Tuesday, 30 March 1971

Up about 7:45. Shaved (2 days worth), had breakfast. Left the house about 8:35, went to the Post Office to mail letters to Mrs. Myers and folks. Then to St. Mary’s. Attended morning prayer 8:45–9:00. Talked briefly with Dick Bamforth about the youth hostel program our conference is trying to launch. He seemed interested. Then I went over to see Ed Nutting about the same matter—he seemed much more skeptical and cautious—but open-minded. I was back to St. Mary’s studying by 10:00. I stuck to the books til about 12:10—i.e. one book: started Martin Noth’s History of Israel. Turned on the heat at the church before coming home; had lunch. Bonnie left for work, Debbie went to her room, and was very shortly asleep. My afternoon was spent: reading further in Noth, napping briefly, reading the COCU assignment for tonight. Put a meatloaf in the oven about 4:30—was reading in Noth when Bonnie got home early about 4:50. Fixed supper. Finished about 6:00—read for about 20 minutes or so before CBS news. 7:30–9:30  the COCU group met—it was the last meeting. There is no great enthusiasm for COCU—not any great hostility either with most people. Rather skeptical for the most part—but there is an eagerness to pursue ecumenical affairs here on the local level. When the group had adjourned, Bonnie + I played with Debbie for a while. Then snacked read in Noth. About 11:00 I remembered that I hadn’t turned off the church—so I went to the church—almost had an encounter with a skunk! Bathed when returned home. OBLO c. 12:15  Θ

Wednesday, 31 March 1971

Up shortly before 8:00. Shaved, had breakfast. Got to St. Mary’s in time for morning prayer. Got almost 40 pp. read before stopping about 12:30. Came home—after turning on the heat at our church—had lunch. Relaxed—read I.F. Stone’s Bi-Weekly—he carried Nixon’s absurd statement that he rates himself “a deeply committed pacifist!” Then turned to Newsweek—I really wanted to nap, but there were too many interesting things in the magazine. Carol Lewis arrived—with Chris. She and Bonnie had arranged to get together to go for a walk. About 3:00 I went out calling. Went to see Mr. O’Reilly—then went to see the Hiltons. He is in his mid-80’s, has a heart condition, and his recovery is very slow. He welcomed the idea of me bringing him communion—also told him I’d bring the tape of Bishop Mathews’ sermon. On my way home after this visit I stopped at the church and turned the heat off. When I got here, Carol was just leaving. After she’d gone we fixed supper—and were through with it by about 5:50. I went upstairs and lay down—read again—but tried to nap—unsuccessfully until 6:30. Watched CBS news, etc. Played with Debbie very briefly before putting her down for the night. Made a batch of tapioca, worked with the plants in the fish tank, tried to read in Noth—but too weary—wasn’t doing justice to the material. Took a long leisurely bath. Didn’t move at a very fast pace. OBLO  c. 11:15.

Thursday, 1 April 1971

Up about 8:00. Shaved, had breakfast, got to St. Mary’s about 9:10. Conferred with Dick Bamforth on a number of things. Didn’t get to studying until about 9:45. Read in Noth. I quit shortly before noon. Turned on the heat at the church on my way home. Walked in the door just at noon. We had lunch. Shortly before 1 o’clock we all got in the car to go on a shopping trip. We went down to Ann + Hope—first to Lechmere however. There I bought Judy Collins’ album, Whales + Nightingales and the In Memoriam Fritz Wunderlich album. [1] We went down to Ann + Hope; there we got many items—including Simon and Garfunkel album, Bridge Over Troubled Waters—and items ranging from carbon paper to cow manure. Also bought a swing set for Debbie ($25), which we brought home on top of the car. We got home shortly before 4:00—immediately I started putting supper together. Carol Lewis came over with Chris—Jerry is in New Haven on assignment with Fisks. [2] We had supper together about 6:00. Then watched TV together—one moment of excitement and alarm when Chris fell out of the porta-crib on his head. But he was behaving very normally within a few minutes after the crying died down. Carol left about 7:30—Bonnie went to a Sunday School teacher meeting at Nancy Bonne’s house. I listened to new records, put Debbie to bed, watched Ironside—very fatigued. I listened again to the Wunderlich record. When Bonnie got home after 10:00 I went to the church to turn off the heat; home again, relaxed, tried to get sermon topic. OBLO c. midnight.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Wunderlich

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._B._Fisk

David’s diary, 1 April 1971

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/12/30/davids-diary-30-march-1971/