for the service. Dodge & I had been invited out for dinner so were gone until midnight & when we got home the guest of honor had gone to bed because of a headache. Next AM. his head still ached. Nothing I had helped it, I took his temperature & it was only 99°. But he got no better & would roll his eyes instead of turning his head so I talked him into going to see doctor. It was about call time at hospital then & sure enuf when he & Jack stopped at hospital our favorite doctor there. He asked questions, did a test and put the boy in isolation at the Memorial Hospital where such facilities are available & pronounced it polio. He told Jack we should take care of ourselves – but otherwise go ahead the same as always. But when the health department asked the boy some questions on Monday – (the next day) they decided we were even more exposed than his family so stuck up a quarantine sign. Bob had gotten in just one day of school & Bill of course was driving school bus. Our quarantine for a week after the boy left here so Bob had to stay out of school, Bill had to quit bus job that week & we were all to stay out of groups & especially away from children. Dr. said legally they couldn’t quarantine us but we felt rather strongly about observing the quarantine & you should see all the fair work I managed to get out of! But I still put in a 12 hr. shift at the fair grounds on Labor Day so don’t feel guilty. And the boy had to spend only ten days in hospital, has no apparent paralysis, is very weak but home & pretty relieved that he is as well as he is. I still wonder if a weakness will show up later. But he thinks now maybe he can go to college again since it is doubtful if air force will take him for awhile.   While we were quarantined the boys baled hay etc — but stayed home pretty much & really got much more rest than we usually do that week before fair. On Wed. night – Sept 2 – they were riding this kids motor bike that he had left here & it threw Bob & broke his collar bone — badly. The bone was over lapped & ¾ to 1 inche piece broken clear off & lying across the over lap *included is a depiction of the overlap made with three lines in what looks like a “z” formation* Surely looked funny in the X Ray. He had a blank period too & didn’t know for awhile where he had been when it happened or where the bike was tho he’d pushed it nearly half mile home. Was in shock much of the time at the hospital tho he got along like a man & made little fuss. We had sedatives for him for four days & it was a week before he moved very easily. Went back to school the day after Labor Day but passed up the fair except for parade on Labor Day & then right home. It was Wed. before he moved very easily but Thursday nite came from school with a new jauntiness — due partly to the fact that he’s been asked to be one of the boys double quartette at school. This is Bobs first year in Ellensburg schools since second grade & he transferred there mainly for their music course. So he feels like he’s clicking. He finds it amusing to have the teachers recognize him as Jacks & Bills brother. One even looked the class over & said “Well it looks like we have no new faces this year” then suddenly realized they had one. We’ll take Bob in for another X ray this week but he’s doing very well now.  Jack has had a very uncomfortable day with a pain under his shoulder blade. I’ve done all I can figure to do to relieve it & being Sunday we hate to try to see doctor if not necessary. Anyway he has stayed on a hard bed most of the day with heating pad or heat lamp, & I have used all of the junk I could think of to rub in to relieve it – so now we’ll see what tomorrow brings.  Bill went to Portland Friday P.M. to the wedding of college friends & got back tonite about 6:30. Took our car & a neighbor boy traveled with him. I’m always glad when they are home again.  Boynton left by train Friday evening for Deer Lodge & the seed potatoe field day. We wanted to drive over but the deal was so late this year that we didn’t feel we would take the time & energy for two days of driving. They haven’t started digging here but the guys are lining up for it to start soon. Our potatoe acerage is only about one third of previous years due to all the new land in Columbia Basin & spuds do follow new land. Dodge & his pardner think they will have to operate in Columbia Basin some place if they are to stay in the spud business. That has taken many days of running around & asking questions etc – but nothing settled yet. They do intend to operate here too so it looks like a lot of work. Dodge is to be back here in the morning. He travels Milwaukee & has about 12 hours on the train 6 to 6 – either way so can get some sleep if train doesn’t throw him around too much.  How nice that your Mother & Blanche & Harry got to come & see you. I’ll have to tell you a story I heard which your sons-in-law in stanchions reminded me of. The little boy wasn’t too happy over his first day of school — but on second day come home & said it was “lots better today. They had stanchions enuf for everyone now”  A true story! Country boy I’ll bet.  I haven’t heard a thing about Dorothy for awhile & she hasn’t answered my last two letters. Last one from her not so good. I read an item lately on the use of electric shock in treatment of such cases. Made it sound very encouraging. Think of all the unpleasant years that might be made more bearable. I sure hope it works for her.  Well – this has had many interruptions & guess I’d better fold up & go to bed. I didn’t sleep too good last night. A large day and I ached & besides I don’t usually sleep so well when Dodge is gone. So even tho today has been quiet I’m tired & a little concerned about my two boys with painful or broken shoulders, my too tired boy that must drive a school bus in the AM. Don’t I sound “Motherly”?  I assume you got your 65 roosters out of the way. And don’t think I wouldn’t help if I was there. In fact – I think if we were given a chance we could do quite a snag of work with each others help & moral support. Who knows – maybe even seving those thousands to furnish the new parsonage — ha! That is meant for sarcasm. And I still think they missed a bet by not making that a duplex in cooperation with the Catholics! Now wouldn’t that be the one.  Thanks for the slides. We did enjoy them.  Bye now & love  Carolyn.  

1953 Sept. 13, Dear Carol and all:

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1953 Sept. 13, Dear Carol and all:

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