February 5, 1944

                                                            Feb. 5
Dear Folks:
            Well, we are in a cooler climate again. North Africa now and the Atlas Mountains south of here show up white under a coat of snow. The weather is very moderate, however. It gets up to 70° every afternoon and goes down to about 45° every nite. This is apparently the dry season. Everything is covered with red dust but there are lots of tropical plants and trees around including a large olive grove in which we are camped. What a garden could be made out of this place with some modern machinery and some irrigation dams! The is a large spring right here in the grove.
            We live in tents so have 5 thicknesses of blankets over us at night — 2 blankets doubled and one single. Sleep on canvas cots but have a big straw tick under us. Song birds must winter here because the trees are full of them! Can buy all the fruit juice we want at the PX. All other items are rationed.
            We all went to town the other day for sight seeing and to “cheat the natives”. Ha! These Arabs are the best “horse” traders in the world. They peddle their wares on the streets and have brass and silver trinkets and camel skin leather goods with all kinds of designs and dyed colors. They start with a price 6 times too high then ask you for your “last price, last price?” I got a knife for $2 which was worth about $1. The native buildings are mud adobe. The transportation is horse and donkey or bicycle. The French buses are charcoal burners.
            Was walking by Operations and saw a fellow jump on a bicycle. He had dark glasses on and I wasn’t sure who he was, but I called out “Warren” and sure enough it was Warren Smith. He said he might get home in the near future. He is in the Air Transport Command. How did Ground Hog Day come out?
                                    Yours truly,
                                                John
Have a fair sun tan again.