Friday, 18 September 1970

Up before 9:00. We had breakfast—Joe Stoner had been up early to go fishing—Dorothy had breakfast with us. We called Dr. Steadman in Magnolia—wanted to know his office hours; we have noticed Sully favoring his right paw. After breakfast, about 10:15 Bonnie, Dorothy took Sully over to Magnolia. I had intended to get to work on the sermon, but I was more in a mood just to read, rather [than] to create. So I got a start on the days quota. When Bonnie and Dorothy returned (without Sully—he has to stay til Sunday) I then went up to the garden. It had been a rainy gloomy day all day—so I picked in the rain + drizzle—eggplant, tomatoes mainly. Got home about noon. We had lunch. Bonnie had to leave for work; Dorothy and I finished lunch and cleaning up. Then she got ready to go for a walk—despite the rain. I then turned to reading—looked through the mail when it came about 2:00. Then I shaved. While I was shaving Joe arrived—he got back early. Shortly thereafter, Dorothy returned, and very soon they got on the road—shortly after 3:00. I then read until Bonnie got home about 5:00. Fixed supper, ate, read, watched CBS news. Read til about 8:30. We went to see Goodbye Mr. Chips at the LAC. Mora stayed with Debbie. We got home about 11:15. Visited with Mora. She left about 11:40. Bathed. OBLO 12:15.

Saturday, 19 September 1970

[Top panel: photo of grape juice]

Up about 9:00—had no breakfast, just a glass of juice—started work on the sermon, i.e., preliminary reading. But I certainly wasn’t much in the mood for starting to write. What a grind it’s going to be for the next 2 years, to write the weekly sermon. About mid-morning Bonnie mentioned the grape-juice—it needed to be strained once again and sweetened. So we went to work on that. After it was all done—and bottled—I took a picture. Somehow the peace and quiet of the house seemed to deteriorate late in the morning—the telephone kept ringing, the Garcia twins, Teddy, Mora were here—Carol Lewis dropped by. Finally amidst the confusion I had my lunch. About 1:30 Carol + Jerry left Chris with us for the afternoon—they went sailing with the Lashes. I shaved, then went to Crowells’—had a conference with Jean re: Fund for Reconciliation. Then I drove on over to the hospital to see selectman Richard Manson—he fell the other day, injured his leg pretty seriously. I was home by 3:30. Tried then to get to work on the sermon—although there were further interruptions. Jerry + Carol came for Chris; Mora did more laundry. I fixed supper; we ate about 6:30—Then I had to devote my evening to writing the sermon. Finished shortly after 10:00. Did the bulletins; then practiced the service. All prepared by about midnight; bathed; OBLO, c. 1 A.M.

Sunday, 20 September 1970

We had set the alarm for 9:00—but the phone rang at 8:00—and 2 more times before 9:00, so we didn’t get as much sleep as we had hoped. After finally getting out of bed about 9:00, we had breakfast, then I shaved, practiced sermon, then left for church. Today I preached the second sermon in the series on women of the Bible, today, specifically on Abigail and Bathsheba. We got home about 12:30. Fixed lunch; after eating, I relaxed, actually napped briefly. At 2:10 I got up, then drove over to get Virginia Bate; she stayed with Debbie while Bonnie and I went over to visit Winnie Gamage—just home from the hospital. I was given a tour of their new house—very lovely—unfortunately their church pledge doesn’t really reflect the wealth which was put into the house! At about 3:30 I went to St. Mary’s church. The 4 pastors of the JYF and Loyd Starrett met in Dick Bamforth’s office—and what a session! Lasted til almost 6:30. In general this can be said: some frank feelings were expressed, and Loyd Starrett finds it hard to accept criticism—he stormed out of the meeting, followed by Ernie Bailey—but they both returned. But not a very cordial parting; came home had supper—relaxed, listened to music—read some, but the evening wasn’t very productive—felt drained after such an emotional session; bathed about 11:00; OBLO, c. 11:30.

Monday, 21 September 1970

[Top panel: took pictures of Debbie with headphones]

Up about 9:00 after Θ—again w/o the foam, so we may have made a baby—a month ahead of time. Bonnie had a full roster of errands for the morning—so she was gone most of the time. I got some reading done while she was out, although I did have to take time to prepare my Eagle article and chat with Carol Lewis when she came by to leave some items—I informed her that the JYF is looking for leaders, and that we were interested in them. Bonnie got home shortly before noon. I went over to the Congregational church to approve the mimeographed program to be sent to members re: the new Sunday School program. We exchanged further reflections on yesterday’s heated meeting—from there I went to the Eagle office to leave my article. I got home, ate lunch, Bonnie left for work, Debbie went down for a nap—and I was able to devote the afternoon to reading. Late in the afternoon I set about fixing supper and we ate shortly before 6:00. Retired to the living room to watch CBS news. We all stayed in the living room for the evening—Debbie included. She enjoyed listening to music with the headphones—she kept them on longer than she ever has before. By about 9:00 she went to bed; then Bonnie gave me a HAIRCUT; after which I returned to reading; bathed about 11:00; read further in bed; LO, c. 12:25.

David’s Diary, September 21, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/11/davids-diary-september-18-1970/

Saturday, 29 August 1970

Up about 9:00 (?)—had breakfast, shaved. My main concern for the day was the sermon—which was only in very rough outline. I worked on it in the morning pretty consistently until about 11:45, at which time I went to the garden—hadn’t been since Wednesday. Got several things. Came back, we fixed lunch, then I worked for a while longer, until 2:00—then I set out to do some calling. Saw Esther Longley first 2:00-3:00, then Grace Harris 3:00-4:00 + Louis Rich. Then about 4:00 got to the Hannibals. I was home by 5:00, and got more work done on the sermon before helping with supper. We watched NBC news with supper. After eating I relaxed for a while. Then my evening was spent finishing the sermon and preparing the service. I finished the sermon about 9:15, then did the bulletins—then prepared the service. This was all done by about 11:30. Unfortunately I didn’t get any reading done today. It’s amazing how uptight people get over small things—Esther Longley was very agitated today over the $5 charge that is going to be made for the Sunday School. But what a small commitment to ask of people! The time has past for the church to welcome people—“unconditionally”—we cannot make an appeal to people—no strings attached. Bathed, then headed to bed; LO shortly after midnight.

Sunday, 30 August 1970

Up at 8:30 after Θ. Had breakfast, shaved, practiced sermon, head[ed] for the church about 9:40. It was a milestone of sorts—Rip Hannibal came to church. I’ve been calling on him ever since I came to Rockport—he was very alienated from the church. I preached on John 10:10—abundant life. Only about 30 in attendance. We fixed lunch as soon as we got home, then I relaxed before selecting some poems to read at the Den-Mar service. Then I worked on putting my study in order—a colossal mess. About 2:30 I left for the Den-Mar—took Kay Patriquin and Winnie Gamage along. I was home again before four—the service lasted 3:00–3:30. I spent the next hour again clearing away the clutter in my study. At 5:07 Paul + Marty drove up. We immediately went to the garden—came home, did some preparations for supper. Then visited and played with Debbie in her room. Shortly before 7:00 we had our supper. It was too dark after eating to go for a walk, so we relaxed, then got slides. Paul and Marty had brought theirs—and we saw quite a few—then we showed ours. We all then had a snack—but we were a pretty sleepy bunch, and headed to bed without baths; OBLO, 11:45.

Monday, 31 August 1970

Can’t recall when we got up. Again I was plagued by lethargy and fatigue. I’m so tired of reading, of plodding ahead through these weighty tomes. In the morning Paul and Marty left about 10:00 for the museum in Boston. Then I got my Eagle article written; I called up Ornes for suggestions about what I might put in it, and I received a long complaint from Sadie about my sermon. I had included a paragraph about Christ not being the only way to achieve “abundant” life. There are people who hear something, but interpret it on an extreme level. Sadie misread, overread—it’s frustrating to know that a sermon can be taken so many ways. After our long talk (during which Tompkins delivered our new chair) I went to the Eagle office. I came home and spent the last part of the morning walking on the neck, also bought a birthday card for Pat Harry. Got home just a few minutes after noon. The afternoon was a big failure study-wise. Got almost nothing done. I slept, wrote the card to Pat Harry. Very shortly after Bonnie got home, P + M got back from Boston—the museum had been closed!—but they went book shopping—had very good lunch. The Busseys arrived shortly after 6:00. We had supper together—spent the evening visiting. Busseys went home c. 10:00—we then talked til late; bathed, OBLO 1:35.

Tuesday, 1 September 1970

Finally up about 9:30—rather washed out after last night’s late session. After breakfast we all got into the car and went out to Hallibut Point Reservation—had a ball scrambling over the rocks—took a lot of pictures. The wind was stiff and cool—a lot of clouds, so the sunshine wasn’t constant. When we got back we sat around discussing recuperating. We had a late lunch, then sat around some more—in fact until about 4 o’clock. It was good just to be able to visit and relax. Unfortunately not much reading got done! Bonnie took Paul, Marty, + Debbie to Gloucester to get steaks, and to see the harbor, so I had a chance to get a little reading done—although I was sleepy. But then they arrived back home and supper was begun. We ate about 6:30, watched CBS news. Then we all went for a walk. We went down to T-wharf—did a lot of boat gazing—Paul is such a boating—i.e., sailboat enthusiast. He and Marty are so eager to take us sailing. We also walked down Bearskin Neck and back. Got home about 8:30. Paul was very sleepy, turned in about 9:30—but Marty, Bonnie and I stayed up talking until about 11:00. Bathed, OBLO, Θ by midnight.

David’s Diary, September 1, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/04/davids-diary-august-29-1970/

Friday, 21 August 1970

Up about 9:00. Had breakfast, then got to work reading—Frost OT Apocalyptic. About 10:30 or so I heard Eddie outside with the kids—he and Mora had arrived from NYC about 12:30 last night. I visited with him—also with Dave Herlihy for a while—then got back to reading about 11:30. We had lunch about 12:15—Bonnie left for work, Debbie settled down for a nap. I read for a while, then napped. At 2:00 Eddie was at the front door, he gave us some mackerel—which he cleaned for us. Just as he left the mail man arrived—just about 3 hours late! He brought slides and a movie—mainly of Debbie’s birthday. I finished reading—arrived at my stopping point—then the rest of the afternoon tried to make headway on my sermon, but without much luck—got about ¼ done. Fixed supper, we ate about 6:00—watched CBS news. In the early evening we played with Debbie—had a wild time. For the second time we tried to teach her to twiddle her thumbs—she seems very intrigued with the whole idea. I got to reading about 8:00—about 8:45 we viewed slides, had a snack. Bonnie was exhausted, went to bed, so I had quiet to read, which I did for the rest of the evening; bathed shortly before 12:00. Read finished Frost; OBLO c. 12:30.

Saturday, 22 August 1970

[Top panel: took two pictures: spider + tomato patch]

Up at 9:00—after Θ. I had hoped to get a lot of progress made on the sermon, but I didn’t have much luck. The kids were outside much of the time, and Bonnie began clipping the hedge—by late morning I was getting very frustrated and annoyed. Got a call from Amelia Fisk that some boys were seen stealing corn, so she advised us to pick what we wanted. About 11:30 I drove over to the Lewis’s—to show them photos of the banners, and to go from there to the garden; they gave us some pears. I went to the garden, brought them some corn, then headed home. We had lunch, I shaved, with close attention of Debbie! then did some calling: went to see Lucy Patience—took her some vegetables. Homer Orne came in while I was there; then I came home, drove up to see Hannibals. Returned home briefly, then I drove to Gloucester—got some groceries. When I got home, Bonnie had taken Debbie for a walk. I turned to the sermon, but got only a few sentences done when they returned. We fixed supper. After supper had a phone conversation with Sarah Orne re: the $5.00 charge for Sunday School—she doesn’t like it. My whole evening was devoted to finishing the sermon + preparing the service. I finished it all up about 11:45. Bathed; OBLO, 12:30.

Sunday, 23 August 1970

Up at 8:30. Had breakfast, shaved—left for the church about 9:30—raining—it rained almost all day, heavy at times; only 10 in the congregation—5 in the choir. Mrs. Hannibal was there, for the first time since I’ve been the pastor here; perhaps Rip will be coming soon. When we got home we fixed lunch. Then I decided to nap—I “should” have pushed myself to read, but I decided to take a day off from that. So the mid-part of the afternoon I spent napping. About 4:00 I got up—discovered that Bonnie had been doing some baking. I puttered around; I numbered and catalogued the box of slides which came recently. About 5:30 when we were preparing for supper the Lewises dropped by to pick up some things that Carol had left here. Then during supper David Herlihy came to the door—very elated—he has been discharged from the Navy, without having to do his 2-year service—they just aren’t needing as many men. He stayed while we finished supper—after he left I relaxed, listened to the Boston Pops. 7:30-8:00—I trimmed the forsythia bushes which Bonnie had started on yesterday—very wet. We spent from about 8:15–11:00 at the Patriquins—showing our slides and movies and snaps, and watching TV. Came home, bathed; read a while in bed; LO, 12:10.

Monday, 24 August 1970

Up about 8 (?)—after Θ. Had breakfast, but I wasn’t feeling up to doing anything—so I sunk back into bed for a few minutes. But then I got up and got to work on my reading—started Bentzen’s Intro to OT, Vol. I. I worked in this til about 10:00. Then I did my article for the Eagle, drove over to their office as usual. From there I went to the garden to check on tomatoes—I picked several from the plants that came up on their own—many were ripe and on the ground. Came home, got back to reading until about 12:15; Bonnie and I had lunch, Debbie was asleep. Bonnie left for work, I read. About 2:00 Debbie woke up. I gave her some lunch; I put together the turkey salad for supper. Then I put her up in her rooms. I returned to reading. For a brief while I napped, then read some more. When Bonnie got home I worked on supper. We ate, watched CBS news. Early in the evening I continued with the reading. Then about 8:40 Mora came over to sit with Debbie and to do her laundry—we went to the show at the Little Arts Cinema: The Sterile Cuckoo—a good film—funny, yet sad. Got home shortly after 11:00; had a piece of pie with Mora, visited; I got a little more reading done; bathed together; OBLO c. 12:40.

David’s Diary – August 24, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/10/02/davids-diary-august-21-1970/

Saturday, 1 August 1970

Up about 8:00. I read for a while before Bonnie got up with Debbie; we had breakfast—then I got back to reading. I happened to remember that Mrs. Myers’ birthday is next Tuesday—so I went down to Tuck’s Pharmacy and picked out a card. I came home, wrote a letter to her; also wrote a note to Dr. Beck confirming our appointment for the 14^th—and filling him in on info I found out about portraits. I took these to the P.O.—had a chat with Dick Bamforth. Came home, did the bulletins—read the mail when it came: a letter from Bonnie’s mom—and a letter from the Webber’s. Finished the bulletins; we had lunch around 1:00, after I had shaved. After eating I went to Gloucester—I had to see Jim about the service tomorrow—fill one another in. Came back to Rockport. Went to see the Hannibals. Came home about 3:30. Got back to my reading until supper time. After supper went to see the 7:00 showing of Alice’s Restaurant—a real cool show—enjoyed it very much. We then went to Patriquins—where Debbie was. Had “mug-ups”—came home about 10:00. Then I made preparations for tomorrow. Read a while; bathed; Θ; read a while—LO, 12:40.

Sunday, 2 August 1970

Up at 8:00. This was the first Sunday of the pulpit exchange. I shaved, had breakfast. Left the house shortly after 9:00. Stopped at the church to pick up my robe and leave off the bulletins. Then I went to Gloucester. I arrived early enough to consult with the organist (Mrs. Lilja substituting for the regular) and arrange to other details. I preached my sermon: Ishmael and Immanuel. Got a very good welcome. I was home in Rockport by 11:30. We had lunch—I spent some time relaxing after lunch with our new neighbor. I’ve had quite a few informal chats, since he’s doing work on his house—don’t even know his first name. Then from about 1:30 on my main concern for the day was Lindblom. I read until about 5:00. Then I went over to Lewis’—to consult with Carol on two banner designs. From there I went to the garden, got beans and squash. Home by 6:00. Read until 7:00, when we ate. I watered the tomatoes—then from about 8:00 on I read—this time I was able to finish—Lindblom, Prophecy in Ancient Israel. I then did some calculating: I’m about 60 pp. over half way through—but not counting biblical text, a big exception! —had snack, relaxed, bathed; OBLO 12:30.

Monday, 3 August 1970

Up by 9:30 after Θ. Had breakfast, wrote up a brief article for the Eagle—took it over to their office. Came home, then went right to the church to work on banners—I want to have two more made for next Sunday. I came home shortly after 12:00—I got the designs made, and some painting done. We had lunch, then Bonnie left for work. I had hoped to get a lot of reading done in the afternoon, but several factors inspired against me: let-down after finishing Lindblom, drowsiness, the article I was reading was uninspiring and poorly written—and part of the time the twins were screaming; Debbie was napping. But I did get something accomplished. When Bonnie got home from work we went to the garden—picked six ears of corn! We came home, fixed supper. Watched CBS news. Then about 8:00 I went back down to the church to work on banners. I didn’t get home until about 9:30—the painting took longer than I had anticipated—a lot of yellow. The banners this time are based on quotes from Martin Luther King and Tuihard de Chardin. After I returned home I turned to reading again: RBY Scott’s Intro to Isaiah in IB—but I didn’t make much progress before I got drowsy—but it looks like a good treatment. Bathed about 11:00; read some psalms and proverbs in bed; LO, 11:45.

Tuesday, 4 August 1970

Up shortly after 9:00. Shaved (which I didn’t do yesterday), had breakfast. I picked up Carol Lewis (and Chris) at 10:00. We went to the church to work on the banners. We finished about 11:40—they still had to dry and there was some erasing to do—so we didn’t hang them. I took Carol home, went home, had lunch before Bonnie left for work. Debbie was down for her nap, so I got to reading. Didn’t make much progress because the article I was reading wasn’t very clear at points and I had to reread. About 3:30 Debbie began waking up. I gave her some milk and graham crackers, then we went for a walk. We went to Silva Bros (via Mill Pond) to get some powder to put on the tomato plants—which are being attacked by worms. Then we went up Summit Ave (huff + puff!) to see the Hannibals briefly. Then home again. When Bonnie got home I went down to the church to clean up the clutter from making the banners and get them put up. Home by 6:00. Had supper, watched CBS news. After supper I tended to the tomato plants. I killed a lot of the worms, and powdered the plants thoroughly. Around 8:00 I got to reading, tho I stopped for a while to play with Debbie; spent the rest of the evening until after 11:00 reading—no bath. OB read psalms; LO 12:15.

David’s diary, August 4, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/09/24/davids-diary-august-1-1970/

Friday, 24 July 1970

Up by 8:30—had breakfast. Spent my morning getting the sermon ready—actually I simply copied for the most part—a sermon I preached in Nov. 1968—last Sunday’s sermon was also a reworked one. This was done by about 11:00. Shaved. The rest of the morning I relaxed out in the yard with Eddie Garcia, Bonnie, the twins, Teddie, Debbie. The kids were painting—Bonnie took several photos. We then had lunch. Bonnie went to work. Debbie played in her room most of the afternoon—and napped. I worked on the bulletins, and preparing the service. I was finished with this by about 3:30. But I didn’t have much luck trying to get reading done in Mowinckel—its such a hot day. As soon as Bonnie got home at 5:00 we worked on supper. Ate about 6:00—watched CBS news. About 7:10 I went down to the church for a few minutes—they were setting up for the fair. Then at 7:30 I went to St. Mary’s for the committee (Joint Church) which is working out the details for a joint Sunday school. This was over shortly after 9:00. Came home—drove Gladys Haskell home; then Bonnie and I decided to go to Friendly’s for ice cream, took Debbie; came home, had milkshakes, read briefly, OBLO, 11:15.

Saturday, 25 July 1970

[Top panel:   took pictures = banners; B + D at headlands]

Up at 9:00 after Θ. Bathed, shaved, had breakfast; watered the tomatoes—we were in for another hot day. Then we went down to the church—the church fair. The heat of the day was moderated by the huge elm tree, which cast its shadow over the church lawn. There were many people—it was good to be able to see so many of our parish. We had lunch (chicken barbecue)—Bonnie + Debbie first—then myself. They went home after eating. I stayed to help get everything cleaned up. I think that I was home by 3:00. Very exhausted—I tried to nap, without much luck—had a headache. About 4:00 I went back to the church to try to read—the twins were out in the yard. Unfortunately there were flies at the church, so I came on home. I finally did get some reading done, before stopping to get some supper shortly after 6:00. Watched NBC news—at 7:00 mowed—until about 7:30. Then we went for a walk to the headlands, on the way back bought some sandals. Arrived home about 9:00. Did some calling—had a long talk with Jim Bussey—who’s back from Indiana—went to Becky’s grandfather’s funeral. We agreed on the pulpit exchange for next Sunday. Then I got back to reading in Mowinckel—knocked of about 11:30. Practiced sermon; bathed; OB talked over problems   LO, c. 1:00 AM.

Sunday, 26 July 1970

Up shortly before 8:30. Had breakfast, shaved, left for the church about 9:30. Had an average sized crowd—preached on “At the End of Your Rope”—a Nov. 1968 reworked sermon. Home about 11:45. Got lunch. I made some potato salad, then headed for the garden. I had to tend to getting some of the tomato plants tied up. I was pretty pooped when I got home—and hot. I stretched out on the bed; dozed a little—about 3 o’clock Θ. Then the rest of the afternoon before Don and Lawry arrived I did some reading—made very little progress. They arrived about 4:45. We went to the garden—picked vegetables for them to use this week. They’re going on vacation next Sunday. Then we came back to the house, had supper. About 7:00, Don, Lawry and I went down to the church—Bonnie gave Debbie her bath then took her to Patriquins. The hymnsing was at 7:30. Very poor attendance: only about 20 some. But it went well, and Don’s solo, “Be Still My Soul” was well done. We got home shortly before 9:00. Had dessert—listened to records, then we played password for the remainder of the evening. This game always is the source of good fun. They left about 11:30. They are great fun to be with. We’re glad that they are now closer—in Lynn. —we were too tired to bathe—prepared for bed; OBLO, c. 12:00.

Monday, 27 July 1970

Up about 9:00. Wrote my weekly article for the Eagle—then set off on the morning’s errands—after watering the tomato plants. Went to the dump first, then to the Eagle, then to the bank and Richdales. When I got home and had glanced at the mail, I got down to reading. My primary objective for the day then was to get a lot of reading done in Mowinckel—made some progress before having lunch. Bonnie left for work, Debbie played in her room (and finally went to sleep) and I read. Made good progress. Daniel and Christine et. al. were off to the beach—so there was peace and quiet; and when they did come home they went in the house. So I was able to concentrate. Progress was slow when Debbie awoke and Bonnie got home, but I read until about 6:15. We had supper, watched CBS news. Then I read for about 1 hour 15 minutes—then we went to Patriquins for “mug-ups”—hadn’t been in a long while. We stayed from about 8:50-10:00—came home, Bonnie gave me a HAIRCUT. Then I took my bath—returned to reading—I am almost finished with Mowinckel—I’ve been on it for 2 weeks now—too long! The next book will go faster. OBLO midnight.

David’s Diary, July 27, 1970

©2017 copyright owned and transcribed by David Madison and Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found: https://genealogylady.net/2017/09/20/davids-diary-july-24-1970/