Tag Archives: Massachusetts

David’s Diary – May 21, 1970

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Thursday, 21 May 1970

Today was a day for going to Boston. We got up about 8:15—ate breakfast, shaved, piled things into the car. We left Rockport shortly before 10:00. We stopped in Beverly to leave off the mimeograph machine to be serviced—went on into Boston—went to the Mass. Bible Society—Bonnie bought 30 copies of the TEV for the Sunday School. Then we went to BU—I tried to get my grades—but they aren’t out yet. Went to my mail box—found my course grade from seminar there: A- —I closed out my mail box. Went to the BU bookstore—bought the June Playboy. Then we went to Albee’s—arrived there about noon. We had lunch, sat around talking—Bryan got home from school, did his homework, then we went to a playground and let Debbie, Mark and Bryan let off steam. Late in the afternoon we went back to the apartment—fixed supper. Ned cooked hamburgers over charcoal. After supper Ned and I took Debbie and Mark to watch about a half hour of Bryan’s little league baseball game. Then we sat talking with Ned and Alice for about two hours—until 10:00—then we loaded up the car and came home—they gave us children’s books, plants, homed cooked foods. We got home about 11:30. Unloaded, watched some of Johnny Carson (Mayor Lindsay) OBLO c. 1:00 AM.

Friday, 22 May 1970

Was up early—shortly after 8:00. Bonnie was dressing when the phone rang—so I had to get out of bed to talk. Then I sat in a dull stupor for a while. Then had breakfast and shaved; I went to the P.O. to mail Walter Aufrecht’s books back to him, changed the wayside pulpit. When I got home Bonnie went to work in the garden. I find it difficult to be creative in the morning, so it was not surprising that I couldn’t push myself to work on my doctrinal statement. I read some articles, puttered at my desk. When Bonnie got home she tended to Debbie’s lunch. I had my lunch after Bonnie had left for work, and Debbie was down for a nap. My main concern for the afternoon was the doctrinal statement. And I was able to make progress on it—with a few breaks in the afternoon, e.g., to water the strawberry patch. Late in the afternoon I put supper in the oven—so that we could eat slightly early. We ate about 6:15 watched CBS news. After 7:00 we went over to see the Bussey’s. They showed us their vacation slides of the South West—we then had dessert. We came home about 10:45. I worked on my doctrinal statement. Bathed after midnight; more work on [arrow pointing to “my doctrinal statement” on the line above]; OBLO, 12:51.

Saturday, 23 May 1970

Up about 9:30. Had breakfast. Bonnie left to go to Beverly to pick up the mimeograph machine. I stayed at home to work on my doctrinal statement. With the morning’s work on it I was nearing the end. I took time in the morning to go through the mail and read the newspaper when it came. Bonnie didn’t get home til late—about 12:30—she’d had other errands to do. As soon as she got home I went up to see the Hannibals. I got back home about 1:30. We ate lunch, then went to the garden. Worked from 2:00–4:30. Bonnie worked in the squash and cucumber patch. I put out the row of Italian green beans, which involved putting in stakes. Debbie was well entertained by the neighborhood kids. When we got home Bonnie was exhausted, and sacked out. I had the energy to work on supper—so I did this. I woke her up about 6:30. We ate, watched NBC news. Then I set about doing the bulletins. It was marvelous to be doing them on a repaired machine that works so well. When I got them done I worked on the service, then practiced the sermon—it’s the one I wrote for ordination and have yet to put in final form and send in. Did Sunday School lesson, bathed about 11:00; OBLO, c. 11:40.  Θ+

Sunday, 24 May 1970

Up about 8:30. Shaved, had breakfast, prepared to meet my class. Both Karen and Billy showed up. We broke up about 10:30. I went to the church; preached the sermon that I wrote for ordination—on the role of the clergyman. Home by 12:30. Had lunch—then in the afternoon did a variety of things. First of all I worked out several different pulpit exchange schedules for Jim, George and myself. I worked the soil in the strawberry patch and watered it, then in the latter part of the afternoon I worked on producing a first draft typed copy of my doctrinal statement. Got about six pages typed, then I left for the church—got there about 5:40. Dr. Beck drove up just about 6:00. The turnout for Methodist men was not spectacular—it’s a good thing we invited the ladies to come—or the crowd would have been very slim. I had a chance to chat with Beck—we walked together down to St. Mary’s and back—talked about theology—he’s to let me know if he can be at my ordination. We had some hymn-singing after the supper—then I introduced Dr. Beck. He spoke very eloquently about the mid-East crisis; by about 9:30 all was over—we went to Patriquins for Drue’s birthday party—came home about 11:00; very weary; OBLO 11:20.

David’s Diary, May 24, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
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David’s Diary – May 17, 1970

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Sunday, 17 May 1970

Up shortly after 8:00. Shaved, had breakfast, dressed, Bill Elwell arrived for class about 9:30—but not Karen. For a while we talked about Vietnam—then we read in Chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. I rode to the church will Bill and his parents at 10:30. Had a good crowd out at church—we had a group from the Legion visiting—so I had a sermon about “Lowering Our Voices”—trying to make some clarifications about the anti-war movement. A few very sincere compliments. The Rapers had lunch with us and stayed the first half of the afternoon. When they left we napped—fell sound asleep—since I had been up til 1:30 last night. Got up about 6:00. Had phone conversations with Virginia Bate, Anne Jewell and Margaret Reilley. Anne Jewell spoke against the war at the Congregational Church this morning. We had supper. Then I dated the slides which came Saturday. About 9 o’clock we went down to the Patriquins—hadn’t been down there in ages. We showed our slides, watched TV together, came home about 11:00. I did some reading in Weatherhead’s The Xn Agnostic—then bathed, watched about an hour of Johnny Carson. Then returned to Weatherhead’s book—I’ve had it for a long time—it’s quite interesting; OBLO, 1:12.

Monday, 18 May 1970

Up about 9:30. Had breakfast—while I was eating Margaret Reilley called. Maria had spent the evening with her because Alan was quite drunk. Maria has really gotten herself entrapped—and she doesn’t know how to get out now. Later in the morning (Bonnie was gone shopping) I read further in Weatherhead’s book. Stopped when the mail came. At noon I watched the news—Bonnie had her lunch and fed Debbie. After Bonnie left for work I put Debbie down for a nap—read in Weatherhead—hoping to get some assistance for writing my doctoral statement. [1] About mid-afternoon I became sleepy—so I read in bed for a while—then napped. Didn’t get up and get to functioning again until almost 5:00. Worked at my desk until Bonnie got home—then worked on supper. Watched CBS news while we ate. In the early part of the evening I worked at my desk, did phone calling, prepared stencil for Methodist men mailing. 9:00-11:00 watched a movie on TV: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum—it has been raining here all day—gloomy weather. Watched news; bathed; watched Johnny Carson; read; OBLO 1:00 AM.

Tuesday, 19 May 1970

Up about 9:30. Shaved, didn’t yesterday. Had breakfast, then went to Gloucester—I had to return Jim Bussey’s paper-cutter to him, then I went to Norman’s Office Supply to pick up two packages of mimeo-paper. When I got home I ran off about 35 copies of the Methodist men notices for this month’s meeting. Shortly before noon I went to the post office with these and other pieces of mail. Then to Richdales for more yogurt. Came home, watched the weather report—for days we have been in clouds and drizzle. After Bonnie went to work I had to get to work preparing for Bible study. I studied the first 6 chapters of II Kings. After this I finally turned to writing my doctrinal statement for ordination—and I made some progress on this by the time Bonnie came home from work. I read the newspaper when it came, stopped to watch TV—the tail end of Perry Mason, 6 o’clock news—Walter Cronkite—CBS—had supper. At 7:30 I took our car over [to] Lee’s—Sue drove me home—then the Bible class arrived—8 besides Bonnie + myself. During Bible class we discovered Debbie in her room—emptied the dresser, was on the top examining forbidden miscellany. Bible class over by 9:30. Worked on doctrinal statement, had snack, watched news, some of Johnny Carson; OBLO, midnight  Θ+

Wednesday, 20 May 1970

Up shortly after 9:00. Shaved, had breakfast—I had planned to work on my doctrinal statement today, but Bonnie was eager to have Debbie’s fence put up. So I directed my energies to that—I worked on it during the morning; I reviewed the mail briefly when it came. Stopped for lunch about 1:00. During and after lunch I read through I. F. Stone’s Weekly—as usual an excellent and penetrating analysis. About 2:00 I returned to working on the fence. I stopped at the point of beginning on the gate. I was out of energy—and a trip to the hardware store would have been necessary. So the latter part of the afternoon I was able to work on the doctrinal statement. I abandoned this about 5:30. Read the newspaper. At 6:00 watched the news, ate supper—about 6:25 Roy Lee arrived with our car—I drove him home, came back—watched the rest of CBS news. Bonnie went over to the garden to do some weeding. I played with Debbie—then returned to working on the doctrinal statement. I spent most of the evening on this—made quite a bit of progress. It’s helping me to solidify some of my thinking—I find myself being driven back to an embracement of theism and this is reflected here; bathed; Johnny Carson, OBLO 12:30.

Bonnie and Debbie, May 11, 1970

[1] In fact, I mention this book re: its impact on my departure from Christianity, quoting from it, in my book, Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith.

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David’s Diary – May 13, 1970

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Wednesday, 13 May 1970

My main concern today was getting work done on the sermon I’m having to write for ordination. I didn’t make it out of bed til late—after 9:30. After breakfast I went to work on the sermon. Bonnie went over to Lewis’—Carol helped her pin up some dresses. When the mail came—with Newsweek and The New Republic—I looked through them. After noon Bonnie returned and went about getting lunch—we had lunch late—about 1:30. When we were finished I got some more work done on the sermon while Bonnie went shopping. Debbie was sleeping and I took a break—I finished the fence around the strawberry patch—which I had been working on when I got the mumps. I find that I still don’t have a reserve of strength—I was pretty tired. I tried to work on the sermon; read through the paper when it came. Then napped from 6:00–6:30. Watched CBS news—we had supper. From 7:30–9:00  I worked on the sermon—also played with Debbie. From 9:30–11:30 we watched the film: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance—I’d seen it many years ago with Mrs. Myers. 11:30—watched Johnny Carson, bathed—had snack, OBLO, 12:45.

Thursday, 14 May 1970

Up about 9:15. Had breakfast, then went to work again on the ordination sermon. By noon I had finished it except for the conclusion—for some reason this turned out to be a very difficult conclusion. Trying to get some thoughts I strolled in the yard—also sawed off a dead branch from a short tree in the picnic area. After lunch I shaved, then went to the P.O. to confer with Mr. Gray on this Sunday—the American Legion is visiting our church. Then I changed the wayside pulpit. When I got home I played with Debbie a while. Then she and Bonnie went for a walk—down to see Drue. I worked on the sermon again—the conclusion—finally finished it. About 5:30 I began working on supper—we ate about 6:30. At 7:30 I went about getting the lawn mower out—for the first time this season. To my surprise it started up immediately—on the second pull of the rope. I mowed until about 8:20. Then came in to watch TV—Ironsides. Shortly after this was over Ned Albee called. They’ll be coming Sat. morning instead of Frid. afternoon. 10:00-11:00 I tended to various things, worked on cleaning up my study. 11 o’clock –bathed; OBLO.

Friday, 15 May 1970

[Top panel: took pictures of Debbie in box]

Up about 9:30. Had breakfast—did some yard work—tried to get the picnic area into a little better shape—again I found myself getting exhausted very soon. Relaxed to wait for the mail man—he brought the black and white pictures that we’d taken of Debbie last Monday and a new Time-Life art book, The World of Whistler. I looked through this—also read some in Life magazine. I wasn’t hungry—so didn’t have lunch. But I supervised Debbie while she finished hers—Bonnie went off to work. I put Debbie down in her room, she immediately went to take a nap—fell sound asleep. I relaxed for a while, but then got up and wrote letters—urging an end to the war—and giving encouragement to anti-war senators. Wrote to: Kennedy, Brooke [?], Harrington, Fulbright, H. Hughes, Goodell, Hatfield, Church, McGovern, Margaret Chase Smith, Earl Landgrebe, Griffin, and President Nixon. This took most of the afternoon. Also wrote to Mrs. Myers. After Bonnie got home I did some mowing, 6:00–6:30—we had supper, watched CBS news. I spent the evening at my desk, straightening up, beginning work on my doctoral statement. Had snack, watched 11 o’clock news; bathed; Johnny Carson, OBLO, 12:40.

Saturday, 16 May 1970

[Top panel: Debbie 21 months old—we took several pictures in tub, Bonnie putting nightie on Debbie]

Up about 8:00 (ugh!) We didn’t know what time the Albees were arriving so we wanted to be ready. I shaved, had breakfast. But was so groggy that I stretched out. It was a lost morning really, since we didn’t know when they were arriving. I read some New Republic articles and did some weeding in the strawberry patch. The mail man came about 11:00—brought a box of slides. Then shortly thereafter the Albees arrived: Ned, Ann, Mark, Bryan—who is their adopted son (although not legally; he’s been with them 3 years.) Mark is a few months younger than Debbie. We had a nice day together. After lunch we went down to Bearskin Neck. Didn’t spend anything—Debbie knocked over a dish in the House of Glass—broke it—but they didn’t make us pay for it—we offered. Late in the afternoon we relaxed, visited—had tea. Then I fixed supper. After supper we played Tripoli. About 9:00 we stopped, had dessert. Then they prepared to head back to Allston—we agreed to go see them next Thursday. After they left I did the bulletins, worked on preparing the service, practiced the sermon; bathed—more on service; OBLO, 1:25.

Debbie, May 11, 1970

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David’s Diary – May 9, 1970

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Saturday, 9 May 1970

—MUMPS—

Swelling mostly gone—but still some there. Most of the day I felt pretty droopy—spent time in bed—didn’t get up til after 10:00. The first part of the afternoon I spent out in the yard—in the lawn chair, by the strawberry patch—actually got some sunburn! Later part of the afternoon I was very weary and bored: too tired to do anything, yet not sleepy. We had a late supper. I watched TV 7:30–8:30, a CBS news special on the anti-war demonstration in Washington and the student strike in general. Then I typed the stencil for the bulletin. Then had cake and coffee; ran off the stencil, then read a while. Relaxed with WCRB “Saturday Night”—bathed. Read some more—I’m finally under way with B. J. Robert, OT Text and Versions. OBLO

Sunday, 10 May 1970

Couldn’t sleep last night—so I got up and read—until about 2:30. Bonnie got up about 8:00—but since I had no part in the service today I stayed in bed—and since I was up so late, I had no desire to get up. But I did make it up between 10:30 and 11:00. Shaved, I began working again on Robert’s volume. Also put lunch on so that we could have it as soon as Bonnie got home—which she did at 12:30. We ate, then I went to the front yard—read in the lawn chair. After while I went upstairs—napped for a while. Then went outside again—read. Bonnie was very ambitious and had been working hard in the yard. Then she brought Debbie out. So not much studying then. At one point I took a photo of artist Roger Deering who has been painting a scene on Hale St. About 6 o’clock I began supper—steak. After we ate I relaxed—then got to work again on Roberts. We got a call from Becky Bussey—they’re back from vacation. Then Jim called me later and we talked for quite a while. Then between 10:00 and 11:00 we bathed; watched the 11 o’clock news; Johnny Carson, OBLO 12:05.

Monday, 11 May 1970

Up about 9:15; had breakfast. Worked on Robert’s book. Was interrupted by phone calls, then about 11 o’clock Bonnie decided to take Debbie outside, so we all went out into the yard. I finished the roll of colour film and took a whole roll of B + W. About noon we had lunch—the[n] Bonnie left for work, and Debbie was on her own in her room. I worked at my desk—trying to get my sermon going for next Sunday—I spent sometime with Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations—an interesting book. A couple of times in the afternoon I went strolling in the yard, looked over the strawberry patch—also chatted with the artist Roger Deering who has been working on a painting—looking down Hale Street. I made the most progress on my sermon in the late afternoon—stopped about 6:00. Helped with supper after Bonnie got home. Had supper—watched CBS news. After eating I spent time in the yard again—did some trimming of grass out of the strawberry patch—then for a while Bonnie brought Debbie out into the yard. By 8:30 I was back to work again—and spent the evening until about 11:15 on the sermon. Bathed, watched some of Johnny Carson; back to sermon, finished 1:20. OBLO 1:25.

Tuesday, 12 May 1970

A lousy night—had difficulty falling to sleep and staying asleep—so I was in bed til late this morning—not up til after 10:00. I had breakfast, shaved, then did some work in the yard—but I was soon exhausted. During the noon hour I just relaxed—watched the news. When Bonnie went to work I put Debbie down for a nap, which she was ready for and I napped too. Got up about 2:30, had a small lunch, then got to work on my sermon for ordination—got it outlined. Late in the afternoon I took Debbie down to Kaye Patriquin so that I could go to the library—I needed to copy John Saxes’ poem on The Blind Man and the Elephant. Got home, chatted outside with next door neighbor, Rolland Villars. Shortly before 6:00 I came in, watched news. Had supper about 6:30. From 7:30–8:00 watched the special show—5 senators speaking about the Amendment to End the War. Went outside, chatted for a while with one of the men who’ve bought the house on the corner; wrote instructions on how to get here to Ned Albee, went to the P.O. The rest of the evening I worked on the sermon. Watched news; bathed; watched all of Johnny Carson; OBLO 1:15.

Rockport Street Scene by Roger Deering (Image from Invaluable auction house and gallery)

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David’s Diary – May 5, 1970

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Tuesday, 5 May 1970

—MUMPS—in bed, slept, watched TV, vegetated

moved very slowly—in the afternoon while Bonnie was at work—I shaved—hadn’t shaved since last Wed. Filled the tub with water—bathed, shaved in the tub, would have been too tiring to stand at the mirror.

In the evening— Θ —Bonnie did most of the work.

Wednesday, 6 May 1970

—MUMPS—

in bed, slept, watched TV, vegetated

Thursday, 7 May 1970

—MUMPS—

in bed, slept, watched TV, vegetated

Friday, 8 May 1970

—MUMPS—

swelling down considerably—but I was still very weak. While Bonnie was at work in the afternoon I strolled enough in the yard to water the strawberry patch, changed Debbie’s diaper, late in the afternoon put meat on for supper. Such an “active” day tired me out—also in the A.M. and early PM. had to go about arranging a preacher for Sunday: Don McGaw.

David’s diary, May 8, 1970

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David’s Diary – May 1, 1970

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Friday, 1 May 1970

Today my left jaw (left side—under the ear) is much worse—more pain—it’s almost impossible to open my mouth—so my diet today was custard and soup and 7-up. In the morning Bonnie went to the drug store and got me an ice-bag—which helped to ease the pain. I didn’t have much ambition to do anything—certainly no reading. So I slept and watched the TV—saw some samples of American day-time TV—ugh! Bonnie went about changing many of the storm windows for screens—so I had some fresh air. I was able to get a better idea today of the extent of Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia—and reaction to it. I sure hope that Nixon wasn’t about to “snow” the nation last night like he did last November. Bob Peak called last night—wanted to come up to see us for the evening—but that of course had to be post-poned. Watched TV most of the day after late afternoon. CBS new—and (on chanel 2) also an historical documentary on the U.S. government’s treatment of the Cherokee Indians back in the 1830’s—reminds me of what we’re doing today in Vietnam—Cambodia—Laos.

Saturday, 2 May 1970

On Friday (May 1) I caught up on three days (i.e., Wed, Thurs., Fri)—now I catch up on two days—Sat. and Sunday. There isn’t much motivation for keeping diary when all one does is stay in bed, eating, sleeping, reading. I think it was yesterday that we got the word that the body found here in Rockport by the rail road tracks belonged to Sylvia Brown—the woman who has been coming to our church for several months. It was ruled a suicide. Sylvia was quiet, withdrawn—this was one of those cases where I had calling on her on the list of “things to get done” sometime. The trouble is one never knows when some matters are much more pressing than others. I did get more reading done on Saturday—in Bury’s History of Greece—so far its not terrible interesting. Last night before going to bed I typed out some of the guidelines for Tom to use in the service tomorrow morning—this simple task was exhausting.

Sunday, 3 May 1970

Bonnie got up and got herself and Debbie to Sunday School. Since Tom Raper didn’t know whether he’d had mumps—he decided to confer with me on the phone—which he did upon arrived in Rockport about 10:30. I was very tired—slept all morning—also very weak. My limited diet is getting to me. Soup and custard Bonnie puts through the blender so that I can take them through a straw! Other than my pills—if it can’t go through the straw—I don’t eat it. My fever is gone today—so I have felt more like reading—but again the weakness has been a problem. But the swelling hasn’t gone down—and I must keep careful of that side—icebag, pain medication—no sudden turns of the head, etc.

Monday, 4 May 1970

–MUMPS—in bed, slept, watched TV, vegetated

David’s diary, May 4, 1970

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David’s Diary – April 28, 1970

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Tuesday, 28 April 1970

Up about 9:00. After breakfast I went over to the Building Center to get materials for a fence for the strawberry patch—chicken wire and 2X2 posts. Got home and set to work preparing the posts—i.e., using the saw to give them sharp ends. I stayed in the house near Debbie while Bonnie went to the laundra-mat (dry-cleaning to do); Debbie is investigating her dirty diapers these days—after bowel movement—and making quite a mess. When Bonnie got home I returned to working on the fence until lunch time. Then back to work. Shortly after Bonnie left I checked on Debbie—she’d done it again—the screen on her window needed to be cleaned—I hosed it down. I got the mess cleaned up—& Debbie washed—then back to work on the fence—got posts in, but had to stop because the staples were still in the car. So the rest of the afternoon (after shaving) I prepared my Bible class lesson for this evening—the story of Elijah. When Bonnie got home I had about 45 [min.] to work on attaching the wire to the posts. We had supper about 7:00—watched CBS news from 6:30–7:00. The Bible class arrived at 8:00—10 in attendance besides Bonnie + myself. After they left—about 9:30, worked on the annotated bibliography + reading list. Finally finished about 12:30. Bathed, OBLO, 1:05.

Wednesday 29 April 1970

Up about 8.30 or 8:45. The swelling below my left ear had not decreased—I felt faint while eating breakfast. But I decided to go ahead with the day’s activities. I drove to Gloucester and picked up the 25 (approx.) posters—and spent most of the morning running around Gloucester distributing these. When I got home I shaved, then went distributing signs in Rockport—and picked up my shoes at George Marr’s. When I got home I called Dr. Browns office and he told me to come over in about 30 min. So I rested while then went—arriving there at 12:30. He said that I might have the mumps—told me to take it easy. But I decided to go ahead with my plans for the day. Ate lunch, got ready to go; left for Boston about 2:50. Bonnie did the driving. We arrived at BU at just 4:00—Bonnie took Debbie for a stroll along the Charles while I had class, which was over at 5:40. We had a visit with Dr. Beck. Then headed to Medford—arrived at Don McGaw’s just before 6:30. Ate supper. Arrived at the church about 7:30. Got things set up. I gave my Dead Sea Scrolls [lecture]. The discussion following was quite stimulating. We were able to leave for home about 10:45—I was having chills. Went right to bed when I got home; temperature 102.4° —a restless night.

Thursday, 30 April 1970

The swelling was worse when I awoke. There seemed to be no doubt now that I did have mumps—all day long I didn’t get out of bed more than 5 or 6 times. And Bonnie was on the phone a good part of the day making various arrangements. She contacted Tom Raper—asked him if he wanted to do the preaching this coming Sunday—he agreed to. She also had to contact Milton Fuller to alert him that the program this Sunday evening—the Black History film—will all be in his hands. During the day my fever decreased and I was feeling well enough to do a little reading—started on Bury’s History of Greece. Early in the afternoon Bonnie called the Lahey Clinic in Boston to reach the Stoners. They weren’t there yet. About mid-afternoon Dorothy called—I had to get it since Bonnie was tending to Debbie (she’d been investigating her dirty diapers again). I told her what the problem was—I knew they wouldn’t want to expose Joe to any sickness. We had made arrangements for Joe to stay at the Patriquins—but in the early evening we got a call that they were on their way home—didn’t want to take the risk. I slept during the evening; watched 11:00 p.m. news—Nixon’s invaded Cambodia —

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David’s Diary – April 24, 1970

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Friday, 24 April 1970

A very lethargic day for the most part. Got up about 8:45. Had breakfast—about mid-morning I ran some errands. Walked to the library, dropped a book in the slot, went to the P.O. (ordered some qualifying books from Blackwells) and changed the wayside pulpit at the church. Came home, puttered at my desk. When the mail man arrived I spent some time with the mail. Bonnie’s morning was spent getting the carpet squares in her study firmly anchored down. She was pushed for time, so I got lunch. She left for work about 12:45. Debbie went down for a nap and slept almost all afternoon. I did some desk work, tried to get my sermon underway—finally gave in to drowsiness and napped. Late in the afternoon I returned to working on the sermon and had a little done by the time I stopped to work on supper. Bonnie was late in getting home and I had supper well under way. We watched CBS news—then about 7:45 we went to see Jerry + Carol Lewis—and their new baby—we spent the evening with them—playing a new game: RSVP—a scrabble type game played with cubes—Jerry + I lost to Carol + Bonnie; came home about 11:00; I worked more on the sermon til about 12; OBLO, 12:05.

Saturday, 25 April 1970

Up about 8:45—shaved, had breakfast, worked on the sermon. About mid-morning I walked down to the library to check Books-in-Print—I wanted to check on qualifying books which I have yet to buy. When I got home Eddie Garcia was here—the owner of the house next door who lives in NYC. After chatting a few minutes, he left. I got back to work on the sermon—finished it—typed the bulletins. Had lunch, then about 1:00 I drove over to see the Hannibals—came home about 2:00—the mail man had left a package: Pritchard’s, Ancient Near Eastern Texts. We got ourselves gathered together—all three of us—and drove to the garden at Fisks—spent from 2:00 to 4:00 working in the garden. I did some fertilizing of the holes for potatoes, helped erect a wooden sign for posting the weeding plan, and did some turning of the earth with a pitchfork—to get out the witchgrass. When we came home we visited briefly with the Garcias—Bonnie began working on supper—I puttered—ran off the bulletins. After supper (watched NBC news with supper—the Chinese have launched a earth satellite) I practiced the sermon, did preparations for the service, did some phoning—and prepared my Sunday school lesson: i.e., read a few chapters in Romans—ugh! Bathed about 10:30—we lose an hour tonight; off to read in bed. LO, 11:08.

Sunday, 26 April 1970

Up about 8:30. Shaved, had breakfast—went to Richdales for pineapple for Oriental Chicken for lunch. Karen Haskell came for Sunday School—we discussed St. Paul, Romans—she has been greatly influenced by fundamentalism. Left for church at 10:30—preached on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Home by 12:30. Started work on the strawberry patch—with Eddie Garcia helping. Had lunch—then back to work on the strawberry patch—we had to start from scratch—i.e., turning the sod over. This occupied me til about 2 o’clock—by which time it was pretty well ready. JYF steering committee meeting 2:30–3:30. 3:30–3:50 conferred with Nutting and Bamforth on committee for discussing common problems. 4 o’clock met the train—picked up Tom Raper. Came home—planted the strawberry plants which Amelia Fisk had given us. About 30 of them. Did some other yard work. We had supper about 5:45—had a chance to get to know Tom a little better. He left for the youth meeting 6:20. I then wrote the article for the newspaper on the Black History film. 7:20 left for the Methodist Men. This met from 7:30–9:30. Took the article to Mr. Drake. Went to Patriquins to get Bonnie + Debbie. We were home by about 10:30. Relaxed, read, bathed together about 11 o’clock  OB—read; LO, 12:05.

Monday 27 April 1970

Up shortly before 9:00. Even before having breakfast I left immediately for Gloucester—to order signs for the Black History film. Had breakfast when I got home, shaved, then took my shoes down to George Marr to be repaired. Got home just as the mail man was arriving. Looked through the mail, puttered at my desk, straightened up my study somewhat. I wasn’t hungry at noon time, so we didn’t fix lunch. After Bonnie left for work Debbie and I had lunch. Early in the afternoon I did some work in Debbie’s room. Put a second hook on her window—so that it won’t come crashing down if she’s happen to get it unhooked. Also nailed some blocks in place so that she can’t get the screen open. In mid-afternoon I washed the living-room window facing west. This hadn’t been done since we moved here since it requires unscrewing the storm window. Late in the afternoon I returned to me study and worked on my annotated bibliography for seminar. After Bonnie got home we found footprints in the strawberry patch and warned the kids playing in the yard to keep away from that corner. Had supper about 6:30—watched CBS news. Most of the evening I devote to work on the annotated bibliography. But then after 10 o’clock we did some planning for the fence to enclose Debbie + the Garcia children this summer; bathed at 11:00; watched TV; OBLO, 12:45.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/08/22/davids-diary-april-24-1970/

David’s Diary – April 20, 1970

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Monday, 20 April 1970

Up about 7:30. Set about preparing to leave. Had breakfast, shaved, tended to a few things. At 9:00—shortly thereafter I went to get Virginia Bate—she is staying with Debbie. We left Rockport just about 10 o’clock—reached the Mass/Conn state line about 12:00. We ate lunch in the car. The weather was disappointing—rain. We had no trouble in NYC. We arrived at our hotel—Quality Court at 50th Street and 10th avenue—by 4:00—got settled, It wasn’t a long walk to the theatre—at 245 West 52nd . We picked up our tickets—then went over to Broadway and had supper. Then we came back to the motel—Bonnie was feeling very tired—so she napped and I went out for a walk again. Wandered around Broadway—taking in the sights. It would be great to have several days to wander around Manhattan. I got back to the motel around 7:00—relaxed, then about 7:40 started to the theatre—did some window shopping before getting to the theatre and in our seats. Curtain was a few minutes late—but the performance was magnificent! Helen Hays and Jimmy Steward were in fine form. The play [note: which was Harvey] was out about 11:15. We walked right back to the motel. Bathed—showered together—which was fun! Then right to bed—Θ+—LO

Tuesday, 21 April 1970

Didn’t sleep too well—city noise, narrow bed—too soft. Bonnie was awake at 6:15, suggested that we get on the road—I didn’t mind since I knew I couldn’t get any more sleep. We were on our way by 6:45. We had no trouble getting out of the city—about 8:30 we stopped for breakfast in Connecticut. We made good time—arrived home in Rockport just about 12:30. Took Virginia home, but we weren’t in a mood for lunch. Bonnie decided to go to work (she hadn’t planned to)—but I sacked out. Debbie had been asleep when we arrived home, and we both slept til about 3:00. I changed her, she played, and I puttered around at this and that—really moving in slow motion—still very weary after an inadequate night’s sleep and a 5 hr 45 min drive. About 5:00 I began working on supper. About 5:20 Paul and Marty arrived—we didn’t know for sure whether they were coming. Bonnie got home about 5:45. We had supper, watched CBS news—then played with Debbie for a while. Then we sat around talking. We are all very tired—Paul especially so—they’ve been boat-searching, hoping to buy something. After having a small snack + drink, we all headed for bed. OBLO, 10 o’clock.

Wednesday, 22 April 1970

Got up at 8:00—had breakfast—the others got ready to go to Marblehead to look at boats—I shaved, tended to various matters, including writing a letter to Cokesbury. About 10:45 I left the house, left 25 drug pamphlets at St. Mary’s Church, went to P.O., saw Margaret Reilly briefly—went to the train station. The train was about 15 minutes late. When I got to Boston, the trolley was jammed—and behind schedule. Didn’t get to BU until about 1:20. Ate my lunch, did errands, attended OT Theology class from 2:00-3:00. Then got some xeroxing done—visited with Elaine Follis—helped Beck with the tea. Seminar 4:00–5:45—chatted with Beck. He filled me in that I can’t be hired to teach Hebrew this fall—no funds available. It will go to whoever gets the tuition assistantship. Left BU, got the 6:40 train from N. Station. Arrived home about 8:00. The folks were all set to go out to eat. We all went to Captains Courageous—Debbie included—although she’d already eaten. We had marvelous seafood suppers—it was after 9:30 when we got back. We more or less collapsed—very full and weary—I didn’t bother to bathe; went to bed to read c. 11; LO, 11:05 Θ

Thursday 23 April 1970

Up by 8:00—Paul and Marty were preparing to leave—to go to Hull to inquire into getting a boat—they don’t expect to return here. When they had gone I spent my morning puttering at my desk—not very hurriedly. We figured out our expenses on the NY trip—also I made final computations on money re: the drug program. Shaved, went to the bank. When I got home I wrote a letter to Tom Ruper re: the Sunday service. I caught the 11:15 train, which was about 10 minutes late. Got to BU after 1:00. OT Theology from 2:00 to 3:00—the last class. When it was over the class gave Beck a standing ovation. From 3:00–4:00 I worked with the qualifying books again—also did some xeroxing. 4:00–5:30—the last Aramaic class—halleluia! Took the trolley to N. Station—rode with Elaine Follis to Park Street. Caught the 6:40 train home, read Finkelstein’s The Pharisees on the way—got home about 8:00; had supper—then did more calculating on page numbers on the qualifying exams—approximately 15,000 pages in all. About 9:00 we went down to Patriquins. Had a nice visit with them, relaxed. Came home about 10:30. Watched TV, bathed—still rather weary—after-effects of the NY trip; OBLO, 11:40.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/08/21/davids-diary-april-20-1970/

David’s Diary – April 16, 1970

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Thursday, 16 April 1970

Debbie 20 mos old—we took several pictures—of her working with her shoes, etc.

Didn’t get up til after 9:00. Had breakfast, then I got to work where I left off retyping, revising my Dead Sea Scroll lecture. This occupied me in the morning—and early afternoon. I had phoning to do—and I stopped to handle the mail—more registrations. We had a later lunch, then I got back to work. Maria called from Margarets. She and Alan were about to leave for NY. When I finished my lecture, I shaved—and Margaret phoned during this: Maria and Alan had just left—and she gave me her analysis of the situation. I finished shaving. We prepared to leave—all three of us went to Boston. While I was in class, Bonnie + Debbie went to see the Sestos. Elaine Follis wasn’t in Aramaic—she had phoned earlier to tell us this. Richardson didn’t want to read the assignment without her—so we discussed a few points in it—and talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Bonnie picked me up at about 5:45. We went to Andover, to Wally Aufrechts. We had supper with him—his father is visiting him—then at 8:00 we went to the church (Bonnie stayed at the apartment)—I gave my DDS lecture. About 15 people there. This was over just about 10:00. We had refreshments back at the apartment—arrived Rockport about midnight—relaxed OBLO, 12:32.

Friday, 17 April 1970

Up about 9:00—after Θ. Had breakfast, then left for Wesley Church—had to meet with Bill Crowell to set up the sound system for tomorrow’s meeting. We were finished with this by 10:30—I went to the photo shop (duplicate slides of the Fisk organ—not back yet)—returned home—relaxed for a few minutes—went through the mail when it came. We had lunch around 12:00—watched the splashdown of Apollo 13—the astronauts are safely home after the emergency in space. Shaved while watching the coverage. Then straightened up my study. Jim Gould arrived at 2:00—he had an appointment to see me. We chatted in the living room. His problem had to do with faith and belief—he believes in God—but doesn’t go for the great stress on Christ—I had to agree with him to a large extent. I think that our talk made him feel better. The rest of the afternoon—he left before 3:00—I spent reading The Miracle Worker. When Bonnie got home we fixed supper. Watched CBS news. At 7:30 I went to Addison Gilbert hospital to see Jerry + Carol Lewis and their new baby. Then to Wesley Church to do some final setting up for tomorrow. Got home about 9:30. Relaxed, puttered in my study; outlined sermon; bathed together; read OBLO 12:35.

Saturday, 18 April 1970

Up about 6:30—shaved, had breakfast, left the house at 7:30—picked up Gladys Haskell—we went to Wesley church. The drug program was scheduled for 8:00–12:30. 8:00–8:30 people were arriving and having coffee—shortly after 8:30 we got under way—saw a film and a film strip. Then about 30-45 minutes of panel discussion. A short coffee break, then 11:00–12:30 the people broke up into 8 small groups—there were about 115-120 people in attendance. I was on the go most of the morning. Finally left after 1 o’clock—brought Gladys home to Rockport. When I got here, George + Lynn Collins [Collis?] were here—they were up to tour Rockport. They had lunch with us. Then we had to go planting—we arrived at Fisks, at the garden, about 2:30. We had various assignments—my main task was to put up the chicken wire for the peas. Josiah Fisk (13 yrs.) + I did this. After working we had tea with the group—Jerry + Carol Lewis stopped by—the baby was home with the grandparents. We came home about 5:00—napped—had supper 7:30–8. I then spent the evening working on my sermon, took a break 10-11 to do bulletin; finished the sermon by 12:00. Bathed together, read; OBLO c. 1:00 AM.

Sunday, 19 April 1970

Up about 8:30. Had breakfast, shaved, worked on the service—left for church about 10:30—preached on The Impossible God—about the barbaric ideas about God in the Bible. Home by 12:30. Had lunch. I spent the early part of the afternoon puttering in my study—got the narrow blond bookshelves set up by my study chair. I had to take some time to raise the top shelf to accommodate the atlas. About mid-afternoon I got sleepy. Stretched out on the bed, read briefly, then dozed—fell asleep. Didn’t get up [til] about 6:00. Then began warming up supper. After eating I spent the whole evening working in my study—straightening up—putting things in order. I ran off about 35 sheets about next Sunday’s Methodist Men, got them in envelopes ready for mailing. We got a phone call from Paul late in the evening—he and Marty are going to NY City tomorrow too—we might meet them there—they might come home with us—there appear to be several alternatives. Early in the evening we sat down with road maps and looked ahead to how we’ll go tomorrow. We stopped to bathe—but not together about 11:00; watched the news—we got the bad news that it’s supposed to rain tomorrow—ugh! Got to bed about 12:10.

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/08/20/davids-diary-april-16-1970/