Top 20 Entries from 1972 - Part 1***

These are my choices for the Top 20 most interesting posts of 1972. Here are the first 5.

LOCATION: Corona, California -- Jan 07, 2014

Mom & Dad: Charmian Marie Lyda (Born 1927) & Grady Luther Lyda, Jr. (1927 - 1974)

01) Jan 01, 1972 - Happy Friggin' New Year

LOCATION: Newport Beach, California 

This introduces the Diary which is the first & last time Grady kept a daily journal. He describes events of New Year's Eve 1971 and New Year's Day 1972, mentioning girl troubles, cop problems, and an overall dissatisfaction with life. Normal adolescent angst.

In the following entry for January 02, Grady explains the circumstances of his unnecessary arrest on the morning of New Year's Day. This is a typical 17-year-old moaning about the world's frustrating unfairness. Same as it ever was.

02) Jan 10, 1972 - Shopping in Rapid City

LOCATION: Bethlehem & Rapid City, South Dakota

After "borrowing" my family's car (we owned two), I became a runaway with my equally disgruntled high school friend, Matt Gold. We were aiming for New York but we ended up in Bethlehem, South Dakota, where I had been invited to come for a visit by Father Gilbert Stack who ran the place. This was a popular tourist destination called The Shrine of the Nativity that had been installed in a famous cave. To see more text & photos regarding this historic location, please go to the July 18 entry.

Anyway, we soon learned that the police were hunting for us due to an All Points Bulletin (APB) on the "stolen" car (one of our parents snitched on me), so we were temporarily trapped there until the legal problems could be resolved.

That's me at age 17 shoveling snow in South Dakota

03) Jan 18, 1972 - Letter of explanation to Grandma Dot

LOCATION: Bethlehem, South Dakota

Here is the letter I wrote to my grandmother telling her why I had escaped from Newport Beach. Later I heard that she cried when she read this. She was well-known to the staff at The Shrine of the Nativity and was a long-time friend of Father Gilbert (born as Garrett Michael Stack in 1913): They both grew up in Kansas City, Missouri.

   

04) Mar 06, 1972 - As close as I'll get to time travel

LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

Grady, an aspiring science-fiction writer, speculates about the future and ponders the mysteries of TIME. "Where will I be on December 31, 1972... [Answer: San Francisco & Soda Springs, California], will everyone I know still be alive? [NO. There will be a death in the family on September 13] ...Where will I be on January 1, 2000?" [At an apartment in Corona, California, with my wife, Celia, and daughter, Elora]

March72Grady makes a series of completely inaccurate predictions, then sets up an impromptu Temporal Experiment designed to visit the near future with April72Grady: "What unimagined events will have transpired between now (Apr. 2), and when I wrote this (March 6)? We shall see." What could we learn from a trip thru time that takes us just one month ahead? Surprisingly, quite a bit... Find out in the entry for April 02 (Easter Sunday) - Tinkering with Time.

This bold experiment in virtual time travel extends even further as we discover in the entry for Sep 22, where we see this note: "Once again I ventured into the future from March 6, 1972, 8:12 P.M. What would I find? Would I be happy or sad?" That page provides the answers. 

You might say this is all just tricks with words on paper. There's no authentic scientific experiment here, it's just semantics. Let's consider the facts: At 7:51pm on Monday, March 6, 1972, a 17-year-old projects his thoughts forward in time to find out where he's going to be at the end of the year, and even at the end of the century. Now he knows. Mission accomplished. Then he invokes his nearby future-self to learn what will happen in less than a month -- and on April 2 he reports back to himself.

Today we have gone beyond any boundaries he'd imagined... 42 years later, he/I is/am connecting with memories of that teenager and filling in the gaps between him/me at 17 and him/me at 59. PLUS, amazingly, in the constantly shifting Present Moment, the entire world has instant access to the results of this exercise. It is a globally shared temporal-spanning experience among all parties concerned, including him, me, you, us, them, and even all the unborn folks who are reading this 42 years from now in the year 2056. We have literally gone Back to the Future, the Past & All Points in between.

Yes, of course it's all in your head: Where else would you perceive the effects of TIME? Okay, let's travel back to the past again... 

05) Apr 14, 1972 - Epic exploration of Newport Bay

LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

This is when I risked life-and-limb to explore the great wilderness that existed beyond my humble mobile home park. It took awhile. I got home late and learned that mom had already called the Newport Beach Harbor Patrol to search for my pathetic missing body. This extensive entry spills over into April 15.

NEXT WEEK: Top 20 Entries from 1972 - Part 2 (6 to 10)

Mar 16 - Riddles and jokes

Thursday, March 16, 1972 - Page 76
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

8:00 PM
Woke up at 9:00 or so, got up at 10:00 and took a bath. Then I went to school and talked with Mrs. Lyons who suggested I send a story to Ray for his opinion (it seems he has taken many budding writers under his wing). She's going to see "Dandelion Wine" in a day or so. She saw a rehearsal of it so she's got an idea what it's like. My moonscape drawing was on a wall, I noticed.

Mary Lyons, English Teacher
The Galleon 1972

[As noted on March 10, I had given my English teacher, Mary Lyons, my pencil & ink drawing of the scene in this poster. It was nice to see she had posted it in her classroom.]

Theatrical release poster by Robert McCall

I proceeded to the lawn and found out that March 25 is the day that Tim's leaving for Germany. Shawna ignored me, and Mary [Bavry] was typically pleasantly obnoxious, in a vulgar sort of way. Bob knew the answer to a couple of riddles I remembered: Why do ducks have big webbed feet? (to stamp out forest fires) & Why do elephants have flat feet? (from stamping out burning ducks). He knows 'em all (Show me an inept plastic surgeon and I'll show you a man who can't keep a straight face). Left school with a big book on prehistory I "borrowed" from the library before lunch. Dad came over to give me $20 for mom, and he took a lamp. I guess he didn't go to work today. I did the dishes. Mom washed some clothes and bought some T.V. dinners. So I ate the only thing I've had all day -- a couple of Meatloaf T.V. dinners & a bowl of cereal. Went thru some old photos of the Lydas and I'll be putting some in this book. Now I'm goin to sleep. 8:11, 15 secs. End.

Mar 10 - A visit to Harbor High*

Friday, March 10, 1972 - Page 70
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

11:30 PM
I gottup today at 11:30 A.M., and got the mail, then quickly left for school to catch Miz Lyons. She was, however, indisposed and she suggested I discuss my career with her Monday. I did manage to give her an addition to her Lyda Archive and Wall Poster Collection (My rendering of a "2001" moonscape). I also asked about any useful information she may possess concerning possible markets. She mentioned some sources of information on the subject, and said she might ask Ray (Bradbury, that is), though he usually doesn't concern himself with such details since he has two agents to take care of all that.

Masses of students at Harbor High
The Galleon 1972

I joined the gang on the lawn. Meg was there, but I hardly noticed her -- likewise on her part. Read Shawna's latest endeavors -- irritated Mary's sense of well-being due to the fact that I had clearly stated I would no longer appear. I assured her that I was not there, and that she had a very lively imagination to suppose that I was -- warped that it is (her imagination, that is). She finally accepted my non-existence, and Timothy read my story that had been inspired by his story. He appreciated the Germanic allusions. After lunch, Tim went to the Beacon room to draw them a cartoon, and Fish came along, having no class to attend. I fooled around in there 'till the period ended, then left.

Jan 04 - Tomorrow's going to be rough

Monday, January 4, 1972
LOCATION: Newport Beach, California

Today has been a bit aggravating. Last night, Dad said he wouldn't let me drive without the car being insured, but today Mom let me have the car from noon to four, because she's a nice person and because she already promised.

First I drove to school [Newport Harbor High] where I saw the old gang again and I notified them of my intentions -- then I went to Sea Schwinn where I let Dave have my Campi frame, because I didn't have time to sell it. From there I went to the Antique shop, and Betty tried to sell me another goddam radio -- I said I'd think about it, and hurriedly departed, remembering that I'd forgot my money. I was supposed to go back there today, but time ran out.

I returned to school to get Matt so we could go to the Antique shop, but I ran into Shawna -- that resulted in me being side trapped tracked into a trip to Jerry's house (the guy wasn't in), a trip to Sea Schwinn (to ask for a letter of Recommendation from Ed, and to find out about poor sick old Jerry, who is staying at Dale's house), then I went to the bank (with Shawna), withdrew $306.00 and finally (after several hints from Shawna) I went to Grandlydia [my mobile home "estate"] where I attempted to seduce the young lady, and that resulted in a date for tomorrow night. Tomorrow is going to be rough. We're leaving tomorrow.

I visited Matt after going to Grandlydia, and I learned that we've got a passenger on the trip: Dan Huntzinger. That makes three of us, and I've only got $306.00. It'll be almost impossible for me to get the car tomorrow, but if I can manage,  Jan. 5 better go something like this:

I drive Mom to work at 7:30, I go home and pack my garbage in the car and leave a note to my parents explaining my crime, then I go to Coco's to meet Matt and Dan to discuss this whole mess, go to school at lunch to see Meg for my story, go to the Antique place to pick up my glasses (or I'll forget the whole thing and let them keep the five dollar deposit), and after I don't pick up Mom from work, I can go get Shawna and we go someplace to engage in lewd and immoral activities (I've gotta have her back by 10:00 P.M. though), then I wait around for a long time before going to Matt's house to park the car -- then we take off for good. Theoretically... let's see how wrong I am.

Boy! Tomorrow's going to be rough!