Tuesday, 17 November 1970

Up about 8:15; had breakfast, shaved off a 2-day beard; we had to be ready to greet visitors at 9:00: Homer Orne and Lawrence Swan came over to work on the kitchen faucet. I didn’t let them keep me from working; they were in and out a couple of times to get supplies. During the morning I went down to St. Mary’s to confer briefly with Richard Bamforth—I proposed his congregation joining with the Congo’s + Methodists for a COCU union Sunday morning service in the spring, with Bishop Mathews as speaker. He was willing. Other than this one trip out, I tried to get reading done in Deuteronomy. We had lunch during the noon hour and Bonnie left for work. After a while Debbie went down for her nap and I read until I got drowsy—napped a while. About mid-afternoon I called Bishop Mathew’s office; I discovered that he doesn’t have a free Sunday morning until 1972! However, his secretary suggested a Sunday evening in May—and perhaps a Sunday morning in March if some switching can be done. The rest of the afternoon I spent on Deuteronomy—I had supper [ready] when Bonnie got home; we ate, watched CBS news; at 7:30 I went to St. Mary’s for the Joint Church Committee meeting—had a good meeting, we were out by 9:30. Came home, relaxed, had a snack. Bathed about 10:30. OBLO 11:04.

Wednesday, 18 November 1970

Up about 8:15. Had breakfast—Homer Orne and Lawrence Swan arrived to do further work on the kitchen faucet; I occupied myself writing to the Bishop asking him to come to Rockport for a union worship service in the spring. When this was done I went to the Post Office with it; I also stopped at the church and turned the heat on—so that I could work on the banners in the afternoon. After I got home I had to go out again. I took Debbie for a brief walk; we went down to Mrs. Cooney to give her the Thanksgiving envelopes to address, then we went to Richdales for milk, then home—Debbie went right to bed for a nap. The mail had arrived, and while I was looking at it the mail man also delivered a box of books from Cokesbury, the ones I’d ordered for Christmas gifts—only one was missing and is to be shipped later. After lunch I went to the church and spent the afternoon working on two banners (based on the themes “Thanks Be To Thee O Lord” and “I Am the bread of Life”; got home shortly before 5:00. We had supper, then vegetated before the TV—we are being fond of The Storefront Lawyer; at 9:00 I went to Lewis to pick up sticks for the banners which Jerry prepares. Home shortly after 10:00; relaxed. Bathed  OBLO 11:15  Θ

Thursday, 19 November 1970

[Top panel: called Whittemore]

Up by 8:30—we were again paid a visit by Lawrence Swan and Homer Orne—finally, after 3 visits the faucets in the kitchen seem to be working properly. I shaved before they arrived, had breakfast. I was concerned to get my Thanksgiving Letter out today. Mrs. Cooney came by with the addressed envelopes. I wrote the letter, typed the stencil, ran it off. Then I got most of them signed. We had lunch at the noon hour. I finished signing them; about 1:00 I went to pick up Carol Lewis. She came over to help finish up the banners; I finished work on the letters, however, before we did that: folding, stuffing, stamping. We went to the church, did what painting and finishing touches were necessary—then we put them up. We had a cup of tea with Bonnie when all was completed. Then I took Carol home about 4:30. Came home—exhausted; I stretched out for a few minutes before beginning work on supper. After supper I relaxed. My call to Mac White was returned; he’ll be able to preach for me on Feb. 7—the day of Charge Conference. We watched CBS news. At 7:30 went to Patriquins. I had a brief session with Drue and Sully re baptism of Jennifer; watched Ironsides—then we had mug-up together; it was a very enjoyable evening. Home about 10:15. Relaxed; bathed; OBLO  11:15

Friday, 20 November 1970

Up about 9:30 after Θ—the first thing that I did was write the first paragraph of my sermon, since I’d been thinking about it before getting up. After breakfast I turned to upstraightening in my study—and I spent some time with the mail when it arrived, i.e., Life magazine. Bonnie did some housework in the morning, but it left her utterly exhausted, so I got lunch together—she left for work about 12:45—Debbie played in her room for a while before dropping off to sleep. I relaxed, read some in the Reader’s Digest—then got to work on my sermon in earnest—this was my main concern for the rest of the afternoon, and I finished the rough draft just about the time supper needed to be started. I had it ready about the time Bonnie got home. We ate, then relaxed, watched CBS news. About 7:30 I got back to work on the sermon, i.e., writing out the final copy. I finished with this shortly after 9:00—then did the bulletins, which I had done by 10:30. Debbie is coming along very well on the toilet training; she now has the idea that she has to pull her pants down before using the pottie. Her vocabulary continues to grow; yesterday she said “paperboy” very clearly—and she chanted it today when we reminded her about it. Bonnie’s grandmother called tonight; they’ll try to make it for Thanksgiving. Bathed; read  OBLO 11:45.

David’s Diary, November 20, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/07/davids-diary-november-17-1970/

Friday, 13 November 1970

Up shortly before 10:00. Had a hearty breakfast, then turned to reading—in von Rad’s commentary on Deuteronomy. I spent some time with the mail when it arrived. I didn’t eat any lunch when Bonnie did about 12:30, because I’d had such a large breakfast. Debbie went down for a nap and I settled down to write my sermon. This took the afternoon, but I had it finished by the time I had to start supper. I had supper almost ready when Bonnie got home. We ate, relaxed, watched part of CBS news. But we left before it was over—we took Debbie over to Jerry and Carol, then went to Gloucester to see “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”—a movie of just plain slapstick—but loads of fun—pure escapist entertainment. We got back to Lewis’ about 10:30 and spent about 45 minutes with them. They now have Carol’s loom set up in the basement and she has been weaving for the last couple of days, making scarves. Jerry and Carol are really two very talented individuals—he rebuilt the loom—is quite skilled. Carol also gave us some tips on making bread. We headed home about 11:15—relaxed, got our baths; stormy night—high wind, heavy rain. OBLO, 12:20.

Saturday, 14 November 1970

Up about 9:15—shaved (2 days worth) had breakfast—I had intended to put my sermon into final draft this morning, but I got side-tracked ordering some things concerning Planned Parenthood. But I finally got to the sermon about 11:00—and worked on it straight through til after 1:00. Then we stopped to get lunch. This was finished about 2:00, at which time I prepared to go calling. I went to see John Wicky—for about an hour—as usual had a pleasant visit with Bertha. From here I drove up to Hannibals, but no one was home, so I went to see Lucy Patience. I hadn’t seen her for a while, so I stayed an hour and a quarter. Then I came home and helped Bonnie prepare supper. Debbie hadn’t had a nap all day, so she went to bed right after supper. I turned to working on the bulletins. When I finished with this I tended to work on my desk, then went downstairs to prepare and rehearse the whole service. Practiced the sermon. Then Bonnie and I had a snack together. We decided to get to bed early; I read through the book of Ruth (as preparation for my Sunday School lesson) while she bathed; then I got my bath—then we headed to bed; OBLO 10:50.

Sunday, 15 November 1970

Up about 8:15. I practiced my sermon, shaved, dressed. My class of 5 arrived about 9:30. We read most of the book of Ruth. Then about 10:40 I left for the church. A miserable day, rain fog drizzle cold, but we had a moderate crowd—I preached on drug abuse, part III in the series “a Trilogy of Crises”; the Marrs were back from Scotland last Sunday, but they weren’t there today. We wondered why. The banners? The announced topic? Who knows. We got home from church about 12:30, prepared lunch. Debbie was exhausted from a morning [at] play at Sunday School, so she went down for a nap immediately. I immediately started writing letters after lunch. First I wrote to Bonnie’s folks, with the news that she is pregnant; then I came in to nap for a while; Θ; after a while I got up, wrote a letter to David Watson. Then we began to think about supper. Then I went down to Richdales for bread, milk and a pie. I fixed supper when I got home, i.e., put part of it in the oven. Then I began a letter to Mrs. Myers. After supper I continued on this letter until about 7:00—I then left for Gloucester, picked up Virginia Bate on the way—we went to Concerned Citizens Annual Meeting—home about 10:30. Bonnie and I had a snack, I worked further on the letter to Mrs. Myers. Bathed; OBLO 12:55.

Monday, 16 November 1970

[Top panel: mailed letters to Mrs. Myers, Bonnie’s folks, David Watson.  Several photos of Debbie 2¼ years old today]

Had a difficult time getting to sleep last night, so getting up this morning wasn’t easy. Breakfast wasn’t over with until after 10:00. I then turned to getting my letter to Mrs. Myers finished; also wrote my brief article for the Eagle. About 11:45 I went over to see Ed Nutting to confer on tomorrow evening’s Joint Church Committee meeting; also wanted to get his feelings on a union service sometime in the spring with Bishop Mathews as preacher. From his office I went to the Eagle office on South Street; then came home in time for Bonnie to get to work. After she’d left and with Debbie playing continually in her room, I had my lunch, tried to give some thought to two more banners to make for next Sunday on a Thanksgiving Theme. After eating I got my desk straightened up and organized a box-full of bulletin inserts which arrived this morning in the mail. Finally I got around to reading Deuteronomy. About 4:30 I began working on supper, read the newspaper. Not long after Bonnie got home we ate; finished in time for CBS news—about 7:30 Bonnie left for Chorus rehearsal; I put Debbie down for the night about 8:00, then returned to working on Deuteronomy. Bonnie got home about 9:30; we had a snack, then I returned to studying, no bath; OBLO 11:20.

David’s Diary, November 16, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/05/davids-diary-november-13-1970/

Thursday, 5 November 1970

Up about 9:00—the phone rang to get us out of bed; Carol Lewis wanted to go to the rummage sale. So we got up—since I needed to leave for Boston at 11:30. We had breakfast, Bonnie left, Debbie played in her study, and I worked at my desk. I was about ready to leave when Bonnie got home. I got on the road about 11:45. My destination was the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Clinic to be with the Hannibals. I got there slightly before 1:00—just after Rip was taken into surgery. Florence and her daughter of same name didn’t arrive until about 3:00—I got some reading done before they arrived—then we waited together. It was a longer wait than had been expected. Finally about 5 o’clock Rip was wheeled into the room. He really wasn’t awake—pretty groggy. But we stayed with him a while. I called Bonnie to tell her I wouldn’t be home for supper, then the 3 of us went to the hospital cafeteria—lousy food, but it eliminated the hunger. Then we went back to Rip—he was coming around now—and his wife was able to feed him some noodle soup. We also had a brief conversation. I left about 7:00—came home, arrived shortly after 8:00—then I went down to Patriquins to join Bonnie + Debbie; we watched Ironsides and Odd Couple—came home shortly after 10:00; relaxed; bathed—then OBLO, watched TV news—read, LO before midnight  Θ+

Friday, 6 November 1970

Didn’t get up til about 9:30—had breakfast—but it was a slow morning. I read the paper (last evening’s), then read some in Newsweek. Bonnie went over to Gloucester to pick up the surplus food that we’re getting now. She arrived back about 11:30. I helped her get it into the house—we looked over it together. We ate about 12:15, then Bonnie went to work, Debbie went to her room. I just vegetated for about a half hour. Then I got to work on my sermon—this occupied me most of the afternoon. I got about 90% of it done before I began working on supper—I had it almost ready by the time Bonnie arrived home from work. She is beginning to get very fatigued late in the day now—and this evening she was slightly nauseated—so the same problem she had with her first pregnancy is probably recurring. We watched CBS news—relaxed; I then worked more on my sermon. Got it finished, although when I do the final copy there will be polishing. About 8:30 I took Debbie down to Patriquins, then came home. Carol and Jerry Lewis picked us up—we went to Gloucester to see “Catch-22”—a sickening film—I didn’t care for flashback techniques or the gore—but it certainly leaves one with a disgust for war. Got to Patriquins about 11:30. Came home immediately, bathed; OBLO c. 12:30

Saturday, 7 November 1970

Up about 9:00. Shaved; had breakfast. While I was eating Florence Hannibal called with the news that Rip was going to be coming home today—which meant we wouldn’t have to be making the trip into Boston which we had been planning. I went over to Silva Brothers and bought a flowering plant to take to him in the afternoon. After lunch I worked on my sermon for a while—writing out the final draft. Then about 2:00 I went on my calling. I went to Hannibals’ first—took the plant. Rip was looking very well—he seemed very happy to be home. Most important, the terrible ringing in his right ear has been eliminated—there’s still noise there, but it’s bearable, and is expected to diminish. I stayed there about 1½ hours, then I drove over to High Street to see Forrest Clark’s in-laws, Mr. + Mrs. Hilton. They are elderly—he especially. They have been coming to church occasionally. I was home about 4:30. Then I got back to work on my sermon. About 5:15 we worked on supper. Bonnie is now beginning to have the evening nausea which we had to live with during the first pregnancy. She has been exhausted all day—we had to laugh when she started searching for the old standby: tuna. After supper I did some phone calling—but worked on the sermon + the service. Bathed. Θ when Bonnie went to bed shortly after 9:00—but I worked late, til almost midnight OBLO, 12:20.

Sunday, 8 November 1970

Up shortly after 8:00. Had breakfast after shaving; practiced part of the sermon. My class arrived—6 in all, we talked again about Jonah—we read it again, since the 3 who were here last week didn’t seem to remember much. I got to the church about 10:40—preached on the environment—this was Part II in a 3-fold series on modern problems. The Marrs returned today—and were completely civil despite the banners which have gone up since they left. We got home about 12:30—Bonnie went to bed, she had a sore throat—plus pregnancy fatigue. I fixed her lunch, brought it to her. Then Debbie and I had lunch. After she too was put down for a nap, then I relaxed before straightening up the kitchen somewhat. Just before I was ready to leave for the Den-Mar for the 3 o’clock service, Debbie took a tumble in her room, cut the inside of her mouth—she was bleeding and was quite distraught—got a splash of blood on my shirt when I picked her up. But she calmed down. From 3:00 to 3:50 I was at Den-Mar—then 4:00–5:30 at St. Mary’s for a meeting of the JYF steering committee. Came home, worked on supper, after which I just relaxed for a while. Then about 7:30 I got to work at my desk, tended to several things, although I didn’t have much ambition; about 10 o’clock Bonnie and I had a snack, then we got our baths, OB read, LO, c. 11:40.

David’s Diary, November 8, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/02/davids-diary-november-5-1970/

Sunday, 1 November 1970

Up about 7:40. Shaved, had breakfast, practiced sermon. My class arrived about 9:30—3 of them. We read through the book of Jonah. I got to the church about 10:45. Fair sized crowd; I began a 3-part series of sermons on contemporary crises—today I dealt with overpopulation—I suggested that a Christian approach to the problem is limitation of family size to 2. We got home by 12:30. Had lunch. I was intending to get some work done in the afternoon—but I wasn’t about to push myself. So I stretched out for a nap—but I didn’t get up til about 5:00! Off and on during the afternoon I was awake, but I didn’t bother to get up. Bonnie napped for a while too, but she was busy preparing the house for the company this evening. I got up about 5:00. We had supper. I helped getting things ready. I also went down to Patriquins briefly. I had to pick up a section of Thursday’s paper which Kay was saving; I saw Jennifer for the first time. When I got home I read the 3 part series of newspaper articles on Project NUVA—then wrote a letter to the editor, pointing out the Drug program schedule for Wed. night. At 7:30 the play reading group arrived. We read Plaza Suite—very enjoyable evening. They’d all left by 10:30. Then I did some desk work until 11:00. Watched news, bathed, watched some of Johnny Carson, OBLO c 12:25.

Monday, 2 November 1970

Up at 9:10, had breakfast, shaved. My morning was filled with errands. Went to Gloucester; I took my letter to the editor to the Gloucester Daily Times office—re: the drug program Wed. night. Then I went to Mals and Stopping Shop. From the[re] I went around Thatcher Road to the Rockport Eagle office. Then home to leave the groceries. Went briefly to the Building Center, then called on Mrs. Prindall—whose husband was buried on Saturday. Came home, had lunch. Bonnie left for work, Debbie went down for a nap. So I had most of the afternoon to work at my desk. Wrote letters, made phone calls. For days I’ve had a pile of papers and desk work to get through. I finally made some progress this afternoon. Late in the afternoon I read through the paper when it came. Bonnie got home from work before 5:30—and she brought great news! The pregnancy test was positive—thus it appears we were successful on October 8. She calculates that she is due July 1. We don’t plan to tell very many people until she begins to show. We had supper, watched CBS news. Richard Cardinal Cushing died this afternoon. Bonnie went to Community Chorus rehearsal. I stayed home at my desk—got more phone calls made, letters written. When Bonnie got home we had a snack, relaxed, did a little more work; bathed together; OBLO midnight.

Tuesday, 3 November 1970

Up by 9:00—after Θ+  We had breakfast, but Bonnie was pretty bushed—spent most of the morning in bed. After shaving I prepared to do errands. Debbie wasn’t inclined to take a nap—so I took her with me. We went to the P.O.—then to vote. She sat on the writing desk of the voting booth—several times she wanted to stand up and look over, but I didn’t think people would appreciate that. We then came home, got in the car. We went over to Lewis’ —to pick up + and leave off things, then to Gloucester to Mals and Stop + Shop. When we came home Bonnie got up. She’d gotten some sleep and felt better. We had lunch. The Debbie and I took Bonnie to work since I needed the car. Early in the afternoon I left Debbie with Kay Patriquin and went up to see Rip Hannibal for about an hour. Came back to Patriquins—had a cup of coffee with them, then came home, returned to desk work. Then about 4:45 we went over to the hospital to pick up Bonnie. On the way home I stopped to confer briefly with John Dunnack. Relaxed when we got home, watched TV, Bonnie fed Debbie. Watched first part of CBS news, then we took Debbie to Lewis’, then went to Wesleyan Fellowship covered dish supper. returned to Lewis’ about 9:00. Home about 10:00; painted in the kitchen while listening + watching election returns—some good results—some bad; OBLO about 1:00 AM.

Wednesday, 4 November 1970

Up after 9 o’clock. Had breakfast (although I had to go to Richdales for bread + milk before I could)—then I turned to desk work—still I’m wading through the pile of paper work. I made sure to catch the 12 o’clock news—I wanted to hear the election results. I shaved, then we had lunch—then back to my desk. About 2:30 I went to the P.O., did some checking at the church. Then I went to Gloucester to pick up donuts for tonight’s program. Came home to Rockport, did some more rearranging at the church. I then came on home; Bonnie was occupied with the fish tank—the final part of the process of sterilizing it—or at least decontaminating it—we refilled it, put the fish back in. I read through the paper—then helped with supper. Then I began getting ready to go to the church. I left about 6:40 after getting the first few minutes of CBS news. The drug program was a success from the standpoint of what people got out of it—only about 40 people were in attendance, however. I met Mike Kessler [?], the new NUVA director—he seems to be a very competent person. The thing was over by 11:00; by the time everything was cleared up and I arrived home it was 11:45. Jim Bussey drove me up because of the rain. Relaxed, bathed; OBLO — c. 12:50.

David’s diary, November 4, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/01/davids-diary-november-1-1970/