Monday, March 17, 1969

Up at 6:00. Had breakfast, packed briefcase, shaved, caught 7:10 train. Arrived at BU in time to get the library books in by 9:00. Spent the rest of my time at BU working on Debir—reading articles of Stratum C. Had lunch about 12:00. Ate with Mike Miller + John Waters. Did some xeroxing—continued working on Debir—more material than I had thought, didn’t make as much progress as I had hoped. Left BU about 3:30. Caught the 4:10 train home; dozed on the train. Home by 5:30. Until 6:30 I made phone calls for Wesleyan Fellowship meeting—about 15. 6:30–7:00. Ate, watched CBS news. 7:00–7:45 visited with Mr. + Mrs. Haskell at their home. She will accept office + will come to the meeting on Thursday. Home before 8:00; Bonnie went to choir practice, I translated German + stayed with Debby. Bathed after 11:00; off to study in bed. Lights out, 12:13.

Tuesday, March 18, 1969

Awake before 8:00; θ before arising. Finally got up about 8:20. Had breakfast, shaved. Caught the 9:20 train to Boston; studied German on the train—caught the trolley from North Station, arrived at Klugman’s at 11:00. Worked on German until a little after 12:00—headed for BU. Had lunch with Charlie Whitford. Worked during the afternoon on Jerusalem archaeological assignment. Relaxed, talking with Walter Aufrucht from about  3:15 until class at 4:00. (Isaiah) Left class about 5:50 to go to North Station; was there in plenty to time—was on the train by 6:20. Worked on German; translated almost a page on way to Rockport; home by 8:00; had supper, Bonnie went down to Patriquins, I prepared 2nd newsletter on the Fund; talked with Alan Federick on the phone while folding + stuffing the letter; after 11:00 bathed; off to bed; lights out 12:15.

Wednesday, March 19, 1969

Up at 8:45. Prepared for the Bible Class—after having breakfast and completing the mailing for Mrs. Cooney. Shaved about noon, had lunch, caught the 1:15 train. Went from North Station to Sears, picked up the tripod, then went to BU. Did a few errands and then went to class at 4:00. Read a paper on Psalm 110—although the final form of the paper is yet to be written. I left class early, shortly after five, in order to catch an early train home. Got here about 7:00. Had supper; then set up the camera and the tripod; took two pictures of Debby. Bible class arrived, and Debby certainly entertained them. We read the book of Haggai. Then talked about prophetic religion in general. After Bible Class I drove the car over to Lee’s; Sue drove me back and took the car home—after a chat. I took a photo of our lamp in front of the house. Wrote a letter to Harrell Beck (with news that the Dempster was fouled up); bathed; off to bed; lights out.

Thursday, March 20, 1969

Up around 9:00. Spent time today trying to prepare for the meeting tonight. Ran off some sheets describing the new structure, and prepared my presentation. We didn’t have lunch until late. Alan Federick was over twice today to borrow and then bring back the vacuum cleaner. After lunch—and after finishing preparing for tonight—I went to the post office to mail letters—including one to Beck. Late in the afternoon I worked on German; did this until time to go to the meeting. Covered dish supper, followed by discussion at the church on the future of the church. There was frank and open discussion—and several proposals. Two committees appointed to come back with proposals—generally an encouraging meeting. Didn’t get home until about 10:30. Took Hazle Lord home; bathed; worked briefly on German; off to bed; lights out 11:50:  θ.

Friday, March 21, 1969

Up about 9:00. Very small breakfast; went over to Ornes to tell them about last night’s meeting. Was home again by 10:30. Read the mail when it came, but I worked some in the morning on my sermon. Also made some progress on it after lunch and after shaving.  At 2:00 Bonnie + Debby + I left for Melrose. We arrived at Uhlingers at 3:00. Had a talk until about 4:30—about the church and our plans. Left for Rockport, stopped briefly to see the Busseys. Home shortly after 6:00. Helped with supper, watched CBS news; took a picture of Bonnie + candles. Got back to work on my sermon—on the 23^rd psalm. Bonnie did [not] want to sit at home all evening, so she went to Patriquins. I finished sermon. Typed up the bulletin, then worked on German until about 12:45. Stopped to bathe; Alan Federick’s lady friend Pat arrived from England today; Relaxed; off to bed; lights out 1:35.

Saturday, March 22, 1969

Up about nine—but weary. Had a small breakfast and got to work preparing for the Annual Meeting tomorrow. Had to go over to Homer + Sarah’s to get some figures—we got into a conversation on COCU. [1] Sarah is against it; was home before or about 1:00. Had lunch, back to work on the reports. Had to do phoning; after 3 o’clock went to see Mr. + Mrs. Patience, then went on down to see Kay Patriquin to get figures. Bonnie came down after I’d been there a while, but we shortly came on home and had supper. I went upstairs to nap. By about 7:00 I was up again, working at my desk. I had to cut about 3 stencils + run some material off for the meeting tomorrow. About 10 o’clock I went through the service for tomorrow; then set to work getting my desk straightened up. Finished about 11:30, then stopped to bathe. Bonnie joined me in the tub; she went to bed to read; I studied German about an hour; off to bed; light out at 1:00.

Sunday, March 23, 1969

Up about 9:20. Breakfast, shaved, dressed and off to the church. Had a good attendance—over 40; preached on the 23^rd psalm—more pledges came in; by the end of the afternoon we had pledges for $3,648.00—136% of our Fair Share Goal of 2,670.00 Had lunch when we got home from church; got to work making final preparations for the charge conference. Stretched out for a few minutes around 4 o’clock. Off to the church about 4:15. About 20 at the meeting; Alex Marr was quite upset over suggestion in the air to sell the church building—it became a heated meeting. We didn’t break up until about 7:00. We came back to the parsonage with the Uhlingers. Had supper; they rushed on to the meeting at Riverdale. I went over to wee the Crowells—who seemed to be upset leaving the meeting tonight. We had a chat for about 2:00 hours. Came home—Bonnie had gone to the Patriquins—so I went down there too. Home about 10:00; bathed; off to bed; lights out about 11:40.

[1] COCU: Consultation on Church Union: talks that dragged on for years, aimed at merging major denominations. A colossal waste of time, dubbed “cuckoo” by many.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/26/davids-diary-march-17-1969/

Monday, January 27, 1969

Up around 9:00. Didn’t work too hard in the morning. Had breakfast first, then shaved, read in articles for archaeology class tomorrow. Took some time with the mail when it came. Late in the morning became very drowsy, Napped briefly. Finished an article by Mendenhall [?]. We had a late lunch around 2:00. I spent the afternoon making calls. Went to Cape Ann Nursing Home to see Ellie Martin; then to Ethel Leary’s, then to Anna Ikass; then briefly stopped to see Thelma Malone about next Sunday. Home by 5:30. Bonnie + Debby were at the Lord’s apartment—so I joined them. Home about 6:00. Worked at desk until 6:30–watched CBS news, supper. At 7:30 returned to my desk. Bonnie went to Community Chorus rehearsal. I worked on archaeology articles all evening; Bonnie gave me a HAIRCUT when she got home about 10:00. Bathed; finished article by Wright; desk work, packed briefcase; off to bed at 12:30.

Tuesday, January 28, 1969

Up at 8:00; shaved, breakfast; caught 9:20 train to Boston. From North station I went to Dr. Klugman’s apartment—took subway car all the way to Cleveland Circle. From 11:00 to 12:00 I read German with him. He’s a very gentle and helpful man; I’ll enjoy working with him. Got to BU about 12:30. Had lunch, found in my mail box the forms for the Dempster, talked with both Oliver + Wayne Jones. At 2:00 – 4:00 had archaeology seminar—Richardson had some potshards + plaster from neolithic Jericho which the class examined. 4:00–6:00 had Isaiah class with Fr. King. Caught 6:40 train home. Had supper, then a leisurely evening. Listened to FM—also fixed the toilet seat. Read I.F. Stone’s Weekly; bathed; off to read in bed about 11:40; lots of work to do; talked after lights out; θ+.

Wednesday, January 29, 1969

Up after 9:00. Didn’t accomplish too much this morning. Read some in Wilson’s book, The Burden of Egypt, wrote letter, read in Playboy. Read here + there in Newsweek when mail arrived; also examined Nat’l Geographic article on the moon and moon map. Lunch around noon, shaved, read more in Wilson until 2:00. We dropped Debby off at Patiquins, headed for Boston. Went to Harvard Square, to look for a book—no luck—then to BU for class, but Richardson was ill. Bonnie had gone off shopping (picked up projector), so I waited at school + read. She got there about 5:30. We went to Peek’s apartment; ate our sack supper with them there. About 7:10 we left there to walk to the Abbey theatre; saw Romeo + Juliet—an excellent film; this was out about 10:00; we headed for Rockport, picked up Debby, were home by about 11:30; got ready for bed. Lights out by 12:30.

Thursday, January 30, 1969

Didn’t accomplish very much today. Got up around 9:30, most of my morning was spent trying to get a good sermon idea—but not much luck. Had lunch at noon. I got involved reading Romeo + Juliet—and spent time with that. Bonnie went grocery shopping in the afternoon—I stayed with Debby. Late in the afternoon we got out the tape recorder and tried to get some sounds from Debby. She had been quite sociable until we got the recorder ready. We had supper about 6:30—watched CBS news. Waiting for the Bible Class I read more in Romeo + Juliet; 6 showed up for the class; did Jeremiah 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43; broke up about 9:30. Bonnie + I had a snack; called Kent Millard to arrange a Saturday meeting. Bathed; off to read in bed; θ+ to sleep by 12:30.

Friday, January 31, 1969

Up at 6:30. Had to take the car over to Roy Lee’s for him to drive it to the VW place. Back home to bed. About 8:30 he called to tell us that the car needs a $100 valve job! To be done next week. After I got up—had no breakfast—worked on sermon—but I wasn’t in a rush—lingered on the mail. Stopped to fix lunch about 12:30. Worked on sermon afterwards—this took me the greater part of the afternoon. Did some telephoning. After 5:00 Roy came back with the car, I drove him home. By about 6:30 I finally finished the sermon. Barbara + Hazle Lord had supper with us since they’re in the midst of moving. At 7:30 Barbara + I moved her stereo over to her new apartment. I went from there to Ornes about 8:25. We had a conference all evening long on the church + its problems; finally came home about 12:15; Bonnie + I had snack; off to bed; lights out 1:10.

Saturday, February 1, 1969

I was up about 8:30 when we heard the moving van pull up to Barbara’s apartment. I worked during the morning getting the bulletin finished, being disturbed by the moving—also gave some attention to the mail. About noon we had our lunch. At 12:30 we set out in snow storm for Newton to visit the Millards about living in Cambridge. Weather improved as we went west + south. Got there about 2:15. Left about 4:45. Stopped at Jordans on way home to get fountain pens. Home before 6:30. Fixed supper watched TV. After this we played with Debby, did some more recording; also recorded her in the morning. Then  I gave attention to getting the service ready for tomorrow; bathed about 11:30; off to read in bed; lights off after 12:00.

Sunday, February 2, 1969

Up about 9:00. Small breakfast; shaved. Congestion in chest; coughing. Off to the church about 10:20. Practiced sermon—though not from pulpit. 36 in church. Preached on “The Judgement of God?”  Home about 12:30. Relaxed while Bonnie was getting lunch. We finished eating—Alan Frederick joined us, we left Debby with the Lords, picked up Jim Bussey in Gloucester and headed for the Lynnfield-Wakefield Church for meeting on the Fund for Reconciliation; our delegation was 19—the largest there. Meeting lasted from 3:00 until about 5:00. We headed home, visited with Lords, came back to the parsonage. We were both exhausted. Fixed supper—very lethargic. After supper I relaxed reading article on the moon in the Nat’l Geographic; bathed; off to read in bed.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/17/davids-diary-january-27-1969/

Monday, January 20, 1969

Up about 9:00. Small breakfast—got to work reading in Wright. At 10:00 turned on the TV to watch the Inaugural of President Nixon—listened to his address—had lunch. About 2 o’clock returned to reading—this time again in Kathleen Kenyon’s book which I hadn’t touched for many days. Dozed for a while in the afternoon. About 5:15 we left Rockport, went shopping at the N. Shore Shopping Center. Then we went on into Medford to have supper with Don McGaw + Lorry Reed. Gary Wait was also there, and 2 other fellows. We had a nice supper, listened to records, chatted; we headed for home about 11 o’clock; we arrived back in Rockport shortly after 12:00. We bathed and then headed to bed; I watched a few minutes of Inaugural Ball on TV; lights out 1:00 a.m.

Tuesday, January 21, 1969

Up shortly after 8:00. Shaved, had breakfast, caught the 9:20 train to Boston. From North Station I took the MTA to Harvard—to Widner Library. They didn’t have the books I needed. Took trolley back to BU—got there about 12:00. Had lunch with Bob Peek, Charlie  Whitford and Larry Carter. This was broken up by 1:00; I started my afternoon’s errands: finding books, getting Xeroxing done. This took quite a while. At 4:00 the Isaiah class met—Father King wants to pursue the discussion method rather than lecture, which is just fine. This was over at 6:00. Took trolley to N. station + train home. Got here about 8:00. Had supper, made phone calls. Bonnie + I examined the sleeping bags which arrived this morning (while I was shaving). I’m tired; we decided to get to bed early; bathed, took book to read in bed; θ+; lights out about 11:00.

Wednesday, January 22, 1969

Up by 9:00. Had breakfast, went to work preparing the service for today’s noontime observance (week of prayer for Xn unity) I had this all done by 11:00. And I didn’t have to work too hard at it. Looked at the mail when it came; list of Cambridge Classes from Harrell Beck. Shaved; at about noon I went to the Baptist church for the service; it was over by 12:30. Changed wayside pulpit—home again, had lunch. The rest of the day was devoted to reading passages from books by Frankfort + Engnell on Ancient Near Eastern Kingship for the messiah seminar. I had to have the books done so that Jim Bussey can take them to BU tomorrow. Stopped for supper about 6:30—back to reading at 7:30. Finished about 9:30—went to Bussey’s, stayed about an hour, home by 11:00. Glanced through Mowinkel’s He That Cometh; bathed; off to bed at 12:15.

Thursday, January 23, 1969

Up about 9:00. Had breakfast—desk work, read in Hookes (ed.) book, Myth, Ritual + Kingship—didn’t make too much progress. Mail came—I have been turned down by the Danforth Foundation—which was really expected. Bonnie did grocery shopping in the morning. She got home shortly after 12:00. We had lunch. In the afternoon I worked on the chapters in Jeremiah for the Bible Class. Used Bright’s Jeremiah. About 4 o’clock Bonnie + I went for a walk (Debby on my back) over to Patriquins; I asked Kay to go to a meeting a week from Sunday. Then we walked over to Gamages, and I asked Winnie the same. Home shortly after 5:00. Visited Barbara + Hazle briefly. More work on Jeremiah. Supper; CBS news. At 7:00 I went to see the Haskells—Gladys + Karen agreed to go to meeting; Bible Class 8:00 – 9:30, chpts 35, 36 37. – 5 attended. Went over to see Roger Smith about the fund. Home by 11:00; desk work; wrote letter home; off to bed about 12:30.

Friday, January 24, 1969

A lethargic day; awake about 9:00, but not out of bed until 9:30. Had breakfast, puttered around at my desk until mail man came (also went down to get a newspaper to look up theatres). Mail man brought a letter from Harrell Beck, which I promptly answered. We had a late lunch—not until about 1:30. I was able to get part of my sermon done before that. After lunch I finished the sermon and did the bulletins. About 5 o’clock we left Rockport. Stopped at Jordan Marsh (N. Shore)—I couldn’t find the right fountain pen. Then we went to Boston Baby and bought a feeding/play table; on into Boston, ate at Open Latch, then went to the camping exhibition at the War Memorial Auditorium—a disappointment. We left after 10:00; home by 11:20; bathed; off to read in bed; lights out about 12:25.

Saturday, January 25, 1969

Awake around 9:00. θ+ before arising, which was about 10:00. Had only juice for breakfast, got dressed, shaved, greeted mail man, then drove over to Roy Elwells about 11:00. I asked him to go to the meeting next Sunday in Lynnfield—he agreed to if he isn’t too tired. Home by noon. Helped Bonnie fix lunch. Took pictures of Debby in her new feeding table—both inside the house + outdoors. Wrote letter to Bishop Matthews suggesting that the church solicit Pres. Nixon’s endorsement for the Fund for Reconciliation. About 2 o’clock helped Barbara Lord move heavy things out of her apartment. Took communion to Gazella Dodd at her home; returned home, read while Bonnie fed Debby, then took Debby on my back for a walk. Stopped to ask Helena Raffey to go to the meeting; visited Hannibals; visited Ornes. Home about 6:00; supper; worked on the service; 8 o’clock we went to Patriquins to see Debby movies; home before 11;00; bathed, read. lights out 12:15.

Sunday, January 26, 1969

Up about 8:45. Shaved, had breakfast; dressed, went down to the church about 10:00. Wanted to talk with the Sunday School teachers about going to the meeting next Sunday. About 3 or 4 agreed to go. Service at 11:00. Served communion. Home by 12:30. Had lunch, relaxed, about 3 went to see Thelma Malone; she was napping, so chatted with her father for ¾ hour. At 4:00 pm went to the train station to greet Dr. Brown. Brought him back to the parsonage. Shortly thereafter, phone call came from Leslie Whalen; he + his wife were here in town + wanted to visit—they came on up, and we all visited until about 6:00; Whalens left, and then Bonnie, Dr. Brown + I went to Riverdale Church for Methodist Men program. Had supper, then the program; about 9:00 I drove Brown to Gloucester station; came home, relaxed; bathed; read; θ+; lights out about 11:00.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/16/davids-diary-january-20-1969/

Monday, January 13, 1969

Hard to get up this morning—can’t even remember what time it was. I didn’t move too fast today. In the morning I called Ornes to tell them that we’d gotten back—and Homer came over with a check for us. Completely unloaded car—and visited with Hazel next door. After lunch I had to take a nap. Slept solidly perhaps more than an hour. About 2:00 Bonnie woke me up so that she could leave Debby to go get groceries. I worked at my desk—tended to mail. This took a good part of the afternoon. I helped fix supper, which we had around 6:00. We watched TV until 7:30—Bonnie dozed. I caught a short nap too. After 8:00 we went down to the Patriquins. We came home after 10:00. I did more desk work + tried to get ready for class tomorrow. Bathed; off to bed after 12; ISNθ, lights out about 1:00.

Tuesday, January 14, 1969

Up about 8:00; breakfast, shaved, caught 9:20 train to Boston. Ordered slide projector but it is out of stock. Arrived at BU shortly after 11:00. I found my last semester papers in my mail box—A on Greek paper; A- on Jeremiah. I got my grades to[o]—same as paper grades, with an A- in St. Paul directed study. Had lunch about 12:00—visited for a while with Hobart Farrell. Has class from about 1:00 to 2:30—archaeology. Was free for hour + half. Relaxed, talked with Jim Bussey, got books. 4:00-6:00 Fr. Kings class on Isaiah—should be an interesting semester. Caught the 6:40 train home, got here about 8:00. We had supper, I played with Debby, got to work at my desk. Made phone calls, wrote letters to Harrell Beck + to the Houstons; read magazine; bathed; off to bed at 1:00 AM.

Wednesday, January 15, 1969

We were not in any rush to get up this morning. Finally made it out of bed after 10. I busied myself at my desk—ordered bulletins, wrote a couple of business letters. About noon I shaved, we had lunch, I made a stop at the post office on my way to the train station; I took the 1:15 train to Boston. Got to BU about 3:00; finished registering and paying…just in time to make it to the 4 o’clock class—“Messiah in Ancient Israel.” I got some books then headed to North station; caught the 6:40 train home. Got here about 8:00, had supper. Called Roger Smith about Friday meeting. Shortly after 9:00 we went down to the Patriquins—I wore my new sports coat which Bonnie made. We watched TV with the Patriquins and came home about 11:00. I bathed—took some books to bed; Lights out about 12:20.

Thursday, January 16, 1969

Up about 10. θ+ before arising. This morning I wrote a letter to David Watson, made out an order for a book to Cokesbury. Just about noon I took these to the post office. Went over to Ornes to give them a pamphlet on the Fund for Reconciliation Crusade. Came home, had lunch—very sleepy, took nap. Bonnie went on errands, I stayed with Debby. I made progress in G. E. Wright’s Biblical Archaeology. Bonnie came home, I read a copy of the pamphlet I gave to Ornes. Had supper, fed Debby, about 8:00 pm went over to see Roger Smith to talk about the fund crusade. Home shortly after nine. Phone call. Didn’t get much studying done. Bonnie and I discussed going to Europe. We think we’ll wait until Sept 1. Bathed, off to read in bed at 12:30.

Friday, January 17, 1969

We stayed in bed late. Weren’t up until after 10:00. We had a large breakfast; I worked at my desk, trying to get the clutter cleared away; I made a list of the contents of my wallet. We didn’t have lunch until late. I tried to do some more reading in Wright’s Biblical Archaeology but I became sleepy. Napped a good part of the afternoon—both Bonnie and I; we got up about 5:00. I fixed supper. After supper I shaved, got ready to go; at 6:30 Roger smith picked me up; we (Home Orne too) went to Malden Center Church for a meeting launching the Fund for Reconciliation Drive. We saw a play. “The Insurance Company”—weak in places, but had an impact (included a vivid riot scene); Rockport church is asked to raise $2670 in 4 years. Meeting was over about 10:00; home before 11:00; snack; read in Wright; lights out 1:10.

Saturday, January 18, 1969

We were dragged from bed about 10:15 this morning by a phone call from the Whitfords—who wanted to make sure we’d arrived back safely from Indiana. I worked at my desk after getting dressed. No breakfast. Tried to get sermon under way. We had our lunch around noon, and I worked on the sermon. I was left to baby sit; Bonnie went shopping with the Lords. I finished the sermon and did the bulletins—finished by about 5:00. I then read briefly in Wright until Bonnie got home. Helped fix supper. After supper we visited with Barbara + Hazle—listened to some of their new records—came home about 8:30. I was very sleepy—had a cup of coffee. Read in Wright for a while; bathed; worked on tomorrow’s service; off to read Wright in bed; lights out shortly after midnight.

Sunday, January 19, 1969

Up about 8 o’clock; breakfast, shaved, practiced sermon: “Methodism Responds to a Crisis”—about the Fund for Reconciliation. Read for a brief time in Wright. Off to church about 10:30. 34 in attendance. Home about 12:30. Neither of us felt like having lunch—so we went for a walk, to the grocery store and then to 11 Granite Street to see Barbara + Hazle in their new apartment. They are fixing it up—haven’t moved in yet. We rode home with them; had our lunch. Then relaxed—I dozed briefly. At 3 o’clock Alan Frederick arrived for a visit—stayed 1½  – 2 hrs. told us of his desire to pledge $200 to the Fund. After he left I read + did desk work—napped briefly. At 8 o’clock I went over to Ornes to fill out a form with Homer. Home about 9:30. We had supper; then both of us took our baths; I got some more read in Wright; —in bed too; lights out 12:20.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/14/davids-diary-january-13-1969/

Monday, December 9, 1968

Up about 9:30. Went to work immediately on translating Psalms 1 + 23 from the Hebrew. When I finished this I began working on translating them from the LXX—found that I had mistakenly xeroxed the 22^nd Psalm—so could do only the 1^st.  Broke for lunch around 1. Shaved. Didn’t go outside at all today—beastly cold out—in the teens! With very strong winds—chill factor about 20° below! In the afternoon, finished Greek work, turned to translating parts of a German article on Paul; this took all afternoon—Bonnie + Debby went down to Patriquin’s for an afternoon of knitting. I stopped studying about 6:15—had supper. I was left with Debby for the evening while Bonnie went to Community Chorus practice. Debby wasn’t so good—fretful. I worked on my Paul paper. Finished about 11:30. Bathed; studied Greek for a short while, off to bed about 1.

Tuesday, December 10, 1968   Karl Barth – DEAD[1]

Up about 8:20. Shaved, breakfast; caught the 9:20 train to Boston. Greek class 11-12—we worked on ps. 1 + 23. Lunch, 12:-12:45, with Mike Miller. After lunch I worked on getting material for my papers. Looked through JBL for article on Jeremiah-Job passages, xeroxed an article on Jeremiah 20:14ff.—began translating it out of the German. Charlie Whitford brought the tent heater for us to use en route to Indiana. Found out at 3 that Dr. Oliver is ill—couldn’t meet, so I caught the 4:10 train home. Tired, dozed on train. Home shortly after 5. Began work on the German article again. Had supper around 6:30. Watched CBS news—Karl Barth died today at 82. 7:30, back to work on the article. Stopped about 10 for coffee, then back to work. Shortly after 11 stopped to bathe, got some concrete ideas on what to write about [for] my “essential values” for the Danforth Foundation. More German briefly; off to bed around 12:30.

Wednesday, December 11, 1968

Up about 8:30. Went right to work preparing my statement for the Danforth Foundation. Had breakfast. The spent the rest of the morning on the statement. I wanted to have it in the mail by 5 p.m., but this proved impossible. By late afternoon I was stalled on the last question. So I turned to translating the German article. I worked on this until supper time, about 6:30. Back to work on German at 7:30. Got a few minutes work in before the Bible Class began to arrive. We worked on Matthew 1-2 tonight. 7 in attendance. Over about 9:15. I went to work briefly on German, and then turned to the Danforth statement again. Finally finished—did take 5 minutes off at 10 pm to see the beginning of Nixon’s TV announcement of his cabinet. Began typing on the Danforth statement finished question one by about 1; off to bed at about 1:20.

Thursday, December 12, 1968

Up at 8. Went right to work typing on Danforth essay. Had breakfast at 9:30. Back to typing; finished around 11. Bonnie took it to the post office. I began work immediately—after shaving—on finishing translating the German article + briefly reviewing some other material for Jeremiah D.S. I didn’t go to Greek class this morning. We had lunch after 12.—then left for Boston around 1. Got there in time for my class at 2. This was over by 2:30. We went to the Paperback Booksmith in Copley Square, stopped to shop on the way to Rockport—bought cloth for Bonnie to make me a sports jacket. We were home about 6. I set up the Xmas tree which Bonnie bought this morning. We had supper, then decorated tree. We went to Mals to get more ornaments. When we got home, took amplifier + whole system to Lords—set it all up; back home, decorated tree, bathed, off to read in bed at 11:30. Lights out about 11:50.

Friday, December 13, 1968

Slept late. Not up until after 9. It was a mild day, so I decided to work out of doors. In the morning I didn’t do much, did a little reading. Helped get breakfast. After the mailman came, I went to the post-office, changed wayside pulpit, went to the building center, bought a caulking gun + two tubes + weather-stripping. Came home, worked on caulking the windows for a while, stopped for lunch, put the weatherstripping on the back door, went back to caulking—up til about 4. Came in had coffee, relaxed. Then we all went down to Bearskin Neck (Debby was on my back) to look for Christmas gifts—no luck. Back home again; fixed supper, watched CBS news; relaxed. I went to work in my study, made several phone calls, began work on my sermon. We took a break for a piece of pie, then more work on sermon; bathed; few more lines on sermon; off to bed at 12:40.

Saturday, December 14, 1968

Up after 9. Breakfast, worked on sermon. Phone calls. Got most of the sermon done by lunch time. Jim Bussey came over to use our garage to work on his car. We had lunch; we invited him to stay but he couldn’t. After lunch, Bonnie began wrapped Xmas gifts. I shaved, Mrs. Roffey left off a gift for us, a Xmas candle. I finished the sermon, began working on the bulletins; had to print on back, so many announcements. About four I went over to see Miss Longley—took communion to her, drove up to Hannibals—nobody home, went to Haskells to make arrangements for next Sunday’s service; home again, finished bulletins; had supper, watched TV, worked on the service; we went down to Patriquins about 9. We gave Drue + Sully their gifts—pictures of them with Debby—they gave us gifts= tie, perfume, toys; I came home about 10:15, work on service, cleaned desk; Bathed; read; lights out about 12:45.

Sunday, December 15, 1968

Up about 9:30. Shaved, breakfast, off to church about 10:40. 46 in church; preached on “Christmas According to St. Luke.” Home about 12:30. Had lunch, relaxed. At 1:30 I had to be at the church to meet John Moulton—a possible organist. He agreed to take the job. Called Jean Crowell, she came to the church to meet John. At 3:00 went to the Den-Mar Nursing home to lead short service, Bonnie went along and several others. Was home by 3:40. A few minutes later Pat Crowell + Gary Holmes arrived to talk about their wedding next Sat. They have revised the service—we sat and talked until after 6. Bonnie and I had supper. At 7:15 she left for Rockport Community Chorus production of the Messiah—I stayed home to work on Greek paper. Stayed with Debby—she slept all the time. I got about 4 pp. written while Bonnie was gone. She returned about 10:30. I worked on—got two more pp. done. Stopped about 12; bathed; sketched sermon ideas for next Sunday; off to bed at 12:55.

[1] Conservative German theologian, known for his huge ponderous tomes. One of my professors once remarked, “No one knows 8000 pages about God, not even in German.”

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/09/davids-diary-december-9-1968/

Monday, December 2, 1968

Up shortly after 9. Slow getting started. Got to work in Funk’s book. Stopped when mail arrived. Shaved, went to the post office to mail the film back to New York. Changed WaySide pulpit to announce next Sunday’s hymn sing. Chatted on the street with Ed Nutting for a while. Was home by 1—after going to the grocery store. Ate lunch. Back to working in Funk—very largely for me a dull book—a tedious assignment. Dozed off. Mail delivery of our camping equipment; sleeping bag + pads; tent is on the way. Brief nap. Worked further in Funk—unenthusiastically until about 6. Reviewed what I have to do for Greek tomorrow. Supper, CBS news; back to Funk. Spent the evening on Funk, although I couldn’t work at it to(o) intently. Finally finished reading—ground out the paper. Bathed; typed—finished + off to bed at 1:20.

Tuesday, December 3, 1968

Up about 8; big breakfast; caught 9:20 train to Boston; checked in at Lafayette Radio to ask about the amplifier; went to Greek class 11:15-12:00. Ate lunch alone, Bob Peek didn’t show up. 1-3, attended to various errands, dozed, studied some German. 3:15 – 4, Paul directed study. Assigned to read a German article for next week—had to Xerox this after class was over. Missed 4:55 train; took the 5:15, which, however, didn’t leave Boston until about 6. Didn’t get home until about 7:30!  We had a very quick supper, since the Official Board meeting was at 8:00. Had a good sized crowd, about 12. This was over shortly after 9; I told them of our plans for vacation to Indiana later this month. After meeting, we relaxed, selected pictured to mail to folks; planned to study German, but my heart wasn’t in it; bathed off to bed at about 11:10.

Wednesday, December 4, 1968

Up around 9—or rather awake ISN. Got up, got breakfast. Didn’t get enough accomplished in the morning—some desk work, got letters + pictures ready to go to folks + Mrs. Myers. Read a little in Newsweek when mailman came; package of materials from Danforth Foundation. Did some studying, translating Jer 20:14 ff. Had a late lunch, about 1:30. Was going to Post office, but it was raining very hard; the poor cat was so frustrated because she couldn’t go out. Spent afternoon unenthusiastically working on initial research for Jeremiah paper. Also studied German, especially in late afternoon, in earnest. Ate about 6:00. Left for Gordon about 6:30. Class was switched to tonight instead of Thurs. Bible class cancelled this week. Home from Gordon about 9:15. Snack, wrote letter to Harrell Beck, filed out registration material, bathed, worked on Jeremiah; bathed, cat jumped into tub! Off to bed about 1:00 AM.

Thursday, December 5, 1968

Up about 8:30—shaved, breakfast; took 9:20 train to Boston. Left our old amplifier off at Lafayette’s. Greek class 11:15 – 12. Had lunch with Dr. Brown; we talked main(ly) about—of all things—Jack Benny. 1:15-2:00 worked on Jeremiah material. 2-3 had Jeremiah Directed Study. Saw Charlie; did many errands, including registered for next semester. Mailed letter to Harrell Beck. Xeroxed Psalms 1 + 23 from LXX. [1] Got some necessary books from the library. Left BU around 4:30. Caught 5:15 train; was home by 6:30. Bonnie + Debby met me at the train. Came home, had supper, relaxed, weary, no ambition to do much of anything. After 8:30 we went down to Patriquins to visit; we saw the TV program on Cistene Chapel + Michelangelo. Debby did quite well in showing her ability to roll over. Came home about 11. Bathed; read briefly in New Republic + Newsweek; off to bed about 12:20.

Friday, December 6, 1968

Awake about 9:15—up about 9:45. Had breakfast. One of the main preoccupations of the day was to try to find an organist. Pamela van Twayer (?) had twin boys last night—sooner than expected! Was on the phone several times today with Jean Crowell. Desk work in AM. Bonnie + Debby + I went to Gloucester about 12:20 to do shopping—got some Christmas gifts. Groceries too. Home about 2 or so. I went to the town Hall to ask Mrs. Dolloff (?) if she could play the organ for us; she can’t. Came home, had lunch around 3. Back to my desk, but very weary. Around 4 o’clock Bonnie + I napped—until 6! Had supper about 6:45. 7:30 back to my desk—finally got an organist for Sunday—several calls to + from Jean Crowell. Visited briefly with Barbara + Hazel Lord; Desk work, worked on the sermon. Not very much ambition this evening. Some done on sermon; bathed; off to bed at 1:10 ISN

Saturday, December 7, 1968

Up about 9:30. Breakfast. Worked during the morning on the sermon—just before lunch began on the bulletins. Finished with sermon by 3:00. Went down to Patriquins to get signs for Hymnsing Les had made—headed for Gloucester. Left one sign with Jim Bussey. Went over to Riverdale church, left one there. Went back to the Cape Ann Nursing Home to see Ellie Martin. About 4 o’clock headed home—stopped at grocery store (Stop + Shop) for a half-pint of heavy cream. When I got home, Bonnie + Debby weren’t here. I made a batch of eggnog with the cream I’d bought. Back to the desk—finished typing stencil, ran bulletins off. Bonnie + Debby home. I folded the bulletins, practiced briefly at piano for anthem tomorrow. Back to desk, got it straightened up. Fixed and had supper, played with Debby; back to desk, practiced sermon, worked on Greek paper, tomorrow’s service; bathed off to bed at 12:45.

Sunday, December 8, 1968

Up about 9:20. Shaved, breakfast, ran through the sermon. Off to church early to see the organist—but he was late in arriving. The service went well—even though organist was unfamiliar with our service. Preached on “Xmas According to Matthew”—32 in attendance. Was home by about 12:30. Had lunch, relaxed, played with Debby. Began working on Greek paper—this took my afternoon. A very careful slow translation of Mark 4:1-12—including careful attention to all variations in the textual apparatus. We had supper around 6. I went to the Congregational church to see Jim Tanner; arranged to see him after the Hymnsing. Went to the church. Hymnsing at 7:30. A disappointing crowd. This was over by 8:35. Ask Jim Tanner to stay in the parsonage while we’re in Indiana; he agreed. We went to the Patriquins after the hymnsing. I came home about 9:45—back to work on the Greek paper. After 11, bathed, more work on Greek; off to bed about 12:20.

[1] The Greek Old Testament

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/05/08/davids-diary-december-2-1968/