Tag Archives: 1970

David’s Diary – November 21, 1970

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Saturday, 21 November 1970

Wasn’t able to get to sleep last night; I got up about 1:30, read until about 2:30—then went back to bed—although I still didn’t get to sleep immediately. So I was [not] too enthusiastic about getting up this morning, although I was up shortly after 9:00. Had breakfast, shaved. We wanted to get down to the church for the W.S.C.S. Fair. Bonnie + Debbie were ready before I was, so they went on—I followed a little later. I took my camera along to the church, to photograph the 2 new banners in the sanctuary—then I mailed the film away to be processed. Came on home, spent some time with the mail; Bonnie went to Gloucester with Debbie to do errands. About 11:30 I went back to the church to have lunch at the Wesleyan Fellowship Luncheon. I also wandered around a lot—then did a little to help clean up. But I came home about 2:00. With so little sleep last night I was pretty tired—so I slept. Bonnie, Debbie + I—we were all out, until about 5:00. Then we slowly came to life again. We fixed a simple supper. Then I went to my study to work at my desk. We also put Debbie’s room back to normal, i.e., we’ve made enough progress with the pottie training to put back the carpet + the big bed (D. has been sleeping in the crib); I spent the evening working on the service, clearing away desk work, phone calls; had snack too; bathed about 11:00; relaxed, read; OBLO, 11:41.

Sunday, 22 November 1970

Up shortly before 8:30—quick breakfast, shaved, practiced part of my sermon before my Sunday school class arrived—had 5. We finished the story of Ruth, then read the story of Abigail. I got to the church about 10:40—had a good sized crowd, almost 40. I preached on the theme, “Thanksgiving for Things Unseen”—we were home by about 12:30. Fixed lunch, then relaxed—I also wrote a letter to Mrs. Myers. Mother suggested that I begin again to write her once a week. I also put a copy of this morning’s bulletin in the envelope. I took the letter to the P.O.—came home and gave in to the temptation to nap. Slept until about 5:00. Then I read briefly on Deuteronomy. Bonnie expressed a desire for Sweet and Sour Pork—so we called up Drue to ask about a Chinese restaurant—the closest one is in Gloucester—China Port at Grant Circle. So we went over there—had a marvelous meal, altho the atmosphere was hardly “chinese” —pretty Americanized. We got home before 7:30. Relaxed, gave Debbie her bath. About 8:00—after putting Debbie to bed, we started trying to reach Paul and Marty—but no success all evening—either no answer or all circuits were busy. Finally gave up about 11:15. I worked on Deuteronomy all evening—in von Rad, Weiser, finished rereading Deut itself; no bath; OBLO, 11:37.

Monday, 23 November 1970

Up before 9:30, had breakfast. One of my errands was to take 200 Thanksgiving bulletins (blank) over to Ernie Bailey, who’s in charge of the Community Thanksgiving Service. After I got home I did some reading on Deuteronomy before the mail arrived. The post man brought New English Bible—OT and Apocrypha, plus several hundred pamphlets on COCU. I then read, until Bonnie got home from shopping. We had lunch. I had to take Bonnie to work—so Debbie went along. Then when we got home we had about 45 minutes before having to leave for the garden. I tried to rest; Debbie used the pottie chair, with toys in it! —so that had to be cleaned up. We got to the garden about 2:15—huge pile of manure had to be spread over the garden. I was joined by Carol Lewis and Barbara Cornell. —and later Ann Fisk. It was hard work, but good exercise, or so I tell myself. It certainly aggravated my head cold. I’d suffered mainly from some congestion—but after getting home really had runny nose. Grandmother Fisk took care of Debbie during the working. We went directly to the hospital. When we got home we fixed supper, then relaxed, watched CBS news—Bonnie went to community chorus rehearsal. When she got home we wrapped Christmas presents for the folks to take back to Indiana for everyone; bathed about 11; OBLO 11:45.

Tuesday, 24 November 1970

Up about 9:00 after Θ. Had breakfast, then turned to working at my desk, played with Debbie for a while. I had hoped to get some reading done, but my head cold was leaving me rather weak and lethargic—and I felt more like resting since I had so much ahead of me today. I spent some time with the mail when it arrived—Nat’l Geographic. Then about noon we fixed lunch. Margaret Reilley arrived about 12:40 to take care of Debbie. Bonnie and I left about 1:00. I left her at the hospital, then headed for Boston. I arrived at BU just about 2:00. I went to the bookstore, bought a copy of Playboy, went to the BUST library, did some xeroxing, got a mail box, then headed down to the Copley Square area. I had called ahead to a bookstore and they had 2 books of I.F. Stone which I wanted. I picked them up, then headed to Cambridge, to Harvard Coop. Found one book of interest for Carol Lewis for Christmas—about 4:45 I headed back to Boston—to the English Room for supper. From there I went to Logan airport, arrived about ½ hour before Folk’s arrival time. They arrived just about on time, we headed for Rockport, got here about 8:15. Visited, ate, told them about Bonnie being pregnant. Played with Debbie, visited; OBLO, 11:50.

David’s Diary, November 24, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/08/davids-diary-november-21-1970/

David’s Diary – November 17, 1970

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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/

David’s Diary – November 13, 1970

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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/

David’s Diary – November 9, 1970

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Monday, 9 November 1970

Up about 9:30. Had breakfast, shaved. The first item of business was to get my article written for the Eagle. Then after the mail arrived, I went over to the Eagle office. From there I went to the Town Clerk’s office to find out the procedure for getting an article in the town warrant re: funds for Project NUVA—came home, conferred with Jack Roberts on the phone. It was then about noontime, so I helped with lunch—i.e., I got it Bonnie still feeling lousy—she’s got cold, cough, sore throat—plus nausea. After eating, I took Debbie with me down to Tucks—we for prescriptions filled for cough med + nausea pills. I relaxed briefly after getting back, then at 2:00 Hazel Brady arrived; we then picked up the Ornes, drove to First Methodist Church in Melrose—got there shortly after 3:00—Bishops Day on the District. This was over about 5:00—the Bishop talked a long while, then answered questions. Got home about 6:00. Had supper—Bonnie had eaten before I arrived. Watched CBS news—had to clean up the dishes. My evening was spent on desk work and getting Debbie to bed. About 10 o’clock I went over to Busseys to get their vaporizer—for Bonnie. We had a snack when I got home; Bonnie went to bed, I read the newspaper; OBLO c. midnight.

Tuesday, 10 November 1970

Up about 9:00. Had breakfast. Today it was hard to get going—I was scheduled to begin study again on the Qualifying Exam—but I lacked ambition. When the mail was delivered I read I.F. Stone’s Bi-Weekly. The mail man also brought Vol II of R. H. Charles Apocrypha + Pseudepigrapha—I ordered both volumes—the other one will probably arrive soon—they came from Blackwell’s in Oxford. Bonnie did some work in the early morning, then rested the latter part. We fixed lunch around noon—the news carried the report of the death of Charles deGaulle. Bonnie was feeling well enough to go to work—after she left Debbie went down for a nap—I napped briefly too. Then finally I turned to studying—although it was hard to keep at it. Late in the afternoon I turned to work on supper—and Bonnie got home early. We ate about 6:00—watched CBS news. About 7:30 the Administrative Board arrived—i.e., 7 of them—nothing unusual or dramatic happened. Jean Crowell reported the dollar figure on the Fund for Reconciliation—$1571.50 has been collected, i.e., about 58½% and the half-way point chronologically won’t be reached for about 4 or 5 months yet. The meeting was over about 9:00; after everyone had left we relaxed, then I turned again to studying for a short while; bathed; relaxed; OBLO 12:07.

Wednesday, 11 November 1970

A rather non-productive day—up about 9:30—did a little studying in the morning, but for the most part greatly bothered by lethargy. We had lunch about noon. Then early in the afternoon we went over to Gloucester—one of Bonnie’s colleagues at work has a humidifier he wants to sell, and Bonnie would like one—to help her avoid sore throats. So we went to his home, picked it up—spent some time talking about and looking at his aquariums. We then came on home—a huge fire was burning out of control several blocks away—we could see the huge column of smoke. When we got home we were all exhausted—so we celebrated the holiday by sleeping—sacked out until about 5:00! Then I fixed supper—since Bonnie thought she’d get nauseated if she tried to. After supper we relaxed, watched CBS news—Storefront Lawyers. [1] Then I got to studying; I’m working on Deuteronomy. I have selected 6 or 7 areas of OT study to concentrate on in the next few weeks, preparing for retaking the exam: Deut; Pentateuchal criticism; Daniel; prophets; Ezra-Neh; Psalms; Qumran. I kept to studying—except for coffee break until about 11:00; then I made out orders to Cokesbury + Whittemores—my Christmas shopping; bathed about 12:30. relaxed, read, OBLO 1:22.

Thursday, 12 November 1970

Didn’t get up til about 9:30—after Θ. Shaved the first thing—2 days worth, then had breakfast. Slowly proceeded to studying—after going to the post office to mail my orders to Cokesbury and Whittemores. The mail man brought vol I of Charles Apocrypha + Pseudepigrapha—vol II had arrived on Tuesday. I went through all the mail, and went about putting my bookplates in the Charles volumes—also wrote a check to Blackwells. We had lunch, then I did some photographing of the Charles set—took 3 slides to incorporate into my Dead Sea Scroll talk. Then Debbie and I went out shopping. Bonnie was exhausted—needed a nap—so I decided to get Debbie out of the house. We went to Mals, then to Stop + Shop. Came home, put the groceries away, then Debbie and I went up to see Rip Hannibal. When we got back from there I tried to get back to reading, but there were distractions. About 5:15 I went down to Richdales for bread + milk. At 5:45 Dick Bamforth picked me up—we went over to Gloucester to the Gonzaga retreat center on Easter Point [2]—a dinner for Protestant Clergy. We had to leave the discussion early—about 7:30—when I arrived home Bonnie went to a Sund.ay School Teacher meeting—I watched TV, we had a snack when she got home—then I read. OBLO  c. 11 o’clock.

 

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

[2] Named after St. Aloysius Gonzaga: https://easternpoint.org/?page_id=792

David’s Diary, November 12, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/11/04/davids-diary-november-9-1970/

David’s Diary – November 5, 1970

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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/

David’s Diary – November 1, 1970

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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/

Gladys – October 28, 1970

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Letter transcription:

118 Juniper Court
W. Lafayette, Ind. 47906
October 28, 1970

Dear David, Bonnie and Debby,

We have made plane reservation to fly to Boston November 24th (will be there to celebrate Dad’s birthday the 25th). We will arrive in Boston at 6:49 Tuesday evening on TWA. Will return home on Sunday – leaving Boston at 5 PM American. We will travel via Chicago going and coming.

Monday evening we went to Kentland. Dad gave a program for Rotary. I went to Johnsons and Dorothy and Lucille and I went to the NuJoy for dinner. After dinner we went to Mrs. Myers and I showed them some of our slides from Japan. We are to go to Kentland for Bridge Club Sun. evening and I have promised to see Mrs. M. again before club. She keeps asking me about you and if we have heard from you. She feels so alone now since Harold and Doris are not living in Kentland now. They manage to go over form Monticello about twice a month and see her. She has a few people who help her with her shopping and take her to the foot doctor. She never gets out of her apartment except to go to the hair dresser and to the foot dr. I wish you would take time to write her at least once a week, if only a few lines. It would mean so much to her. I know you are busy, but a few minutes of your time would mean so very much to her.

Tomorrow I have to go to Rochester (Ind) to a Conference meeting. Heard on the radio today that the temperature is going to drop some before morning. It has been warm and raining today. I was out twice today and didn’t wear my boots the first time and I know my shoes got soggy. The second time out, I was prepared for rain. Dad had said at noon it if stopped raining this afternoon he would rake leaves when he came home—you can guess he didn’t. He potted some bonsai trees instead. We have a new lamp post for the front yard. The court is so dark, we figure it will be worth what the electricity costs, just to have the light. There has been a rash of robberies close to Glenwood Heights, so we have been leaving the kitchen light on all night.

I hope our plans meet with your approval, but at this time of year we figured we had better [plan] the plane reservations a little

[page 2] ahead of time. We were afraid we had waited too long as it is.

Let us know.
Love Mother

P.S. Hope Bonnie’s hair hasn’t gotten too long by the time we get there. Will see if Shirley still has anything of Becky’s that Debby can wear.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by Deborah Sweeney
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David’s Diary – October 28, 1970

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Wednesday, 28 October 1970

Up a few minutes before 9:00—up too late really. I shaved hurriedly, then went to Rev. Bailey’s home—we 4 clergy (Bamforth, Nutting, Bailey and myself) had agreed to meet every now + then to discuss our beliefs. It proved to be an interesting morning—Bamforth had to leave early, but the rest of us stayed until after 12:00. I came home, we had lunch then I turned to working at my desk. Around 2 o’clock or so I went to visit John Wicky—he is home from the hospital now. I had a long chat with him and Bertha—ranging over a wide range of subjects. Came home, returned to my desk. I’m slowly getting things cleared away there, but there’s still much to do. Late in the afternoon I had a long phone conversation with D. S. Mac White. Bonnie went out to do shopping. When she returned home I helped her unload the car, then did some work on the kitchen cabinet doors before supper. After eating we watched CBS news. Then the evening followed the same pattern of many recent evenings—had the TV on and worked on getting doors on. I finished the bathroom doors, then got going on the painting of them. Got two done, then relaxed, watched TV. Helped clean up. Bathed, watched some of Johnny Carson. OBLO, c. 12:30.

Thursday, 29 October 1970

Up shortly before 8:00 after Θ, Shaved, had breakfast—I left town about 8:45—I had an appointment with Don McGaw in Lynn—got there about 9:32. My main concern in going to see him was to get suggestions, guidelines, advice on pre-marital counseling. I’ve never done it before, on any real basis, and it’s part of my professional life which is sadly underdeveloped. He was able to offer a lot of helpful suggestions. I wouldn’t know where to begin, and now I think I have some ideas. We went out to eat—got onto route 1—then he drove me back to his house to get my car—he hadn’t been thinking, or I’d have driven my car to the restaurant too, then I could have gone straight on into Boston. As it was about 10 min. late to my appointment with Richardson. It was quite an hour with him; I said probably no more than 10 sentences. He had the exam in front of him, and went through it from beginning to end, picking it apart; I haven’t the faintest notion when (or if) I’ll be prepared to write an exam to his satisfaction; he made bibliographical suggestions—and I spent some time in the library getting them together and xeroxing. Left Boston about 3:40—got home about 5:00 (stopped to buy a pecan pie), had supper, watched CBS news; went so see Bertha Wicky—whose brother-in-law died; came home; 8:00-10:30 at Patriquins watching Ironsides; came home, relaxed, bathed, OBLO c 11:45.

Friday, 30 October 1970

Up about 8:45 after Θ. Had breakfast, then spent some time puttering—hanging cabinet doors. Then shaved. About 11 o’clock I went over to Pigeon Cove, picked up a book from Sue Lee, Two Children by Choice; we’d loaned her the book, and I need it for preparing Sunday’s sermon. Then I went to see Mrs. Prindall, whose husband just died; I’ll be doing his funeral tomorrow. It was a short visit; I was home by about 11:30. Went through the mail—Carol Lewis was here with Chris. We all had lunch together. Bonnie left for work, then Carol left shortly thereafter. I had intended to get to work on the sermon, but was very tired; I napped until about 3:00. Then I decided to get more painting done; so I did the back (i.e. inside) of the cupboard above the sink. When I finished this I called Don McGaw to tell him that I won’t be going to conference tomorrow because of the funeral. Finally late in the afternoon I started on the sermon. But shortly after Bonnie got home we fixed supper. We caught only a few minutes here and there of CBS news because we discovered fungus on some of the fish and had to start the salt treatments. At 7:20 went to the Lewis’s for the evening; watched Sargent/White debate, played password, just talked, watched Nixon speech. Home about 12:15; treated fish; very weary; OBLO, 1:10.

Saturday, 31 October 1970

Up about 8:30 or 9:00. Had only juice for breakfast, and got to work on my sermon. There were interruptions and distractions, but I did make some progress. About 11 o’clock Bill McKinney was knocking at the door—he’s up from NYC for the weekend. We had a brief visit—Bonnie arrived home from errands with Debbie while he was here. Two books came in the mail. I worked further on the sermon, then shaved before eating. I made a little more progress on the sermon, and while I was preparing to go to the funeral, Wm and Cameron Sesto appeared at the door! I had to leave almost immediately for the funeral however. 2:00-3:00 was spent at the funeral home + cemetery—William Hanson Prindall, Bertha Wicky’s sister’s husband—90 years old. When I got home I returned to work on the sermon. We also were occupied off and on during the day with the fish—another died. Don’t know whether we’ll be able to save them or not. Wm + Cameron went out photographing part of the afternoon—but they had supper with us and left shortly thereafter. Then I spent the evening working on the sermon and preparing the service—the sermon is lengthy—so I eliminated some other items in the service. Finished up about 11:30. Bathed; OBLO c. 12:30.

David’s Diary, October 31, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/26/davids-diary-october-28-1970/

David’s Diary – October 24, 1970

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Saturday, 24 October 1970

Didn’t get out of bed til almost 10:00. Thus the morning was rather short. Tried to get going on the sermon, but when the mail came I went through it. The biography of John XXIII which I’d ordered came. The weather was simply beautiful—warm, sun out—so I decided to get some outside work done, i.e., cleaned the mower, put in new oil, prepared it for the winter. Debbie “helped” me—and in the process got rather wet; she had great fun with the hose. When the mower was ready, I brought the hose in, hung it in the basement. We then had lunch, it was after 1:00. I showered before eating, so right after was reading to go calling. I went to the Hannibals first, then went to the Den-Mar to visit Esther Longley; then I came home briefly—then went down to see Lucy Patience. I left her home about 5:30—dropped in to see Kay—stayed and chatted with her and Les about 20 min or so. Came home. Bonnie was preparing supper—I helped with it. She did her Xmas shopping this a.m., i.e., bought some things to send to her folks. After supper I had to devote the evening—aside from a couple of breaks to play with Debbie—to preparing for tomorrow. Worked on the sermon, which was a remake of last year’s reformation sermon; did bulletins; prepared SS lesson. Our mother Mollie had her babies—we noticed about midnight—put her back in the main tank. Bathed, OBLO; 1:35 (but time change, gain hour).

Sunday, 25 October 1970

Up about 8:15—shaved, prepared to receive my class—all were late—had 4; we read through Genesis 1-3, discussing differences and important features. About 10:40 I arrived at the church. An average attendance; I preached on the theme of the Reformation’s contribution the Bible study + reading. When we got home from church I set about moving fish around, i.e., Black Mollies back to tank #1, so that the new baby mollies could be put in tank #2 (only the neons and a lazy cat fish). We had lunch, I finished monkeying with the fish, tied to relax—I actually napped—fell asleep between 1:45 and 2:15. Got up, prepared to leave. Hazel Brady arrived at 2:30—we went to get Gladys Haskell, and then went to Wesley Church Gloucester for C.A.M.P. meeting. Main item of business was the drug program—also I got paid $280.00. This was over by 4:30. Came home, Hazel visited with us a while, then left. We prepared supper—the evening was spent working. I sanded the rest of the doors for the kitchen cabinet, Bonnie varnished. Then I started work on the doors for the bathroom shelves—i.e., I worked on the piece to mount the doors on—this had to be fitted. TV was on most of the evening—a series of good programs on channel 2; Bonnie introduced mother cat to the fish, who hadn’t noticed them yet. She is quite interested now! Bathed, read in bed; LO, c.12:50 Θ.

Monday, 26 October 1970

Up between 9:00 and 9:30. Had breakfast, shaved. My main concern for the morning was to get two Eagle articles prepared—the regular church news, plus an item about the upcoming drug program. I had to do some phoning—and got a return call before I could do the second one however. So in the meantime I took care of other things, i.e., some desk work, looking through mail. Then I went to the Eagle office very late in the a.m.—from there to the Post Office to mail Bonnie’s Christmas package to her parents. Then I went to L.E. Smiths + Building Center for paint and door hardware. Got home after noon, we had lunch, Bonnie headed for work. Early in the afternoon I napped for a while, did desk work. But my main concern was to get posters ready to put in the high school—tonight is an open house. I found the package of drug posters from last July program, simply altered them slightly—although this did take some time. About 4:45 I began working on supper and it was about ready when Bonnie got home. We ate, watched CBS news. Just when this was almost over, I went to the high school with the posters—came right back so that Bonnie could be at Chorus Rehearsal by 7:30. My evening was then spent working on the doors for the bathroom shelves—had TV on. I finally finished these—bathed about 1:00—up much too late; OBLO 1:40.

Tuesday, 27 October 1970

Up at 10:00. Had only a cup of coffee for breakfast—my main preoccupation for the day was desk work. I got a lot done—but there’s plenty more yet to do. Bonnie went out shopping part of the morning, and Debbie played with me in my study—I was doing things that didn’t require great concentration. We may be making some progress with her toilet training—she used her potty-chair today twice, once in the a.m., once in the evening. We’ve got it in her room, wired to the radiator so that she can’t carry it all over the room. After Bonnie got home from shopping we had lunch around noontime—then she left for work. I spent the afternoon at my desk—making phone calls, getting caught up on correspondence. I also prepared some more posters about the drug program. I had supper prepared by the time Bonnie got home, so we were finished eating by about 6:00. I then set off delivering posters. Took one to the community school, (stopped at Hazel Brady’s to pick up a check re: C.A.M.P.) went to the Tarr school, then to Pigeon Cove school. Stopped at Ornes for another check, chatted briefly with them—then came home about 7:30—The remainder of the evening I spent working on the doors for the kitchen shelves. By the time I quit about 11:15 I had the doors in place, with only routering edges and sanding yet to be done; bathed, watched some of Johnny Carson; OBLO 12:50.

David’s Diary, October 27, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/25/davids-diary-october-24-1970/

David’s Diary – October 20, 1970

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Tuesday, 20 October 1970

[Top panel: 2 photos]

Up about 8:30. After breakfast tried to get going on desk work. My main involvement for the morning was putting together an order for Sunday bulletins. Late in the morning, after the mail arrived, I got out the lawn mower. I hadn’t mowed the lawn in months—and it’s on my list of things to get done—I mowed for about 45 min—up til exactly noon. Stopped for lunch. I had hoped to mow more in the afternoon. But I didn’t want to go outside until Debbie had settled down for a nap—which she didn’t do until about 4 o’clock. Before that I worked at my desk, put up the long bulletin board above my desk, trimmed it with blue paint. I’m slowly making progress getting some order to my desk + study. I napped about ½ hour before 4:00. Then about 4:15 I went out to mow—which I continued until about 5:20. At that time I came in, relaxed briefly, Bonnie came home, we worked on supper. Right after supper I got to work cutting out the rest of the doors for the kitchen + bathroom doors. I spent most of the evening on this; about 9:00 we discovered Debbie in her room. She had emptied a can of talcum powder all over the room—what a mess! Took two photos. I finished sawing about 10:30—10:00–11:00 watched CBS news special on TV on campaigns. Watched news, J. Carson, bathed; OBLO, midnight.

Wednesday, 21 October 1970

[Top panel: 2 photos]

Θ before arising shortly after 9:00. I shaved, then had breakfast. One of the first things to do was to put Debbie’s new deacon’s bench toy box into her room—I took a couple of photos. Homer Orne stopped by with a check I requested to be sent to Whittemores for bulletins. When the mail came I looked through Newsweek—I made some further progress in putting my study in order. We ate about 12:00—then we prepared to set out on our afternoon’s project: we went shopping at Mals, the[n] drove down to Beverly; we visited two pet shops, got more accessories for our fish tank—plus got another tank! –because it was on sale, for 5 or 6 dollars. Also got 9 more fish. We came home shortly before 5:00. There was a book on tropical fish just inside the door. I called Carol Lewis later and she confirmed that she had left it—it’s from the library. I spent a while tending to the fish tank, and helped with supper. We ate about 6:30. The evening was busy. The TV was on, but I worked on getting the doors ready for the kitchen cabinets. The offset grooves had to be made, plus the edges rounded off—I did both jobs with the router. Bonnie put more varnish on the frame over the radiator. After finishing with the doors, I relaxed, had snack, watched Johnny Carson a while; read briefly in bed after bathing; OBLO 1:30.

Thursday, 22 October 1970

Not up til about 9:30. This was one of those days I need very few of. It started off very well—I was making progress at my desk—then the mail came—about 11 o’clock—a letter from Dr. Beck: I did not pass the qualifying exam. He indicated that he thought it was a pass, but Dr. Richardson didn’t. I was quite stunned, shaken really. About 11:20 I tried to reach Dr. Beck on the phone—he was in conference. I tried again at 12:00—we had a brief chat—and agreed to meet tomorrow morning at 10:00. I also tried to reach Richardson no luck. I then told Bonnie—I wanted to try to get my mind off of it, so I went out to do the mowing. I did this for a while, came in about 1:45 for lunch. Kept trying to reach Richardson. Bonnie went off on errands, Debbie was asleep, so I did more mowing. I interrupted this to place a call again to Richardson—this time I got him—he’ll see me next Thurs. at 1:00. (He’s to be in NY earlier in the week). I finished the mowing, then went over to the hospital to see John Wicky, stopped at the pet shop on the way home to get some more aquarium supplies, went to see Bertha Wicky, then came home about 5:30. We ate about 6:00, watched CBS news; evening was spent watching TV (e.g., Ironsides), sanding cabinet doors, messing around with the fish and aquarium; bathed; OBLO, 11:52 Θ

Friday, 23 October 1970

[Top panel: Drue’s baby delivered last night at 11:41: Jennifer]

Got up at about 7:30. Shaved, had a hearty breakfast. Left for Boston about 8:30—driving rain. The Mystic River Bridge was backed up, so I didn’t get to Beck’s office until just about 10:00. We conferred about my failure on the qualifying exam: it was quite obvious that he was distressed that Richardson did not want to give the exam a passing grade—he didn’t feel that the exam was great, but he did consider it passing. So my next move is to see Richardson next week (my appointment with him is for Thurs.)—and Beck suggested also that I begin reviewing Eissfeldt again. I left his office shortly before 11:00, did a few errands, then headed home—got back to Rockport about 12:30. Had lunch, relaxed—rather weary. About 2:45 Margaret Reilly arrived; she had called last night that she was coming over. We had a nice long visit—til about 4:15—we had tea and cake together, talked about Alan, politics—especially Canadian—she thinks she witnessed the fleeing getaway car in the LaPorte kidnap.[1] After she left I did some work on supper, but tired to nap before Bonnie got home. When she arrived we had supper, after I went to Richdales on foot. Watched CBS news; went to hospital, saw Drue, Sully, John Wicky; came home, talked to Don McGaw on phone; tended to fish; sanded; bathed; watched some of Johnny Carson. OBLO c 12:41.

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

David’s Diary, October 23, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/24/davids-diary-october-20-1970/