Aug 10 - Friendly ladies

Thursday, August 10, 1972 - Page 223
LOCATION: Chicago

(3:30 PM 8/11/1972)
Mrs. dropped me off at the Field Museum (she was going to school that day) and I got through the Indian section, so I finished everything in the entire first floor. Rah. I stayed from 12:30 to 6:00, when they closed, and I went outside and shot my whole roll of film [See October 7 for more Chicago photos]. Got on the bus at 6:30, got back at ten to 8 -- after I got off the bus, Sue & Vicki, who had gone to the drugstore to buy something, appeared, running to catch up with me and acting more delirious than usual. Ken got home about the same time we did. Larry followed soon thereafter (he lives less than a block away).

The slides got developed, so we saw the rest of the pictures from their Colorado/S.D. [South Dakota] trip. Then we went to a drugstore where a girl should have been -- instead Bill Muhr, the moustachioed pharmacist was there (he's a good friend of Ken's, and dated Peggy once). Ken got talking about 'cycles, and when the drugstore closed at nine, we drove to Bill's house to see the garage, where there were 3 bikes, one of them Bill's 500 Triumph. The other two were 650s. 2 guys (Hank & Jack), and a girl were there too, looking at the bikes. They left, and Bill gave Ken a motorcycle catalogue, and we left.

Then Ken, me, Larry and his cadillac drove to Jean's house, and Jean, me & Nancy (in the backseat) and Lar & Ken drove to McDonald's to eat. There I had my second cigaret this year, and bites out of J & N's hamburgers -- Jean saved my McDonald's cup, Nancy stole a hat belonging to Larry that was in the back seat, and I drew a picture of a McDonald's cup held in Nancy's hand to prove I was an artist.

Nancy wrote down her address & Jean's so I can write to them as soon as I get back to my cave. We drove back home, Nancy put the hat in her house before Larry could get it, and I kissed Jean goodnight (haven't kissed a girl since November -- it's about time!) and we left. That's about all.

She got the date wrong here.
It was August 10, not July.

TOMORROW: The flu continues to bother us

Jun 30 - Flood cleanup in Rapid**

Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 182
LOCATION: Newport Beach to LAX for flight to Salt Lake City, then on to Rapid City to arrive in Bethlehem, South Dakota

A whole big mess of too many words...

JUNE 30, 1972 WAS THE LONGEST MEASURED DAY IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND ---

8:30 PM
At the moment I am sitting atop a bunk in the Retreat house in S.D. so this journal -- (I took about an hour break there, losing another game of chess and talking to Clint bout L.A., S.F., jail, landscaping, etc.) is once again out on a trip. It started out Friday morn -- Thursday nite I packed my duffle bag (so heavy I could barely lift it -- Mom found out the airlines wouldn't take baggage over 40 lbs.) (There again -- I (busybusybusy) was gone for an hour--) Never mind all that -- I woke up with the alarm at 5:00 -- So did Mom. We left by six and the traffic was heavy. I got there at LAX at around 7:30 -- Mom of course was late for work (Another delay -- Took time out to win three chess games). (Another delay -- Took time out to win another game of chess --)

(Monday night 7/3/1972)
NOW! It is 11:41 P.M. 7/3/72 --- NO -- NOW it is 15 to 12:00 -- Talked with Clint again -- he got back from cave crawling. Okay, I'm gonna finish this now, and I'll have to shave plenty to make it fit. I gave my duffle bag to the baggage guys and left quickly before they could tell me it was too heavy. I got my ticket and boarded okay -- I have a window seat but three girls wanted to stay together, so I gave them my place, finding an aisle seat beside a fat aging business man. He was reading a newspaper, and I asked him if he was going to look out the window much. He said YES, tersely. That's all he said during the whole trip. Most of the hour and 20 minutes of the flight he spent sleeping, snoring, hacking and drooling over himself. Breakfast was served on that flight -- we landed in Salt Lake City, and I then boarded the second flight to Rapid and St. Paul.

(Tis now quarter to 1:00 A.M. -- Another delay while Mike and Mike came in for awhile.) I got into the plane late due to a misunderstanding so I could only find an aisle seat beside two guys. They were friendly, being from California, departing from SFX to Bismark, N.D. They were over forty and enjoying the hell out of their flight. I was on Western Airlines (the Champagne Airline) so I had 3 or 4 glasses of free champagne. Flew over Mt. Rushmore, but it was on the wrong side so I got only a glimpse.

Landed in Rapid at 11:55 (flying over the Black Hills, you could tell they'd had a flood, it looked like they had lots of lakes down there), and Tom was there to meet me, along with a guy named Ben (Gentle Ben, a huge fellow reminiscent of Little John, of the Merry Men). It was in the upper 70°s with more or less clear skies. We drove in the Econoline van thru Rapid, stopped at a McDonald's where Ben bought food, and then we drove to a house they were working on -- There we found Greg, Bruce, and Mike (Freak -- Not Mike National Guard or Mike Youngster -- I don't know the last names). They filed in and we drove back to the McDonald's to eat lunch. After which, we dropped Ben off to hitch into town, then to go back to the house. The house was a two story structure which had a creek behind it -- resultantly (I've decided to stop writing for tonight -- to be continued --- 1:02 A.M.)

(Tuesday morning 7/4/1972)
Now it's 11:00 A.M., 4 of July, and I'm going to catch up -- resultantly, water from the flood brought several inches of mud into the first floor, and the water line inside was neck high. The occupants evacuated just in time and most of the personal possessions were gone. A two story house next door was up against the Becker's house (the one we were working on), having been washed 20 or 30 feet. Mike Freak and Greg worked on one part of the house shoveling mud, and Me, Bruce King and Tom Hildebrand shoveled mud in the bedroom downstairs -- or maybe it was the living room. Alternately we manned the wheelbarrow, dumping the mud in a ditch outside. Mike and Greg left to look for food as we three finished with the mud. Then we tore up the carpet to throw it outside, but it was too heavy -- so we tore a hole in the wall with great difficulty, and at the expense of a rake which I was swinging at the wall to break it open -- the handle broke.

Eventually, we rolled the carpet out, and Mike and Greg returned with soft drinks and snacks from a Salvation Army truck. Ben arrived with Leslie (a girl -- you might have guessed). We were through for the time being, so Tom, Greg and I went out in the van to get some stuff for Bethlehem. We finished with that, returned to Becker's and got everything (Leslie tho had left by then). We all drove back to Bethlehem, and I ate dinner which was about 7:00, and then went to the retreat house where my bunk was, in a room containing Mike Freak and Bruce King. I got to sleep at around 7:30, and slept through to 7:30 the next day.

[Side note] Friday was sunny to start with, but as we were working at Becker's, it rained hard with thunder and pea-sized hail -- It quit after an hour or so. It didn't rain at all at Beth we were told.

TOMORROW: I will begin foretelling the future by announcing the next entry

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 20 - Looking forward...

Tuesday, June 20, 1972 - Page 172
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

1:30 PM
[continued from previous page/day]... and woke up at 8:30. I've been sleeping so much I haven't seen Mom since Sunday nite. Today I worked on this damned journal, and I finally caught up to the present! Now I'm gonna get to work getting my stuff together, and my room cleaned. I called Western Airlines for their Rapid City Schedule for the 28th. It'll cost $55. It seems Grandma Dot got the idea that I wasn't going to have her pay for it since I had a job (such a noble notion), so instead Mom's gonna pay for it. I'll have about $150 when everything is set for my departure from S.D. to Chic., if indeed I'm going to Chic[ago]. --- 1:28:45 P.M.

1:41:35 P.M. --- IT HAS JUST STARTED RAINING ---

(8:00 PM 6/21/1972)
It rained sporadically all day and some of the night. There's more to say about Tuesday, but I won't bother -- nothin' too important.

Jun 19 - Another flood in Rapid City

Monday, June 19, 1972 - Page 171
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

(1:30 PM 6/20/1972)
It has been decided that I'm not gonna work any more at landscaping, and I'm leaving for S.D. [South Dakota] on the 28th (Jim & Cynthia are coming down for the 4th of July on the 29). Tom came back to Bethlehem --- Gil's in Pennsylvania burying somebody, and Rapid had another flood recently with 4 more feet of water. I've gotta get stuff prepared for the trip.

Still have not heard anything from the Latkas. Mayhaps I went too far with my irreverence in my last letter and they decided not to associate with me. Anyway, this book will return to South Dakota for another month or so.

Monday I woke up at 8:00, having got to sleep at 2:00. I got most of my photos selected to go with me to S.D. (to practice drawing) and I got to sleep at around 4 P.M., waking at 6:30 P.M. Mom had gone to bridge. I watched T.V. and washed the dishes. Went to bed about 1:30, ... [continued on next page]

Jun 10 - Black Hills flood kills 238**

Saturday, June 10, 1972 - Page 162
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

12:00 PM
I got up today at 10:44 after getting to sleep at around 11:00 P.M. My feet still hurt, especially the right one which I must've sprained. I'm using Vitamin-E [lotion] on my sores to get them fixed before next Monday. I read the Other again today -- am now on 271.

(10:30 AM 6/11/1972)
Mom & I went to the Lincoln drive-in today to see "Play It Again Sam," and "The Honkers." We left at five thirty so I read the rest of "The Other," so now all I have left to read is "The Probability Man," and "Man's Rise To Civilization, etc." --

Today or late yesterday Rapid City and surrounding areas got clobbered with heavy rains, a busted dam, and flashfloods. Last I heard, 155 people had died and $100,000 damage had been estimated, but both figures should rise considerably. It's a Federal Disaster Area. I knew a few people in Rapid City, and Spearfish. Fr. Gil must be pretty busy, with all those dead folks around. [See Father Gilbert's report on the flood in the entry for June 27, 1972]

From Wikipedia: During the night of June 9, the Canyon Lake Dam became clogged with debris and failed, resulting in 238 deaths and 3,057 injuries. Several bodies were never found. There were over 1,335 homes and 5,000 automobiles destroyed. The value of the damaged property was over US$160 million in 1972 dollars.

Today, by the way, a sculpture came of a ballerina [purchased by Mom]. It's fairly good. That was the mail for today. And I first noticed that Liz the lizard is gone. The elements have been pushing her farther and further away, until she is now out of site. She should turn up some day, if I look for her.

Jun 01 - ARTWORK: Various sketches**

Thursday, June 1, 1972 - Page 153
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

3:33:33 PM
I haven't slept yet since the last entry, tho I may have dozed a couple minutes while I layed in the sun between 11:00 and 12:30. The temperature is in the 80°s, but it is now a bit overcast. I quit reading at 5:15 when Lum 'n Abner came on, followed eventually by Lohman 'n Barkley. To occupy myself whilst listening, I drew the picture on this page.* ...

[Side note:] * The original drawing mentioned is no longer in my possession. It is now owned by Tom Shearing of South Dakota. In its place is a first attempt at this photo that was given up quickly for obvious reasons. -- G.L., 8/17/72 (see page 190 [July 8, 1972] for info)

Here is the substitute art and photo

... I still think the sketch on 115 is my best, but this was a valiant effort none the less. This was copied from a photo included herewith.

Here is the sketch that also appears
on page 115, April 24

I took a few liberties in the process of translating the photo to pencil. None of these drawings are accurate to the photos -- least of all the color pencil attempt.

Here is the color pencil drawing that
first appeared in the entry for May 26

[To see more of my artwork, please go here: Gallery ]

May 29 - The moon disappears**

Monday, May 29, 1972 - Page 150
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

MAMMORIAL DAE (You remember her, don'tcha?)

5:17:38 AM
The moon just disappeared. Either I'm badly mistaken, or this is a(n) historical moment in natural or unnatural history. At about 12 after five I looked out the window and saw the full moon, gold of hue, in what appeared to be a clear, rich deep blue sky, pre-morning type.

Now you see it...

A few minutes later I looked out there again, and the moon wasn't there. It couldn't set that far in just a few minutes, and there isn't any trace of it at all. Wait a second, I'm going to look again... nope, it's still not there. How about that.

...now you don't

I'm listening to "Lum and Abner" now, and I just finished the final first draft of a letter to Soozwol, a monumental effort in letter-writing. It took me 4 and a half hours. Now I'm going to go to sleep. Good night/morning. 5:24:02 A.M.

10:10:10 PM
I still haven't seen the moon yet. I haven't heard any mention of its disappearance on the Gradio, but it certainly would be news. Where would the next Apollo flight go? -- I finished the final copy of Soozy's letter, and I guess I'll mail it in a couple of days.

Grandma Dot came over, and she said she'd pay for an airline ticket to fly me to South Dakota, so, I guess I'll be leaving in a couple of weeks. I heard Tom isn't there any more -- he left. It was another record breaker today ~ 97° in L.A. The highest on record of this date was for 1881 when it got up to 79°. I tanned my hide alot, and read "Theother."

Lara & Mike dropped by, and Mike and I moved that cabinet out back like Mom wanted, and I rearranged the boats back there (there's only the blue downriver boat & "Patch" now, Chunk has the "Mongoose," and Glenn took away his kayak last Monday). Mom & I continued to get this place cleaned up. We also played some more chess, after a big dinner. She won two games, I won three. I'm now on page sixty nine in "Thother," and I'm on page 110 in "Man's rise to civilization as shown by the indians of north america from primeval times to the coming of the industrial sta[end of page]

Apr 25 - Photos: Bethlehem, South Dakota

Tuesday, April 25, 1972 - Page 116
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

Today: (see page 115)

These photos were taken by Tom Hildebrand, and were given to me by Tom Scheurring, and were put in here on August 26, 1972 A.D., at about noon while sitting on my bunk in the Abbott's Cabin. Now, what else do you wanna know? ----

[This is a rare TIME-JUMP-AHEAD referring to Grady's return-appearance at Bethlehem, South Dakota, later in this year, spurred by the disastrous Black Hills Flood of June 9 that killed hundreds.] 

Apr 19 - Car problems when Dad visits

Wednesday, April 19, 1972 - Page 110
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

11:02:54 PM
Got a letter today from Tom Hildebrand of Bethlehem, SD. He sent 23 photographs, 3 of them of Matt & Me in South Dakota one hundred days ago, the rest of Europe. Some of the pictures are on page 10 1/2 (me in Bethlehem) [see January 10] and 10 3/4 (Europe from a year ago) [see below].

It was a sunny day, and I considered going out to tan my hide, but there were some clouds. The clouds moved in and burst, dropping a steady shower for about a half hour. During that time, dad appeared to give me $5, and mom $20, then he and me went to eat at Jack in the Box, and the Audi overheated. The fan wasn't working so he drove to the Volkswagen place, and they'll fix it for him tomorrow -- till then, it'll stay cool if he doesn't idle it. We came home, ate, and he left at about 1:30 or 2:00. I did some more organizing, wrote a letter to Tom and sent $15.00 for the Bible they're selling. The $15 was in the form of a check from Mom's bank.

The Apollo 16 (Sweet Sixteen) is orbiting the moon, and they're landing tomorrow. I watched a lot of T.V. today (Adam 12, Mystery Movie: McMillan & Wife, and Night Gallery). Got a lot of dishes dirty. Laboriously brought mom's desk into the living room from the cabaña via the porch since the hall was too narrow, or the desk was too wide. Tis now 11:16:15 P.M. Tha's all.

Jan 09 - All Points Bulletin

Sunday, January 9, 1972
LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

4:30 PM
Last night we went cave crawling where I got very muddy, and acquainted myself with the local folk. Before that, Matt and I set up his stereo equipment in a cabin. I slept in one of the rooms in Tom's, etc's, cabin -- that's where Matt & I will be staying. I left the cave before Matt, leaving with Tom, Penny, Mary, and someone else. I got to bed at about 11:30, and Matt got back at about 1:00 A.M. I got up this morning at around 8:30 when Matt came in to change clothes -- he's slept in the retreat house or somewhere.

We had breakfast at 9:30 (oat meal & scrambled eggs), then threw around paper airplanes for awhile. I got to work stripping the insulation from the wire I'd use on the tire chains while the gang in the retreat house sat around and listened to Brad play the guitar.

Mass broke things up at 11:30 A.M., during which I went to the cabin, listened to the stereo, and finished stripping the wire. Since I didn't have the keys to the car, I went to my room to do the writing I had to do (diary & Latka letter) -- but Tom arrived, and I went to see Matt. Father Gilbert talked with us, and we found out there is an All Points Bulletin out on the car, and we are truant [The APB means that any police officer in the US could arrest me, anywhere at any time, for car theft. I was a "wanted man," but luckily nobody thought of looking for me in the mountains of South Dakota].

Matt's parents have contacted mine (via Meg), and they all know where we are, we have their consent, and everything's fine, except for the police. Matt's mother is going to try to get that taken care of, but there are definitely going to be some legal problems involved.

We can stay here as long as we want, so we'll pro'ly be here a month or more. 'S alright -- I think I'll like it.

Jan 08 - Lost on the way to Bethlehem, SD

Saturday, January 8, 1972
LOCATION: Rapid City, Spearfish & Bethlehem, South Dakota

Got up at 9:30, walked to a nearby gas station to get the tire fixed, and repaired the spare. Before we left I bought gloves and a gas can. We also got some oil for the car. Matt drove first, then after about half an hour I took over because we were getting closer to Bethlehem, South Dakota. The weather was coldest its been since we started.

I passed the turn off to Bethlehem the first time, and went straight to Spearfish, where I patronized a local phonebooth, checked the phonebook, and called Geri's home. It turned out that she left last Wednesday on a plane to go to Langdon, Utah, for college. Oh well...

Anyway, we reversed our position and headed back for Bethlehem. I took a turnoff which I thought would take us where we wanted to go, and the road got very icy, so we put the chains on with a great deal of difficulty (one of the chains didn't fit one of the tires because one of the tires was the wrong size -- that happened when we changed the flat).

I noted my mistake in turning where I did, and we got back on the highway -- took off the damned chains -- and hunted for the Bethlehem turn off. We eventually found it, went up the treacherous winding road (put the chains back on), drove at 5 miles an hour, and got to the Shrine of the Nativity in Bethlehem, S.D.

Hallelujah!

Jan 07 - Cop stop in Custer, South Dakota

Friday, January 7, 1972
LOCATION: Cheyenne, Wyoming; Custer & Rapid City, South Dakota

Matt and I slept last night in the car. I slept while Matt drove, and we stopped in Little America, Cheyenne, at 10:30 A.M. to eat. Presently, we're stopping at an exit to hook up Matt's stereo speakers to the radio.

So, with A.M. music blaring at us from behind, Matt drove on. He kept going until somewhere around seven, then I drove all the way to Rapid City. There were several interruptions however.

As I was driving thru Custer, South Dakota, I supposedly drove thru a red light (though I still don't remember it), and at 8:15 P.M. I was stopped by a policeman. It was a two dollar fine which I promptly paid, and he radioed in my name and license number -- I was summarily cleared and allowed to go. Matt was ecstatic that we weren't in trouble.

Travelling on highway 16 was rather interesting, since we were extremely low on gas, and the road was dark, deserted, narrow, windy and long. To save gas we coasted in neutral when we were going downhill, and we went through a few narrow tunnels. Finally we made it to Rapid City, filled up the tank, drove the wrong way on a one way street, bought food at a Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken place, got a motel, watched T.V., and ate. We also found out we had a flat tire.

[A $2.00 traffic fine! Are you kidding me? Here's the proof.]