Dec 26 - Out with the Christmas tree

Tuesday, December 26, 1972 - Page 361
LOCATION: San Francisco

The Weidner's San Francisco House as it looked in 1956

Woke up at about 5:30. This morning Jim had to take the bus because his tire was flat. Willie was fixing it when I got up. Jain was home already, having been driven & picked up to & at work. Jim got home soon. Willie & I chopped the branches off the X-mas tree & took the trunk down, then the branches (at Jain's insistence). We ate some more turkey with the left overs & then we played pinochle till 12:30. Jain, Jim & mom went to bed. Mom & Jain talked for an hour or so in bed while Willie & I played poker & chess. Quit (at Jain's insistence) at 1:30. Got to sleep around 3:00, sleeping with Cornelius (Jim's cat).

72's NEWS
President Harry S. Truman died today at 7:50 AM from pneumonia. He was 88. Question: What was his middle name? Answer: He didn't have a middle name, just an initial. (wiki info)

TOMORROW: Poseidon Adventure

Dec 24 - Car troubles on Christmas Eve

Sunday, December 24, 1972 - Page 359
LOCATION: San Francisco

Christmas Eve. Got up at 8:30 and got out & on the road by 9:45. We were going to Tahoe, but the car broke down. Tried to fix it but couldn't. I got a ride to the H.P. [Highway Patrol] and got a tow truck called for. Rode back with cop. Still waiting.

The tow truck arrived at 3:00 P.M., manned by a nice young bearded fellow. It's illegal to ride in the car being towed so Mom & Jain rode in the tow truck and we three rode in the back of it. We drove 'bout five miles to a place near Placerville, landing at a gas station. The thing cost $19.50 I think.

He left, and the guy at the gas station took over. Went out to get a piece (the hose for the power steering), came back, installed it, and we paid him and left. It took an hour in all, at least. There was a dog there that kept us company. Got home around 7:00.

Cynthia came over. Jim & Will & I played chess. Roark & Carol arrived and we all sat around & talked & opened presents. Finally they left at 1:00 or 2:00. Will, Me & Jim played poker. And we all got to bed around 5:00 or 6:00.

72's NEWS

Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. Consequently, the U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.

TOMORROW: Merry Christmas to Vietnam

Oct 18 - Called in sick, Chuck teaches me blackjack

Wednesday, October 18, 1972 - Page 292
LOCATION: Newport Beach

10:30 PM
The way I wake up for work is this -- I set the alarm for 5:30 (that's the time when Lohman & Barkley come on -- but I usually don't have the energy to turn them on) -- when it goes off I reset it for 6:00, then sleep, and set it for 6:30 when it goes off, and get up finally at 6:30 to get the 7:00 bus. But today I missed the 7:00 alarm so set it for 7:30 so I could get ready for the bus at 8:00. Missed the one at 8:00 tho, so crawled out of bed and called Laramée at 8:30, saying I was sick. Then I slept till 1:30.

It has rained intermittently (it's raining now) -- once in the evening it rained so damned hard it felt like a monsoon -- solid water in the air. Anyway, I did the dishes in a few hours. A prize-winning Czechoslovakian kayaker appeared at about 9:45 (Chunk was gonna go paddling with him). Chunk wasn't here so I called his home but he wasn't there -- Joe went to wait by the bay. Chunk showed up here a few minutes later and went out for him and they paddled. About 7:00 they returned (it was raining then). He left his C2 here (downriver racer) -- Chunk stayed to eat our food and watch the end of "Godzilla vs. The Seamonster," and "the Paul Lynde Show."

Then we played poker and I learned to play black jack. I beat them both at black jack. Chunk left around 9:30. Mom and I played till 10:00 (when she lost all her chips). I'm on 112 in Ray's book and I sewed my backrest and am going to sew my pants. I've got a lot of work to do tomorrow.

TOMORROW: Lots of Nu Navaho Flat White

Aug 22 - Publicity campaign for McKeever VIPs

Tuesday, August 22, 1972 - Page 235
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

11:30 AM [continued from previous entry]
Also yesterday, I got a letter from Greg Langevin. He was the guy who stayed at Bruce's house before I called, and he left here for the same reason I was asked to leave -- he's not a devout hypocrite. I woke up today at 11:00 (it's now 11:36). No work today for most of us (hark -- I hear the cement mixer mixing) -- because today is Town Day, and many of us are in town, including Bruce who drove.

(10:30 AM 8/24/1972)
It turned out today wasn't town day, due to lack of interest. Several things occurred this day. I continued work on my alabaster chain, obtaining more useful tools from the shop in the retreat house. John Bauer showed up today because his grandparents were going thru the cave. He was here an hour or so. He's going into the Navy and will be getting married soon. Tom Scheuring and I did a little more removing of the concrete pile.

For the past few days me & Bruce have been entertaining the McKeever kids, Pat Jr., Christi, and Devon (4, 3, 1) [Pat McKeever Sr. was a prominent politician]. The McKeevers are going to leave soon, so part of the day was consumed with two photographers taking publicity shots (Five McKeevers walking hand in hand down the wooded lane).

Tuesday was another big tourist day. Also a few people came to the retreat house to stay over night. Me, Bruce, Jim & Ed played poker for awhile -- I did all the winning. Bruce & I left, and stopped in the retreat house where Jim, Jane (the McKeever's babysitter) and Sr. Sylvester were gathered. Later that night I played two games of chess with Sue Nemeth, and then she (she is a campaigner for the Mc's), me, Jane, and Dennis played scrabble until 12:30 when Gil came in to break it up and tell us to go to bed. -- I wrote a letter to Greg.

TOMORROW: All about the PEACE symbol

Jul 15 - Laying 50 more feet of sidewalk

Saturday, July 15, 1972 - Page 197
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

1:30 PM
Me & Greg are laying cement, Tom's finishing, Mike's mixing, Clint and John are hauling. Bruce & Tim are working on the retention wall. Two families appeared today, one is the Boursracks (or some such unpronounceable name). The other is the McKeevers -- seven people in all, plus one photographer (McKeever is a politician). We've been working fairly slow today.

Laying sidewalk for $7 per week

(7:30 PM 7/16/1972)
I was wrong about the McKeevers, the people I saw were mere tourists. They didn't show up yet. Late that day the Gorsatch's appeared (that's as close as I can get to their name). So did a Philippine Los Angeles Priest by the name of Father Henry. We completed about 50 feet of side walk. I took a bath tho the water crisis continued -- there's a leak somewhere and they haven't found it.

We played poker again -- as usual, everyone was forced out by a lack of chips except me and Greg. It always ends up that way -- just me and Greg. Greg is a better poker player, but again I beat him, the same way I beat him last time -- matching pots (my pot is usually one percent of the chips -- he has the rest), and dealing five cards up -- best 2 out of 3 hands wins. I win constantly, despite the odds against it. We finally finished playing at 1:15 A.M. Somehow the screw came out of my glasses, so I couldn't wear them. Interesting, huh?

(7:40 PM 7/16/1972)
I finished "The Little Prince," and am now on page 96 in "I'm OK, You're OK."

TOMORROW: Swimming Holes in the Wilderness

Jul 13 - Politics & the Democratic Convention**

Thursday, July 13, 1972 - Page 195
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

George McGovern, South Dakota Senator,
friend of Father Gilbert, and one of the directors
of Bethlehem's Shrine of the Nativity
(see my encounter with him in the July 17 entry)

The 1972 Democratic National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, on July 10-13, 1972. It nominated Senator George McGovern of South Dakota for President and Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri for Vice President.

Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri

Eagleton later withdrew from the race when it was disclosed that he had undergone mental health treatment, including electroshock therapy, and he was replaced on the ballot by Sargent Shriver of Maryland.

Sargent Shriver, statesman & activist

7:30 PM
We got to work late today -- about 10:00 A.M. We usually get started at 8:00 A.M., and finish at 4:30. Today we quit at 3:00 (I finished at 4:30, however). I worked on finishing cement that Tim (the new kid), and Clint (but later Greg) put down. Mixing was Mike, and hauling was John & Greg (but later Clint). We got 40 more feet done today. I'm reading "I'm OK, You're OK" (am now about to read 2nd Chapter). Lyle showed up today at supper. It was another sunny day.

(9:00 AM 7/14/1972)
Quite a few people came today -- besides five nuns, M.R. (that's Mrs. Rogers), Gil, Me, Tom, Tom, Tim, Greg, Bruce, John, Clint, Pearce, Dorothy, & Mike, there were a few temporary people: Lyle, Joe, Alexandria, Julie, Julie, Megan (all together in the same car), and a group with kids and Father Murphy.

Bruce baby-sat for a two & a half-year old kid named Sean, whilst his mother was in the cave. Jim & I assisted for a while, then I started playing poker with Greg. I beat him, just barely, and we got thru at 12:45. The Demo Con is still going -- McGov has his V.P. picked. Greg continues to be anti-McGov even though everyone else in this place is pro (McGovern, incidentally, is one of the inter-denominational directors of this place).

Jim's hand

TOMORROW: Serious cave crawling

Jul 10 - Geri's photos of Europe trip*

Monday, July 10, 1972 - Page 192
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

7:00 PM
I've just finished putting in the photos Geri took [April 21 & 22; April 29 & 30]. I missed breakfast today, of course -- it was windy and somewhat cloudy, but most of the day was warm, clear and calm. I did various things -- hauled cement to Clint & Tom S. who put it in the forms, shoveled dirt away from the bank (just now I wrote "Happy Birthday to me," on July 17, 72), finished cement, constructed forms with Pierce (Dorothy, by the way, turned her ankle badly yesterday, so she's incapacitated), and began grading the land near Storm's.

Klint

Jeff's gone, most of the nuns are still here, two groups of tourists dropped by to see the cave, Mike Mills beat me in two more games of chess, and I read some more in "The Thing In The Stone" [by Clifford Simak originally published in Worlds of IF Science Fiction, March 1970: A man who suffered brain damage can see the ancient past & hear the traffic of the stars -- and a mysterious creature trapped under a mountain...]. I'm learning to find more time where I can now, so I'll be doing more reading, some writing, and possibly some artwork.

John, Bruce, Clint, Tom & Tom are gone now, out helping a doctor move his motorcycle from Wonderland Cave. Jim's out someplace playing his guitar (I can hear the music vaguely). I am now in Abbott's, and Mike and Greg are in the next room fooling with some psychological test. Brad is unaccountable as usual. Today Gil mentioned that he'll want me to do some art work for a pamphlet. Progress on that will be forthcoming. Now I'm going to write captions for the Europe photos. -- It rained for a while today, then cleared up. The Democratic convention took place. I lost in poker.

Tom Hildebrand, Father Gilbert's right-hand man

TOMORROW: Flood-Repair Meeting in Deadwood

Jul 09 - Geri from Europe trip visits*

Sunday, July 9, 1972 - Page 191
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

5:00 PM
This being a Sunday full of Nuns, there were more rituals than usual. I got up at 8:45 and everybody went to mass at nine. I din't. I played chess with Mike Mills (presently I am one game ahead of him) during which we attended a prayer meeting, and Geri Langer showed up while it was in progress, along with a few other people. I had breakfast today for the second time since I've been here -- it was at 9:30 so I couldn't miss it.

I played Penny some more games (won 2 or 3, lost one). Saw Geri's pictures that she took when we were in Europe. A couple loads of tourists came today. As usual, today is warm and fairly clear. Finally, I've caught up again. Swell --

This beautiful star on the main building's
chimney served as The Shrine of the Nativity's logo

(12:00 PM 7/10/1972)
Sunday was a very lazy day -- I spent my time at the old entrance of the cave overlooking Horseshoe Bend and read "World's Best SciFi, 1971" (The Thing In The Stone). Penny & Geri left with Geri's gang, and we all had an affectionate farewell -- they'll be back soon. Very soon, I hope. Geri let me have whatever small prints of her Europe photos I want. They are on pages 112 & 113; 120 & 121.

Played some more chess, and played poker until midnight. I won extremely well, beating everyone. Jeff left early Monday morn. Sunday nite was extremely windy and the skies were clear and silent, but on the western horizon I could see the electric flashes of a lightning storm, sometimes illuminating the sky for several seconds.

Sister Somebody sewing something

TOMORROW: Geri's photos

Jul 04 - Independence Day stock car races

Tuesday, July 4, 1972 - Page 186
LOCATION: Bethlehem & Rapid City, South Dakota

12:30
[continued from previous page]... and I loaned John $20. It's a smart thing to have people indebted to you.* [Side note: *I take that back. It is now Aug 18, and neither loans have been paid back] We played some more poker, but John did most of the winning. I struggled with this journal Mon. evening, but the interruptions were numerous and I won't go into them. I got to sleep somewhere after midnight.

Today, besides being the 4th, is the 15th anniversary of this establishment, and Gil has been here all that time. I woke up at 10:00, missing mass & breakfast, and I washed my hair and face while talking to Mike Y., who also awoke late. He & Mike N.G., and Tim are returning to Nebraska today. Bye guys. There goes my chess competition. Today will go on -- to be continued (12:46 P.M.)

Notes that show loaned money
that was never repaid

(8:30 AM 7/5/1972)
The guys from Kansas City left too, leaving a hitchhiker here for a while (that's Clint). I got paid $7 -- I get that every week -- gee, how about that. Bruce, John, Brad, Jeff, Clint, Greg, and I went into town to day, stopped at Becker's to see Tom (he's working there temporarily) then we went on to the stock car races at 6:30 P.M. They lasted till around 11:30 P.M., fireworks display included (we were sposed to pick up Tom at 11:00) -- the races were good -- one car ran into the wall, smashing the front, and in a modified race, two cars crashed head on, another was put out of commission, and one more went over the side, off the track. Oddly enough, no one was seriously injured. We fought traffic for a long time to get out, went to Becker's for Tom, and walked across the street to eat (I paid -- It was the same place Matt & I'd eaten in Jan.). Drove up Beth road, barely got through the creek, tore a hole in gas tank, but made it a quarter mile from the cave before it stopped. Walked home.

John (never paid me back)

TOMORROW: The Wrath of Father Gilbert

Jul 02 - The Cave of TIME***

Sunday, July 2, 1972 - Page 184
LOCATION: Bethlehem & Wonderland Cave, South Dakota

PRINCE VALIANT and THE CAVE OF TIME

Writer/Illustrator Hal Foster, in his epic weekly comic-strip "Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur," occasionally ventured into fantasy. Here is a startling 4-page episode in which our daring young hero boldly steps into The Twilight Zone...
(Free instant download: Prince Valiant PDF 8.3 MB)

My father gave me his vintage collection of Prince Valiant comic books when I was 13. These were small reprints of the magnificent full-page tabloid Sunday Comic strips that began in February 1937. I was stunned by this perfect blending of entertaining stories & exquisite art by the masterful Harold Foster. He set a high standard for graphic storytelling that influenced everyone who came after him. I wanted to be like that -- and I dedicated myself to becoming a self-taught artist & writer so I could tell my own amazing stories...

(12:00 PM 7/4/1972)

Sunday was a day of rest so I didn't get up until around lunch. I'm not gonna bother to think of the incidental stuff that happened Sunday -- a few more people came up -- Clint is the only guy I know by name of the new ones. I was asleep when they came so I missed the introductions. I almost got around to writing in this Journal but I was invited to go Truckin' (which means just going for a walk in the woods) -- So Mike Y., Mike N.G., Bruce, Me, John, Tim, Clint, and Brad went walking down Bethlehem Road, heading for Wonderland Cave. We had a walkie-talkie to stay in contact with Tom, but we never managed to communicate through it.

We got to Tim's car, parked past the washed out road, and we drove to a fire trail that connects with Wonderland (on the way we met Gil driving up with a new guy -- Jeff). Bruce stayed at the car to finish reading a comic book while we went on ahead. He tried but failed to catch up, and walked back to Beth, where he tried to contact us on the walkie-talkie, but he didn't succeed.

We all got to the Cave, with me and John, and Mike Y. in the lead. Part of the trail was washed out so we had to climb to the other side of the road. Being from Beth, we got to take a tour of the cave for free -- only Me, John, and Mike N.G. decided to go.

Inside Wonderland Cave

We walked back under clear skies (it had been cloudy before) -- Me, John & Mike Y. & Tim took the trail back -- everyone else cut thru the wilderness, led by Brad. I gave Mike the Psych Test on the way. When we got to Tim's car, Tim was there (ahead of us) along with Tom & Bruce who'd just arrived in the van. We all drove back to Beth in the van, and everyone else was already there. That night, me, John, Mike Y., Bruce, & Mike N.G. played poker. It got down to me, John & Mike Y. & Mike won. Finished by 1:00 A.M.

TOMORROW: My useless dam project

Jun 26 - Finishing "The Probability Man"

Monday, June 26, 1972 - Page 178
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

4:00 PM
Got up about 11:00 and went out to tan my hide again. Got up to 141 in "The Probability Man." I'll be flying to S.D. [South Dakota] early Fri morning. --

Cover painting by Frank Kelly Freas

(1:34 AM 6/27/1972)
Finished the Probability man. Tidied up the cabaña a bit as per Mom's request, and likewise, put up the new towel rack in the bathroom. Played poker with mom till 'round 10:30 -- then I finished reading the Prob. Man and retired by 1:00. -- Thend.

Jun 25 - Great Grandmother Brazzel

Sunday, June 25, 1972 - Page 177
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

(4:00 PM 6/26/1972)
Cooked myself in the sun for 3 or 4 hours starting at 10:30 when I woke up. Grandma Brazzel [my maternal great-grandmother] had an operation Sunday and she came through okay, but nevertheless, she's got a year or a half to live. She's 93 now. So mom went to the hospital to see her. She came back with food, and we played chess and ate -- I beat her two games. Then we played poker, and I won most of the games.