David’s Diary – January 25, 1971

Monday, 25 January 1971

Up about 9:15. Had breakfast, shaved. Wrote my weekly letter to Mrs. Myers. Did a little desk work. The mail man arrived with a post card from Gary Myers! Finally some response out of him—he’s sick, and as soon as he’s well will write more. The post card was a thick one—heavier than cardboard, with a picture of Mae West, circa 1934! I had mentioned her in my letter to him. I went to the P.O., stopped briefly at the church, came home, read in C.O.C.U. Plan of Union until noon—got the assignment read for tonight. We then had lunch. Bonnie left for work, Debbie went to her room. She dragged out a bag full of clothes that Bonnie has never put on her, and spent the afternoon trying on clothes—had a real ball. [1] At one point I also built a house for her. She emptied all of the blocks out onto the floor, and we put them all onto the building. I worked on the prophets part of the afternoon, then turned to Qumran. I was occupied with [it], Cross and Milik, until supper. I had supper ready when Bonnie got home. We ate, relaxed, watched CBS news, etc, prepared to greet to C.O.C.U. group, which arrived about 7:30. It was over by 9:30. Bonnie had gone to Community Chorus Rehearsal for the evening. I studied until she got home and after—read Micah. Then did my daily scripture reading: NT I John 4-5, II John, III John; OT: Ezra 1 + 2—names, names, names! No bath. Began reading in Nielsen on Micah 4-5. OBLO , c. 12:30.

Tuesday, 26 January 1971

Up about 9:30. Had breakfast, turned to reading—in Nielsen’s section on Micah—continued my reading from last night. When I finished this I turned to reviewing Zephaniah. We had lunch at noon, Bonnie left for work, Debbie went to play in her room. I shaved, had a phone conversation with Sarah Orne—then finally got to studying—finished up with Zephaniah. Then turned to reading further on Qumran, i.e., in Milik’s little book and Frank Cross’ Ancient Library. These two volumes occupied me until it was time to be putting supper together. Read through the paper when it came. Bonnie arrived home, we had supper. 6:00-6:30 read in Milik, then watched CBS news. Debbie knows who Walter Cronkite is. We’ve been trying to acquaint her with “Walter.” She also knows “Soupy” [2]—on What’s My Line? CBS news reported renewed attempts by the military to get around Congress’ ban on ground troops in Cambodia. I prepared for the meeting at 8:00: Finance Committee: Kay Patriquin, Roger Smith, Homer Orne, Jean Crowell, Jack Wicky, Sydney Gamage were in attendance. No raise in salary—but the church will be assuming all of the medical insurance bill that we pay monthly—so in effect a raise of over $100—big deal! After the meeting was over (c.10:00)—I had to push Jean Crowell out of the icy driveway—studied. Read Nahum—and commentaries. Read NT: Jude; OT: Ezra 3 + 4; bathed OBLO c. 12:30. Θ

Wednesday, 27 January 1971

Up by about 9:30. Had breakfast. Turned to reading in Habakkuk and commentaries. When the mail came I spent some time looking through Newsweek. Shaved before having lunch at noon. After eating I returned to reading. Bonnie went shopping about 2:00 while I read—Debbie was playing in her room. After finishing the review of Habakkuk I turned to reading in Milik’s book on Qumran. Bonnie got home about 4:00—at which time I had to go to Ornes. The statistical reports for 1970 have to be in by the 31^st, so I had to take time to get them filled out. I returned home shortly after 5:00. Fixed supper. Relaxed. Just as we were preparing for supper we discovered that the female guppy had delivered: we have 6 live babies. We transferred the mother back to the main tank—immediately the babies came out of hiding. After supper watched CBS news, etc. Then turned again to studying after doing some phone calling that had to be done. This time I began work on Daniel—rereading Jeffrey’s introduction in the IB. As the date for the retake of the exam approaches I have mixed feelings—fear, dread, despair because of the mass of the material—yet at times I have high hopes that I’ll be able to pass. I now feel confident that I could have passed the exact same exam that I took on Oct 1—but the whole new set of questions is another story! Bathed about 11:30. NT reading: Mk 6-8; OT: Hab; Joel; OBLO c. 12:30.

Thursday, 28 January 1971

[Top panel: called Dr. Beck]

Up shortly after 9:00. After breakfast I had to tend to some church business. I had to prepare the final copies of 3 reports to be sent to the conference—also send out letters to members of the administrative board re: meeting next week and annual meeting. This occupied me til almost noon. Then shaved; we had our lunch. After eating I went to the Post Office to mail my morning’s work, then went to Richdales for milk. When I got back Bonnie and Debbie left—they went to see Carol Lewis. Sue Lee was also joining the party with daughter Diane. I began working on Review—rereading for the most part—Ginsberg book on Daniel. Shortly after 2:00 Margaret Reilley arrived, as planned, to help me with a French article by Milik on Prayer of Nabonidus found in Cave 4. We—rather she—translated the article aloud. We worked through it together. When she left about 3:30 I returned to work on Ginsberg. Bonnie and Debbie arrived home—and soon both of them settled to napping or relaxing. I continued with Ginsberg until about 5:15. Then we put supper together. Finished by about 6:30. Watched CBS news, etc. Then I studied for an hour before Ironside, after which I returned to Daniel. During the noon hour today I called Dr. Beck at BU—to confirm that I’m planning to take the exam Monday. He said it was all ready. I’ll be allowed 4 hours instead of 3. Must write on #1—then 4 out of 5. I’m getting more and more nervous! Worked on Ginsberg til about 11:30. Relaxed, bathed: OT reading: [???] 1,2,5,7,etc.; MT: Mark 9; OBLO 12:35

[1] The earliest record of a strong interest in costumes!

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soupy_Sales