June 16, 1966, Thursday
Got up at about 11:00 because I had to go. Watched Andy Griffith,
Jeopardy, then part of Bozo, while I ate some Whistles and Bugles for breakfast.
Mom was shopping all morning. She got two hats. Mrs. Z got
one too. She came home at 1:00. Jim and Bates just happened
to be walking by so she drafted them into carrying some packages.
I talked to Jim about that blind date he had yesterday with one of Eberly’s
friends. Soon as Mom hit the house she was running around trying
to clean everything up. She got mad at me and left to do some more
shopping saying “you don’t have to do anything!” But we did.
Me and Frank started to wash the floor. Char came over and needed
Frank to baby-sit CJ while she took Jimmer to his last piano lesson for
a while. Mrs. Z came over while I was cleaning. Then Neen came
over from work. Then Mom came home and started to clean. Dad
came home at 3:30. For the afternoon, me and Shelley played around.
I gave her a can of bug-killer and we went outside and killed a few sow
bugs. Didn’t do much for the rest of the evening. At 9:00 we
watched a special on ESP and at 10:30 there was a special on the Viet Nam
war. Terry’s brother Dick was on it. Dad took his picture on
the Polaroid and I taped him. Watched a movie then till 12:20.
Meanwhile Mary Ann was helping Mom put up and iron new drapes. Dad
was fixing the light in the ceiling.
THEN!!! At 12:21 they hit us. First Debbie, then Susie and Nancy,
then Don and Jeanne carrying DJ. You guessed it, the Zelens arrived
one day early. First they talked and talked. We were swinging
around the girls and DJ. I called Frank down from slumber.
We took DJ in the attic and we saw his new dance to Zorba the Greek.
Char came over and left (12:40-1:30). Neen came home at about 1:40.
Mom got out candy and fed everyone some. Frank showed some films
in the attic. DJ played with the tape recorder. Don grew his
hair?
** Neen told me how Terry snuck a look at his ring.
** Braves beat Mets 17 to 1. HA HA.
** It’s now 2:23:54 AM. Good night.
June 17, Friday
It’s 12:26AM on Sunday morning. I just came upstairs from talking
to Deb and Jim. Friday morning I was supposed to wake up at 10:00
for Neen to take me to the House of Charles in Chicago Heights to get me
a tux. But I slept later ‘cause I stayed up so late the night before.
I got up about 10:55. Watched TV til Zelens, Eileen and Terry came
over. Since Terry and Neen had so much to do today, with getting
a new car, getting punch and ordering flowers, they asked Don to drive
me out to Chicago Heights. I helped Don shine up the car until 12:00for
his long trip. Then we went shopping—me, Don, Jeanne, Grandma Rose
and DJ. First we went to Hammond and got DJ some shoes (a whole size
bigger) and a little suit. Don left off Jeanne and Rose and we took
DJ with us to get my tux. The whole time there and back I played
with DJ. First, they measured me, then I waited a while to get it.
Don and DJ went to get a hot dog and root beer. We were a little
late picking them up in Hammond again because we hit a long long train.
We got home at 4:30. Just watched TV until 7:00 when we had the practice
for Neen’s wedding. Jim came over at 6:30 and left at quarter till.
When I got there I met the best man, one of Terry’s friends. We went
through the thing several times. The preacher comes out, then Terry,
then the best man and then me. When we are up in front Jimmer comes
down the aisle. Then Jan and Mary Ann, then the 2 flower girls Shelley
and Nancy. Finally Dad brings Neen down the aisle. After the
practice we went over Char’s (like everyone else). Ate a few sandwiches
and then Jeanne drove us home to watch Man from UNCLE, which was good for
a change. At 10:00 a few of us had another short practice with the
preacher: me, the bride and groom, the maids of honor and the best man.
** Mom got her hair fixed up
** Hanky-panky is no 1 in Chicago / Beatles no 5
** Tomorrow’s Neen’s big day
** Jim’s real interested in Egypt now. We read about it up here
in the attic until 12:30.
June 18, 1966, Saturday
Mom got me up at 10:30. I wanted to sleep later but Mom needed
me to go help her get ready. Watched a few cartoons and Dad got a
little mad ‘cause as he said it was such an important day. We started
getting dressed at about 12:00. I didn’t know how to exactly put
on my tux. A guy who was there taking pictures of Neen (in her cleaned-up
room) showed me how to put it on. The Szigenthallers? came over at
1:00 We took a lot of pictures on the front porch. I left for
the church at 1:15 in the station wagon. When I got there I got a
corsage to wear. Then I found the best man and Terry up in the preacher’s
office. We stayed there for about 10 minutes joking about Terry’s
misfortune. At 1:30 we started to march out. First, the preacher
then following, Terry, the best man, and me. Once we were situated,
Jimmer in his cute little tux came walking up and stood on a small piece
of paper we stuck up there. Mary Ann came up slowly, then Janet,
then the flower girls: Nancy and Shelley. Did they go slow!
Dad and Eileen had to start before the flower girls were set. George
Butler sang before and during the ceremony (Because). Immediately
after the wedding we went downstairs and stood in line. I can’t begin
to name all the people there I knew. I had a little punch, wedding
cake and peanuts and then went outside. I threw some rice on Terry
and Neen. When I got home there were mobs of people in our little
house. We had to fit some on the front porch. A rough estimate
of people there is 55. After I ate some ham and polish sausage and
drank up a gallon of punch, I snuck up in the attic and slept ‘til everyone
was gone at 5:30. We saw Terry and Neen off to their honeymoon.
They came back right away. Neen forgot her radio.
Watched Saturday Night at the Movies. It was Jerry Lewis in Rockabye
Baby. Me and Deb left with Mom and Dad in the middle of it to go
to St. John panel room to see Dick Wetnight’s wedding reception.
Me and Deb left it ‘cause it was too loud. We watched Broken Arrow
on the late show. Got to bed at 12:30.
** Paul’s birthday / Paperback Writer is No.1
** Eileen Zimmerman?
** We taped the whole thing
June 19, Sunday
Slept over yesterday in Neen’s (used to be) room. I got up a little
late for church at 8:40. I didn’t have any breakfast because I was
still full from the food I ate yesterday. I got engrossed in reading
the paper so I got dressed a little late and they had to wait on me.
At church they gave out prizes to the oldest and youngest fathers.
Dave taught our class again. There were a pretty lot in Sunday school
and church today. The rest of the Zelens came during church and sat
by us. Frank and Deb took care of DJ down stairs. George’s
sermon was on all the evil fathers in the Bible. After church, watched
the Rebel and took DJ outside. For lunch we had beef left over from
the wedding. Jim Francis came over for a while. At 1:30 the
Cubs double header started. I watched both games though I slept through
most of the 2nd. Got up when the game was over and turned on Walt
Disney and watched the end of Galigar. Dad went to church then.
I watched Branded, Bonanza and Wackiest Ship in the Army. Jim came
over at the half way point of Wackiest Ship. When it was over, we
played Frank an old tape of the top 3 requested. Dad and Mom took
a ride in Terry’s new car with Mrs. Z. They brought back 2 shakes
for me and Frank. About 10:30 Frank found an old June bug on the
attic stairs when going to bed. I had a great idea. I got one
of our fire crackers and taped it to it. Ca-boom! I got some more
fire crackers and went over to Jim’s and lit a few. Then walked around
a while. We talked about all sorts of things: Maltese crosses, motorcycles,
Susukis, lawn mowers, and a dream Jim had about Linda Steen. We talked
a little about Len. Came in the house at about 12:15 and talked about
the Bible and if Jim wanted to be a preacher. We ate a lot of candy
that was on the table. I showed him the Book of Mormon that I got
from the attic. He took it home.
** Fathers Day
** Cubs won their 1st double header of the year over Houston, 9-8 and
8-2
** Braves lost 7 straight
June 20, Monday
This morning I got up the latest I did all summer. I got up at
11:30. Watched Donna Reed and part of Bozo (just ‘cause it was on).
Jimmer called up and asked and begged me if I’d go over to Whiting Park
and ride up and down the hills on bikes with him. But since Don and
Jim were going to Calumet Beach he went with us. Me, Frank, Deb,
Sue and her girlfriend, Shelley, Jimmer, Jim and Don all piled into Dad’s
new Ford. Nancy couldn’t go ‘cause she has a little chicken pox.
We all went in the water right away, it was all right once you got used
to it. We made a big deal of it when Shelley put her head under water
when she slipped. We said “Gee, are you good Shelley, you can already
put your head under water.” Jimmer showed then how he could go under
water for a long time (naturally). I laid on the beach for a while.
We left at 4:30. All together we were there for 2 hours. Drank
a lot of water when I got back and out of by bathing suit. Mom called
up the Dept of Motor Vehicles and asked when I could take a driving test.
Any time between 9:00 and 4:30 was the answer. Naturally Dad wanted
to go at 9:00. I’m waking up early tomorrow. Watched a lot
of crummy TV programs (Deb wanted them) such as John Forsythe and Lucy.
But I turned it off when she started to watch Hazel. Went upstairs
and studied a little more in my manual. At 9:00 I got out the game
of Risk. Deb was pink and I was Red and Frank was black. Since
we didn’t have the right rules we played till before 12:00 and got nowhere.
I couldn’t sleep tonight because it was too hot and when I put the fan
on it was too loud.
** Paperback Writer tied for No. 2
** Braves beat Phils 7-6
** No Pig
** 91ì
June 21, Tuesday (yesterday) at 3:32 summer arrived
This morning I got up at 8:00 to show Dad if I wanted to I could get
up early. I went downstairs and Dad and Mom got up 10 minutes after
8:00. I had some cereal for breakfast. Then
me and Dad started for the Hammond license bureau. First Dad drove
over to Yongstown to get his check then he went to Parkview to get it cashed.
I drove from there and was there at 9:30. We went to the test and
Dad filled out some forms. Then I had a fast eye test on a machine
right there at the test. She gave me a test-form. Then
I walked to a long table and filled it out. I missed one on it.
Something about reinstating a license. Waited a while and a guy and
me went out the back door to our car. We rode around. I had
to back up once and parallel park once. When it was over he said
that I did one thing wrong. I didn’t use my had signals. (I never
use it anyway). At 10:30 it was all over. I drove home and
showed my temporary license to Mom. Zelens came over later.
When we were just sitting there Dad gave me and Frank $15 and Deb $1.
Dad was cleaning out the garage. He brought out an old tent to let
Char set up in her back yard. Me and Frank volunteered to go with
her and try to put it up. We didn’t make it. All the pieces
wouldn’t fit and I think one piece was broke. We waited and waited
for Char to pick us up and take us home. (She just stepped out to
go to Parkview and get something). Me and Frank played a little baseball
with Jimmer. But we finally got tired and walked home. When
we got home Mom said there was a fire. In the alley part of our gate
and Kokat’s gate burnt down. Firemen came and everything. For
supper, Mom decided to make pizzas. We all fixed them. Mom
mentioned to me that she had a class meeting so she sent me to the store
to get some beans. I got peas. She sent me back. This
time I got a size too large. Jim came over from Band Practice.
He said he was whopping it up. Played records until past 12:00.
Jim went home. When me and Deb were downstairs, Mom came home.
I ate some pie. Nance, Deb and Frank are up here.
** Mr. Hoover helped Jimmer fix his bicycle chains
** Folded papers
** Dad and Don were over his mother’s fixing things
** 93@
June 22, 1966, Wednesday
I got up rather late this morning at 11:30. Watched TV for a while.
Frank went to a baseball game about 12:00 ‘cause Stacy called up.
Frank had earlier cut his part of the grass in the front, so Mom told me
to do my part and cut the side. I did it in about 90 degree
temperature. I came in and drank about a gallon of ice tea that mom
made. Debbie made friends with Wendy today so Debbie and her just
walked in the attic and started to listen to records. Deb just bought
Hanky-panky. I went upstairs and sat around with em for a while.
I later drove em to Deb’s Grandma’s to get some stuff. Let Wendy
off at her house. Deb and DJ both went over her house to play in
her pool. At 4:30 I went to the store (Parkview) with Mom.
She got a watermelon for 69 cents. She took me along ‘cause she had
to unload some rug cleaning stuff at Sandrick’s that shampoos for the church.
We left for Whiting Park at about 5:30. We were there by ourselves
for a while. Zelens came, then Walkers. I pushed DJ on the
baby swings for a while. Had ourselves a good old time. Ate
most of the watermelon. We had to leave at 7:00 if we wanted to catch
The Ten Commandments showing at the Paramount theater at 8:20. When
I got home, I hurried and took a shower downstairs. I searched high
and low for a pair of pants, finally I found some in the attic. Jeanne
left me, Frank, Debbie and Wendy off at 7:15. We bought some food
before the show started. We all sat in about the 20th row just left
of the middle isle. Frank on the inside, Debbie, me and finally Windy.
Anyway she leaned on my shoulder a few times during the 3 hours and 53
minus of the movie. (Question: How much does Wendy like me?)
A really great movie. There was a little confusion. Frank called
up Mom to take us home, no answer. Called Char. She said she
would get someone. Jeanne and Don waited for us outside so it worked
out.
June 23, Thursday
Right now it’s 12:50AM. The fan is on full tilt and still it’s
warm. I just set the alarm so I’ll get up at 9:00. This morning
I beat my late sleeping record (10:45). I woke up several times but
I kept having real cool dreams (one was about an inflatable motorcycle
that I let Lloyd Birch ride. How did he get in it? He drove it across
the playground and killed a few people and I was in trouble). Ate
some salami sandwiches with chocolate milk for breakfast. Mr. Aaron
called up at 1:30 and said he needed help with the building of a canoe
house. We rode our bikes but couldn’t help. We came home.
Then Jeanne drove me and Frank up there again. It was all the way
up to Wolf Lake on 118th street. Mr. Aaron had an old steel-type
house on the back of a Barsto Truck. Me and Frank helped Mr. Aaron,
Steve and his dad get it off the back of the truck. When we got home
after half an hour we were a mess. Wendy came over about 2:30 and
Don drove most everyone (Jeanne, Grandma Rose in front, me, Frank, Susie
in the back, Wendy and Deb in the back-back). We went to Shopper’s
World and Topps. Frank and me looked for a good chess set but found
none. We bought 2 arrows a piece at Shopper’s World for $1.05 each.
On the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen. There I had the worst
experience of my life. I won’t try it again. I ordered a large
peanut butter sundae and almost puked when I finished it. Got home
about 5:30. I saw a squirrel outside the window. Don, Dad and
I went on the porch and fed it some peanuts. It’s the first time
he’s come in the front of our house. Later I helped Don and Dad move
the piano from the apartment to the basement. Watched TV for a while
and when baseball was almost over at 9:50, Mom got a call from Char and
said “Charlotte called and asked if you would baby sit for about half an
hour”. Three hours later at 1:00 AM, Char brought us home.
It’s was OK because Susie was with me. We played a game of Clue.
She just got it today. Susie wet on Walker’s electric chair.
Jeanne drove us home cause CJ was sleeping on the coach. It’s 2:29:07
AM.
** 98 at Bank of Whiting today
June 24, Friday
Remember when I set the alarm for 9:00. Naturally I turned it
off before it went off and I slept until 10:00. Watched TV for a
while. At 11:30 Debbie went to the chiropractor with Mom and Dad.
Deb must have promised Wendy she’d go to the beach with her cause at 12:30
she came over here waiting for her. I invited her in and said “it’s
better than sitting outside on the hot cement stairs”. We watched
TV for a while She looked at an old album of pictures that was lying
around and laughed at an old picture of me. It was fun. Mom,
Dad and Deb finally came home about 2:00. A little while later, I drove
Don, Deb, Shelley, Nancy and Wendy to Wolf Lake. Lucky thing I brought
my license with me. Before I got to park a guy put a Wolf Lake sticker
on the windshield. He asked for my license to verify my being a resident
of Hammond. I left them off and took Jimmer home to get his suit.
No one was there so I drove him to our house. Big Jim wasn’t
there either, but soon as we started to go, I saw him coming down the street.
When we three got to Wolf Lake we had a little trouble finding the rest.
Stayed at the lake for about 45 minutes. Came home and took a fast
shower. Went over to Grandma Rose’s house then and had some hamburgers
and good cake. Stayed there and played with DJ for an hour. When
we got home, Don decided we should do to a Kiddy Land. Don drove
us to some place in South Chicago. Believe this or not, but on a
car in front of a gas station, I saw a license plate with my initials and
the year I graduate: "CF 1968". We had lots of fun. First,
me and Deb and Frank sat in the same seat of some great big ride that went
round and round and made Deb sick. After 15 minutes a 15 cent root
beer, I played miniature golf for the first time. It was fun.
I beat Deb and Frank. I couldn’t sleep so I watched the late movie
and got to bed at 12:30.
** 98 at Whiting
** Braves beat LA 4 to 0
** I bought this new pen at Gefferts
** We got Neen and Terry’s wedding pictures today
** Hanky-panky is still No 1. Beatles went up to No 2
** Turpin got into a big fight at Wolf Lake
June 25, Saturday
This morning I got up around 11:00. It was just a normal morning.
Ate a salami sandwich for breakfast while watching some TV quiz show.
The biggest event of the day was the water fight I had: Debbie and
the rest of the Zelens came over here about noon. Wendy came in a
little later with her bathing suit on wanting to go swimming with Deb,
but her suit wasn’t here so I drove them both over to Grandma Rose’s.
(The other Zelens were there earlier) We couldn’t find Deb’s suit
there either. So Debbie had no bathing suit. It was so hot
that she wanted to get wet. So Deb just had her shorts and shirt
on and Wendy had her bathing suit on. To start out with I had the
hose and they had some plastic buckets. Who ever turned off the faucet
of the hose got to use the hose, so we switched a lot. Later Frank
joined me. Me and Frank versus Deb and Wendy. Then Nancy and
Susie joined and then Stevie their Cousin. We had a grand old time
sneaking around the house and pulling Wendy away from the faucet while
she’s trying to bit your hand. We finally quit at 4:30 when Wendy
went home. I was starving when it was all over. Mom luckily
made a big meal of pork chops, peas, potatoes and gravy. Went upstairs
to write when Don’s sister and Don and Jeanne came over here. (They
had taken Don and Jeanne out to lunch on their last day here). Started
to pack and record songs. Don came over and got all the stuff to
be packed at about 10:30. Jeanne looked at Neen’s shower and wedding
gifts. At the last minute Dad said we couldn’t take the tape recorder.
Oh yeah #1: about 8:30 Dad took some film of CJ and DJ in action while
passing a beach ball around. Oh yeah #2: This morning Deb and Frank
went with the Walkers to pick out a dog. They got a female brown
and white mongrel about 2 weeks old. Shelley decided upon the
name “Cookie”.
** 102 at Whiting.
** Braves beat LA in a double header 4-3, 5-4
** Beatles not in requested
June 26, Sunday
At this very moment it’s 10:27 PM, but according to where I woke up
it’s 11:27 PM. I’m in Florence Alabama (with a banjo on my knee).
Me and Frank are both sleeping on Deb’s bed. DJ is sleeping in the
crib at the front of our bed. I’m very tired now. I’ll write
the rest tomorrow.
And it is tomorrow at 11:45. Yesterday Mom got us up at 7:00 to
eat and get a few odds and ends collected. Ate a baloney sandwich.
Got on my new tennis shoes, shorts and a T-shirt. We
were to leave at 8:00, but we finally shoved off at 8:25. Don started
out driving with me in the front seat with him, Deb and Frank and Jeanne
holding DJ were in the 2nd seat and Nancy and Susie were in the back.
Before we got to Alabama this changed hundreds of times, due to someone
being tired, or someone crying or being too hot or cold. I went in
the back-back once with Nancy who slept there for a while. I think
we stopped for gas about four times and we stopped once at a Dairy Queen
and for hamburgers. I wasn’t hungry when we stopped though cause
I ate peanuts most of the way. As soon as we entered Tennessee, Susie
kept saying when are going to see the sign that says “you are now in Balahama”.
We finally got here at 7:20 and we all brought something in the house.
Me and Frank are going to sleep in Deb’s bed today, but after today we’ll
be sleeping in Susie and Nancy’s room. That’s just about all I have
to say about today cause for 11 ½ hours we did nothing, yet
we did most everything. This grass is long and Don says we’ll have
to cut it tomorrow. I’m rambling to fill up the next 2 ½
lines. I still miss that hour we lost. Although it is only 10:00
it seems like 11. We watched Wackiest Ship in the Army and went to
sleep.
** No Mom and Dad for 6 weeks
** No Wendy or Jim for 6 weeks
** No Neen for who knows how long?
** Thank goodness for air conditioning
June 27, Monday
I didn’t feel like getting up early but since Nancy and Susie were already
up yelling and eating breakfast and DJ went walking around our room, I
got up at 9:00, right after Frank. Jeanne fixed us all bacon and
eggs. Watched some quiz shows and other stuff. Went swimming
at he local pool at 1:30. It’s an Olympic size one. Jeanne
left off us off there. I drove but had a little trouble with the
power brakes. It was fun swimming. We had a large beach ball and
played keep away with some of the guys who were there (Me, Frank and Deb
dove for a rock). Jeanne came back with DJ at 3:20 to pick us up.
She was a little early. We got home and out of our bathing suits
about 4:00 We waited for Don to get home before we ate. He
got home at 4:20, a little later than expected. Jeanne made chili.
I ate at least 2 1/2 bowls after waiting and starving after all that
swimming. After eating Don put us to work. I watched DJ for
half an hour and Frank cut the grass, then we switched. I cut most
of the back. I earlier had asked Jeanne if I could get some fireworks
so at about 6:30 we left. Don got one case of pop. Deb got
some film. Frank got batteries to listen to WLS and I got the fire
crackers. When we got home we met one of the neighbors that Jeanne
wanted me and Frank to meet. She has some Italian name I cant remember.
Anyway we met her. We went outside then and lit firecrackers.
We threw ‘em all over the place. Frank tied one on the end of an
arrow and almost blew himself up. The arrow stuck in the limb of
a tree. We lit a bug-bomb and a few sky rockets in the front yard.
We all had to come in then and play Clue with Susie. Went to bed
at 10:30 (I still miss that hour). In the afternoon when I was chasing
DJ around I mad the mistake of chasing him on my knees on this rug.
Now they are scraped.
** The pool water is real warm
** It got up to 99 here today
** The water from the faucet is warm
June 28, Tuesday
It’s tomorrow now at 11:40. Nancy is sitting on the other side
of the bed. She just asked me what I was writing. Yesterday,
I got up early again about 9:30. At about 6:00 I heard DJ crying
and crying. We did a lot today. After eating puffed rice for
breakfast and watching TV, Jeanne took us up to see if we could play billiards.
We couldn’t though because it was a private club. Jeanne also went
to a store to return something. We went to the library then and I
got a book about Germany. Frank got one bout birds and Jeanne a book
called the Jealous Child for Nancy. We picked up Debbie on the way
back at 11:30. She’s been there since 7:30. We got some donuts.
After we were home for a while we all went swimming at five minutes to
4:00. Don was going to pick us up at 5:00. Frank brought along
a charm and we all dove for it. It started raining at 4:35 and we
were still in the pool for 4 or 5 minutes before we got kicked out.
When we got home Jeanne made hamburgers and we ate the rolls with it.
After we ate it was already dark out to we lit off a few fire crackers
and flares. Don asked me if I’d go out with him to fill his Chevy
up with gas. I drove and Don held DJ in the back seat. I drove
up to the Forest Hills swimming pool (I see why they didn’t join).
When I was still driving on a big highway the car stalled. We switched
seats fast and Don couldn’t even start it, so we pushed it off the road.
Lucky we didn’t get rammed. We went to some far-out gas station.
Because it’s outside the Florence city limits, the gas is much cheaper
(6 cents per gallon). When we got back, DJ was sleeping. A
guy was here to talk Don into buying a Bible. He did and it’s $50
! Listened to the Braves beat the Cubs 4 to 2 on Torre’s homer.
Beatles are still out of the top 5.
** It completely slipped my mind but from 6:15 to about 7:30 we
were all at the swim meet at the Florence pool. Florence was
against some other city. Everyone took turns holding DJ.
** 95 today
June 29, Wednesday
After another night of DJ’s crying, I got up today just past 10:00 and
saw most of Lucy. We each had a bowl of cocoa wheats this morning.
Watched the McCoys then. We were waiting all morning to go to the
pool but it decided to rain at about 1:00 when the pool opened. –
Oh yeah, about 11:00 Jeanne drove us all over to the park and we
picked up Deb and her friend. -- now back to the rain, what
there was of it. It was just a sprinkle but enough to keep us home.
I saw Nancers with a piece of toast with strawberry jelly on it,
so that’s what we all ate about 1:30. I’ve listened to the Braves
versus the Cubs since about 11:30. The Cubs won with 3 runs in the
9th, 5 to 4. Jeanne took all of us with her when she went to fill
up with gas. She went to a store then. We lit fire crackers
the whole time. We got back at 3:00 and Don came back at 3:45.
Jeanne made real good pancakes for this meal. After it Susie wanted
to show me and Frank a bridge and tunnel out by her school. I brought
all the fire crackers we had left and lots of matches. We lit ‘em
everywhere. I put one between two beer cans and Deb and Frank caught
the top can when it came down. Some of the fire crackers made loud
noises in the big sewer pipes. Deb cut her toe pretty bad.
When we got back we lit the rest of the fire crackers off. All 400
of them are gone. Don took us all to Bailey Springs then at 6:00.
It cost Don $90 to join. Their pool is almost as big as the
public one and it’s lots less crowded. We couldn’t go swimming then
‘cause it closed at 7:00. Don dropped off Debbie at the pool for
a night practice on the way back. Watched a lot of TV shows this
evening for a change. Don let me drive the car to pick up Deb at
8:30. Him and Nancy were in the back seat. Jeanne made some
popcorn that we all ate at 9:00. I don’t know but it still feels
like I’m missing that hour I lost. Herman’s Hermits is no 1 requested.
This is Chris Foreman signing out at 10:38.
** 96 again
** Don John broke two records today. Jeanne will get us new ones.
** When I was driving around the area Nancy knew all the right places
to turn and who lived where. So I told her “That’s because you’re
a resident”. She said, “No ‘cause I live here”.
** Susie was going to show me and Frank a tree house in a cow
pasture, but there were cows right under it!
June 30, Thursday, The last day of June
I got up this morning with much remorse, only after being screamed at
by Susie and Nancy holding DJ saying “sig em”. When I finally got
out of bed, Jeanne had gone to pick up Deb at swimming lessons and left
me. Frank took care of DJ. I made my own breakfast of bacon
and eggs. Don told Jeanne to go on a lot of errands. First
we went to a place where Jeanne got the deed to their land. We then
looked around at a few places for an arrow target. At one store Jeanne
saw a swing set they might buy. We went to K-mart then, the big chain
of super markets down here. Frank paid a dollar for the target and
I paid the rest totaling $2.69. We bought the new Beatle Album Yesterday
and Today. It has 5 new songs on it. We went to some other
places then and we got fertilizer and a bale of hay for a dollar.
Jeanne stopped at a McDonalds before we went home. We ate the stuff
when got home. Once home we listened to the album after Jeanne’s
sob stories. When Don got home, Jeanne had already packed a lunch
and other necessities and we shoved off to Bailey Springs at 5:30.
We planned to swim and go horseback riding and have a picnic. But
as it turned out, the second we reached the pool area the life guard was
calling everyone out of the pool. Frank jumped in. Then about
3 ½ seconds later he came out at the life guard’s request.
It wasn’t raining or anything but just thundering a lot. We came
home after a little playing with DJ. When I got home, I went outside
with Frank and shot some arrows around (Oh yeah, earlier Deb and Frank
spray-painted a man on that bail of straw.) I stayed up the latest
the whole time I was here. It’s 12:45 and it really seems late.
Everyone else went to bed much earlier. Jeanne was playing bridge
with 3 other women in the living room. I drank 3 bottles of Coke
and ate half a bowl of daisies, whistles and bugle. Read a bunch of interesting
stories in Reader’s Digest.
** I found a weird-looking beetle outside today.
** Me, Frank and Nancy lit fireworks off on some nearby road.
** Today at different times and places, I read about 100 pages in Up
the Down Staircase.
Today is the 1st day of July on Friday at 10:56 PM
Right now Frank is reading a Batman comic book on the bed next to me.
I’m listening to a Braves vs. Giants game. It’s tied 4 to 4 in the
7th inning. I got up this morning at Jeanne’s insistence. We
just had cereal for breakfast. I had Applejacks. After breakfast
Jeanne made us clean up the back yard. I then cleaned up the patio
part myself. We worked all morning (the Braves just took the lead
on Bolling’s hit), so we could go to Bailey Springs early. We were
all packed and left at 10:30. We made up our minds to go swimming
first, have our lunch, go horseback riding, then swimming again.
We all swam for an hour and a half. Bailey Springs has an Olympic
size pool just a little smaller than Florence’s but much less crowded.
Besides our group of me, Frank, Sue, Nance, Deb, and Jeanne there were
4 other people. We dove around a lot in the diving area. At
noon the skies opened and down it came for the next 5 or 6 hours.
We rushed in and decide to go to a cabin to have our lunch of salami and
peanut butter sandwiches. I got back at 2:00. Read some books
and fell asleep for a few hours (I was beat). Got up when Don
got home cause supper was ready. Jeanne had made chicken, mashed
potatoes and peas. At the table I was informed that I was going the
show with the kids to see Bambi. After supper, I hurried up and got
dressed. Jeanne and Don drove us there at 5:21, the exact time the
show started. It was pretty good. Nancy said she cried at the
part when Bambi’s mother got shot. We left right after Bambi was
over . We missed the 2nd show (We didn’t know we were supposed to
see it). We waited in a drug store ‘til they came at Deb’s phone
call. Don was a little angry ‘cause we missed the second show.
Came home and Don wanted to play chess with a set he just bought (a plastic
one for 76 cents). I beat him the first 2 games real fast, but the
3rd game lasted from 10 min to 9 to 10 minutes to 11. I finally beat
him.
** Didn’t light a fire cracker today
** Caught a weird looking cricket this morning
July 2, Saturday
Got up today at the unusual time of 9:00. Jeanne made waffles
for the kids, but Don and I had bacon & eggs. We had planned
to spend the day at Bailey Springs today but all morning it had rained. So
we had a little talk and decided to go to Shiloh National Military Cemetery
today. First I had to make up my bed and help clean up. We
left for Shiloh at 10:45 and it was a hour’s drive. Along the way
Don and Jeanne picked up some pottery at various places. It wasn’t
raining when we got there, so we drove around a while looking out the monuments.
We all got some souvenirs at the post office there. I sent a post
card to Mom and bought a confederate flag for 50 cents. Frank got
a confederate hat. Frank, Deb, Sue, Nancy and I caught the 11:15
showing of the “Battle of Shiloh” that the museum shows (no admission,
every 45 minutes). Once out we went to the picnic grounds to eat.
All the picnic tables were cement and there were hundreds of them all up
and down the surrounding hills. I ate 2 lunch-meat sandwiches.
Soon as we got everything back in the car, it started raining hard!
We still drove around looking at the historical sites as: the tree where
General Johnston was killed and then “the Hornet’s nest”. All in
all it was educational. We left at 4:30. We came back a longer
route through Mississippi. Frank and I bought 20 cherry bombs, 4
block busters at one stand. Once home Don put us to work. After
testing a few whistling cherry bombs and a block-buster, Don made me run
this thing over the lawn that puts fertilizer on it. Came in and
watched I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart. I ate chicken left-overs
for supper. After Jeanne finished baking a poppy cake she let me
teach her how to play chess. She catches on pretty fast. I
took a shower and shaved in Jeanne and Don’s shower for a change.
Right now it 10:47PM. Frank’s been asleep since 9:30. Jeanne,
Don, Nancy and DJ just went to sleep.
** 1st time in Mississippi
** Susie gets mad when we call her F. L. at the C.
** When Nancy went to the bathroom at Shiloh she said she could tell
which door to go in because “Gentlemen” is longer than “Ladies”. s
The Day before the 4th of July, Sunday
Right now its 11:50 PM. I’m so tired I didn’t get washed up and
I’m sleeping in my clothes. I just finished beating Don 3 straight
games of chess. He lost his Queens right away. When I came
in here, Susie was sleeping on my bed and Don had to wake her up, take
her to the bathroom, then put her to sleep. Got up at 8:45 (quite
early). Laid around for a while and drank a big glass of OJ for breakfast.
Started getting dressed at 9:15 and we left at 9:30. Their church,
the Central Christian Church, started at 9:45. We were a little early,
but we soon found ourselves (me and Frank) in a high school class of about
15. This class lasted from 9:45 to 10:30 and was on differences between
and Protestants and Catholics, and Jewish religions. I caught up
with the rest downstairs then for refreshment. The sermon upstairs
followed. It was given by a high schooler and only lasted to 11:35.
For lunch Jeanne fixed bacon-lettuce-mayonnaise sandwiches.
We ate em up and when Don said the house was fit to leave, we left for
Bailey Springs. For the first time in my entire existence, I road
horseback. The first horse I rode didn’t co-operate. It kept
eating grass. But the second one rode good. When we were all
hot and sweaty we went to the pool. It was about 2:30. I swam
and swam and swam and swam. It was more crowded than usual.
Had a lot of fun fighting with Deb and her girlfriend Paige. Sue
jumped of the diving board for the first time. Got home weary and
exhausted at 5:30. Had hot dogs and french fires for supper.
I was starved and proved it – gobble, gobble. Shot a few arrows after
supper, broke 2 arrows. Came in when Don, Frank, Sue and Deb went
to a horse show that they never found. Nancy went to a neighbors
and got yelled at by Jeanne. She can’t go outside the lawn tomorrow.
Watched a few TV shows. Jeanne made cookies for our excursion tomorrow.
I guess the rest of the evening I played chess. I’m undefeated: beat
Frank 3 times, Deb once and Don three times. (I’m tired now, 12:15AM.
Good night, hey it’s the 4th of July!)
** This morning I collected a multitude of insects around the house.
** I wore shorts when I rode the horse and got scratched up.
** We were going to sleep over night in the cabins last night, but
they were all taken.
Today is the 4th of July, Monday
Right now it’s 10:50 on Tuesday. Frank is sleeping and Double
Deej is crawling on my foot and the floor with a fire truck. I’m
up with him ‘cause Jeanne gave him a nap earlier so she could read the
Bright Leaf. Well, he’s not sleepy now. On July 4th I woke
up at 9:30 and ate 2 eggs and toast. Don’s off work today.
We had to get the house ship-shape again before we left. It didn’t
take long so we left for Bailey Springs at 11:00. When we got
there it was crowded! Someone later said “This is the largest crowd
ever”. Don parked the Ford by a picnic table close to the pool.
We started up the bar-b-q and got the food ready, but soon I found only
Don, Jeanne, DJ and myself left. Everyone else had snuck off to the
pool. I didn’t feel like going swimming to much. I arranged
some coals around 4 soon-to-baked potatoes. Went swimming then, just
to cool off. I splashed around. I was only in for half and
hour. Helped Don with the hamburgers. Ate 4 of them and 3 bottles
of pop. Then came the relaxation. Everybody left. I read
a Dennis the Menace comic book, but couldn’t really sleep due to the flies.
Was by myself for a good 2 hours. Then Frank came and I played some
tennis with him. Don came then and I played some, but first I cooled
off in the refrigerated building. Don taught me how to play, then
beat me 4 straight times. Was so hot then that I got on by suit and
jumped in. Did some dives off the board. One, where I do a
fling and land on my back, I call “my special”. We left 20 minutes
after I was in. Since it was still light when I got home I wanted
to explode some cherry bombs. Me and Frank and Sue (Nancy later)
lit off 5 or 6, 3 were between beer cans. The top one went at least
250 feet high. Frank caught the 1st two but missed the third ‘cause
it was spinning too much. Once home, we lit off the few rockets we
had. I guess Don wanted a blast, so we all drove over to a fireworks
stand in Florence and bought about $5 of rockets. We had quite a
show in the front yard with a few cherry bombs mixed in. I couldn’t
sleep so watched a whole assortment of movie ‘til 1:30AM. That’s
why I didn’t write.
** It started to rain as soon as we got there, but it soon stopped.
** At least 99 today
** No fireworks display down here
** Me and Deb went to check, but no one was there for horse back riding
** Was I perturbed at Frank. When we were in the back yard he
lit a cherry bomb and got excited and threw it in the neighbor’s yard.
The guy came out and said “please don’t throw no more in here. My
Georgie might be playing in the bushes.” Was I mad at him.
Tuesday, July 5
Now it’s 11:40. DJ walked into Don and Jeanne’s room quite some
time ago. This morning I got up in time to see the end of the McCoys
at 8:45. Jeanne made eggs again. I ate mine and part of Nancy’s.
Today we planned to do nothing, but we anyway. Jeanne told me to
watch DJ so I went in the back yard and read about 90 pages of Up the Down
Staircase. It’s about a woman school teacher and her problems at
a NY school. While out there I was sticking records in our record
player with only half an eye on DJ. Deb soon relieved me, so I came
in and read. Nothing else happened much the rest of the afternoon.
Frank tried to get WLS on the big radio but all I got was static.
I did some arrow shooting this afternoon too. I’m getting pretty
good. It hit the heart twice in a row at 30 feet. When Don
came home at 4:30 we ate our supper of glumpkees. (Frank didn’t have any).
We had pudding for desert. At the supper table, Don decided to go
to Bailey Springs. Don and I threw Nancy back and forth in the pool.
When we left but before we got in the car Nancy asked Frank if she could
borrow a dime and she’d pay him back when she gets her allowance (30cents).
Frank refused and Nancy called him selfish and said she’d hate him for
the rest of her life. I drove home and about a block from home I
saw what I supposed was a piece of wood on the road. As it turned
out I stopped fast and Nancy picked up a big box turtle. Watched
a few TV shows before Don and I and DJ drove to a store in Florence to
pick up some ice cream. I made the ice cream cones for everybody.
Later in the evening I played chess, 2 games with Don. Needless to
say I won them both. That makes 8 straight games over Don.
Played to 10:30. That new song is number one requested “There coming
to take me away, ha-ha” by Napoleon the 14th. Braves won 9 to 4 over
Houston.
** The bale of hay we use for the target has a plastic dish that’s used
for its heart.
** I’m listening to WLS
Wednesday, July 6
Right now it’s 10 to 1:00PM. At 1:00 we’re going to Bailey Springs.
Me and Nancy were playing hide and seek with DJ. This morning I slept
very late ‘til nearly 11:00. Got shaved and washed in Jeanne’s bathroom.
Ate too many French toasts for breakfast and almost got sick. Just
walked around playing with DJ and Nancy to now: 12:54. Jeanne just
yelled “Bailey Springs here we come”.
? It’s about 10:30 now. Frank is sleeping. I just finished
seeing the Braves beat the Astros 8 to 1, their 8th in a row. Jeanne
let me drive to Bailey Springs. We all (except Jeanne and DJ) jumped
into the pool right away, because horse riding doesn’t start 2:00.
Swam ‘til 3:00. I don’t know but there doesn’t seem much to describe
about being in a swimming pool. Frank has used my spare bathing suit
since yesterday. I think (I’m sure) that I left mine in the dressing
room today. After coming out of the pool, I beat Frank one game at
chess and this other guy who works there twice. It was after 4:00.
I went to check about the horseback riding. I got on a horse and
rode him a piece, but it was too hot for him to cooperate. Came back
and bought a 2 dip cone, one pineapple-peach: the other lime. Drove
home, got home at 5:00. Jeanne made spaghetti for supper. Deb
was on TV for 2 ½ seconds with 25 other 11 and 12 year old Florence
swimmers. Read a little after supper and played the Beatle album.
Don got home from work at 7:30. When I was watching the Braves game
in Jeanne’s room (‘cause Deb was watching that corny Patty Duke) I smelled
pop corn so I came out and ate a few bowls. The whole evening DJ
was running around playing with everyone. At 8:30 or so, it got real
dark outside and it looked as if it might be a bad storm. But it
just rained a lot. When I went out a little later and opened the
back door, the smell reminded me of Mr. Powell’s humid terrarium in biology
class. It must have been about 85 then.
** Got 2 post cards from Mr. and Mrs. Z today
** Near 100 today. Got a good tan.
Thursday, July 7
Frank is sleeping now cause it’s 10:43. I’m listening to the Braves
vs. Dodgers game. Braves are up 2 to 1. This morning I got
up rather early, nearly 9:00, cause Nancy insisted that we go to Bailey
Springs. Had oatmeal for breakfast. We left at 10:30 after
listening to the Beatles Album. We couldn’t go horse back riding
cause it’s only open from 2 to 5. We just went swimming the whole
time. I made a comment to Frank “this is the clearest water I’ve
seen anywhere. They must have cleaned it. With the goggles
on I see all sides of the pool. I played with Nancy a while.
We left at 12:00 to have lunch. I drove there and back. I made
a variety of sandwiches for lunch. Watched TV for a while.
We were supposed to go back to Bailey Springs right after lunch, but we
waited ‘til Don got home. For supper at 4:30 Frank said the prayer.
I have it tomorrow. Jeanne made some conglomeration of green beans,
gravy and meat in a stew. After supper, Don drove us to Bailey Springs.
When we were going there the weather looked very threatening and Don said
“the chances are 10 to 1 that we won’t even swim”. But we did.
(Jeanne was home with DJ). It was just a usual swim at the pool,
except a little less crowded. The life guard called us out of the
pool when the thunder got a little too noisy. Soon as we got in the
car, it started pouring. Once home, everyone with a bathing suit
one ran in, but Don and I waited ‘til it slowed down. There was a
mess of thunder and lighting. Watched a few TV shows in the course
of the evening. Don decided to have a game of chess at 9:00.
We played one game to 10:20. I finally came out on top. Nancy
was crying all evening for practically not reason. It was either
Sue hit her or that her birthday was 11 weeks away and that’s not fair.
It’s now 11:09.
**This morning Jeanne found 2 beetles floating in the baby pool.
She summoned me and my collection got bigger.
** Was I worried. This morning I thought I lost my class ring.
But Deb finally found it in her bedroom.
Friday, July 8
It’s almost 1:30PM. The Beatle Album is on (Act Naturally).
Frank’s reading a comic book. Susie is in the kitchen. She
just asked me and Frank “Does anyone want to play Clue”? I just stuck
on Susie’s favorite record You’ve Got to Hide Your Away. Nancy just
came in from playing outside. Jeanne and Deb are shopping and DJ
is sleeping. I got up this morning a little late at 10:30.
Everybody else was up a long time. Jeanne made me two eggs, 2 pieces
of toast and a slice of bacon. All were very good. DJ was found
in our bedroom this morning chewing on some firecrackers. Jeanne
locked the door but we couldn’t even get it open, so Frank had to climb
through the outside window. Don yelled at us to clean up the branches
in the front yard, so I picked up some stuff in the front. Nancy
helped me a little. Watched TV. Talked with Frank about his
book of requests ‘til now. ? It’s 10:45PM. Believe it
or not, I’m in a cabin on the outskirts of Bailey Springs in the deep woods
and are those crickets loud. I’m writing by the light of a Coleman
Lantern (Don’s) About 2:00 me and Frank picked up the sticks and
garbage in the back yard. Jeanne called us in to make pizza at 3:45.
Each person made their own. Nancy made one even though she doesn’t
like em. I ate 6 of them ‘til Don got home at 4:30. When Don
and Jeanne finished their meal of steak and peas. Don drove all of
us (except Jeanne) to Bailey Springs. We got to swim for 1 ½
hours. Two guys who I knew before slightly splashed around with us.
They are both about 12 and one’s named Ben. I played with DJ a little
while in the baby pool. Went home at 8:00 and then as it turned out
me and Frank are going to sleep in the cabin tonight. (Don and the
kids were supposed to). Got everything packed (sheets, pillows, food,
water, records, record-player, chess set, radio, lantern and a few others).
When we got to the entrance, it was locked so Frank and I jumped over the
fence and here we are after hauling all the stuff ½ mile.
Played one game of chess and listened to the radio.
** The cabin is 30 feet by 10 feet with 2 bunks. Most of the
sides are screened in.
Saturday, July 9
It’s tomorrow. Last night I stayed up too late to write.
This morning I got up at 4:40AM for a while, then dozed off and on ‘til
7:45. Frank and I got up then and started to eat our breakfast that
Jeanne packed the night before. The cocoa in the thermos had soured.
I had 2 baloney sandwiches. Frank had two jelly ones. We left
all our stuff in the cabin and left for the pool at 8:50. We sat
around there ‘til some guys who worked there opened it up. I went
swimming right away, but Frank got a long insect-catching net and walked
around the sides of the pool scooping out the beetles and June bugs.
The Zelens came to get us at 11:00. We went to the cabin and picked
up our stuff, then left for home. Came home at 12:00. The rest
went back to Bailey Springs after lunch, but I was so tired I fell asleep
on the couch then and went to sleep. Got up when they came back at
3:30. For the next 2 or 3 hours I sat around the house reading all
kinds of comic books, they had laying around (Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, etc.).
I didn’t do too much for the rest of the day. About 8:00 we all took
Deb to a birthday party (her girlfriend Paige with 30 others). Debbie
danced with some boys??!! On the way home we stopped off and got
some ice milk that was on sale. We also went to a bookstore where
Frank got two 25 cent marvel comics. Got home at 9:00 just in time
for Frank to listen to the requested (Hungry was no. 2 requested)
Don turned on the TV and the East-West college All Star game was on (West
24 to East 6). Nancy and Susie gave a little show for me. Each
played the piano and sang Over the Rainbow together. DJ learned a
new trick. He can put a record in and take it out of the record player.
I listened to the Braves beat Kolfax. Aaron hit one home run.
I read Frank’s two comic books ‘til past 12:00 midnight.
** Got Jimmer a birthday present of a bathing suit.
Sunday, July 10
It’s Monday. It wasn’t that I was tired yesterday nor that
I forgot just that I was too lazy. Got up at 9:00 and Nancy and Susie
were watching Mighty Mouse. Had some toasted raisin bread for breakfast.
Left for church a little late at 9:35. When we got there, our high
school class was in progress, but there wasn’t any teacher there the whole
time. After refreshments of one do-nut and 2 glasses of orange punch.
Went up to hear the minister’s sermon (he’s back from his vacation at Panama
City). After lunch went to Bailey Springs. Don took the air
mattresses to test em for our camping trip. Brought our record-player,
that was a mistake. DJ was playing with in and bouncing it around.
When I was over there I guess I was pinching Nancy and Susie’s pookas too
much cause Don told me to stop. We stayed there a pretty long time,
‘til 4:00. There isn’t much you could describe swimming the pool.
The water is as warm as the air and when you are under it’s a different
world. Don told both me and Frank to lay in the sun half an hour
to get prepared for the heat of Florida. Watched TV once I
got home. I was resting in bed then when 3 of Deb’s girlfriends looked
through the window at me. I hid under the covers, but Deb came in
and tried to pull them off. So I ran out of the house and they chased
me. They finally got me cause I wanted to back to the house.
Debbie and one of her friends, Pamela, were going to sleep in the back
yard in a tent, but it was too hot so they just used their blankets.
Most all the arrows we bought are broken. The batteries of
the record player are dead. That’s just about it today.
Monday, July 11
I think I’m in the most trouble I’ve ever been in. It’s 3:25 and
Don gets home at 4:30. I drove the Chevy down in Colonial Court.
I went down in DRIVE and tried to come back in REVERSE (like on the driving
test or something). Anyway, I lost control of the car and went over
the curb and down an embankment. I tried to get it out by gunning
it, then I put bricks under the back tires. At the time Frank, Deb
and Nance were in the car. Am I in trouble.
Not as much as I expected. -- It’s tomorrow. Yesterday night
I stayed up late reading. After I couldn’t get the car out of the
ditch, Frank came home and asked Jeanne “Would you come with me, Chris
is stuck”. So Jeanne came with a rug to get me out. When she
saw how far the car had fallen she called Don and for two hours I just
sat and worried about his reaction. He wasn’t to angry (not at all).
He called up Lancaster (He has a truck) and asked him if he could borrow
it. After supper of tuna sandwiches, the truck came.
Don tied a rope from it to the car but the rope broke. He called
the towing truck. It came and pulled it out. They guy said
if the car would have gone an inch farther back we might have tipped over.
The muffler of he car was torn off and the back bumper was a little squished.
We started to the cut the grass then and I got as much as I could ‘til
dark. Debbie brought 2 of her girlfriends over. Pam is one
(she is about 10 but she looks a lot older). Kathy is blond and about
14. Me, Frank, Sue and Nance, Deb, Pam, Kathy, were on the pack patio
listening to the Hi Fi and eating popcorn that Jeanne made. We blew off
a few fire-crackers. Pam for some reason kept lighting a piece of
paper on the oil lamp and stamping it out with her bare feet. We
had a fast game of Clue then for Sue. Deb moped around all evening
cause “she’s 11 and un-kissed”. Before my mishap, Frank and I washed
the Chevy.
** 104 at St. Louis for the All Star game
** Jimmer’s birthday
Tuesday, July 12
Right now it’s 10:23PM. Frank is almost asleep. Jeanne just
took Sue and Nancy to the bathroom before bed. They begged Deb to
sleep between ‘em so she is. This morning I had to get up bright
and early to do a list of chores before Don got home. Got up at 8:30.
After breakfast and the Lucy Show Frank and I went outside in the hot sun
to carry bricks from an empty lot two houses away from this one,
to the back yard. Don got permission yesterday to cut across this
yard. We worked straight from 9:30 to 11:30. We alternated
one had a wheelbarrow of 25 to 30 bricks and the other carry 6 or 7 in
his arms. When we picked up the ground bricks we found all sorts
of roaches, spiders, ants and other insects. We both took a shower
when we went in to watch the All Star game. Didn’t miss any of it.
In 10 innings, the National League won 2 to 1. The game was over
at 2:30, just in time for Jeanne to see The Edge of Night. Frank
and I carried a few more loads of bricks, ‘til the wheelbarrow broke.
Watched TV then. We were supposed to finish shining the Chevy, but
Jeanne took it for it’s new $17 muffler. When we weren’t looking
DJ climbed upon our cabinet and threw records, clothes, papers and chessmen
all the floor. He was trying to open a case of razors. Don
got home at 4:00. We had our meal of chicken then. After we
got the house in good shape, we all went to Bailey Springs (Sue, Jeanne,
and DJ stayed home.) Deb invited Pam and Kathy to come (the 2nd and
4th Tuesday is guest day). We had a blast. At first Don, Frank
and I were playing keep away from everyone else. Splashed around
‘til 7:15. Got home and went with Don to pick up the Chevy.
I drove it back (forgot my license). Once back Jeanne left with Don
for the remainder of the evening. Had some ice milk.
Frank listened to requests at 9:00 as usual. About 10:00 Don and
Jeanne came home with some stuff for sick Sue. Later, I drew a picture
of Sue, Nancy and Deb on a blackboard.
** Susie stayed in all day with a 103 temp. Most likely mumps.
** NL 2, AL 1
Wednesday, July 13
Frank is on page 61 of Goldfinger. He told me. I’m writing
early (8:00) so I could sleep tonight. Jeanne got me up at 9:30 cause
she said she didn’t want to make 2 breakfasts. Me and Deb were late
sleepers. She made eggs and toast for us 2. We got the house
on the clean side and left for Bailey Springs at 11:00. On the way
there we stopped off at two stores. At one Frank got a white bathing
suit. We were there a little long, from 12 to 3. Only Deb,
Frank and I were there cause Jeanne had a dentist appointment. Sue
has mumps and Nancy stayed with her. She said that she was sick too?
Frank and I messed around with Ben and Marty, the two kids that work there.
Went in the air conditioned building and almost froze so I went outside
to get a tan. That’s when Jeanne came to pick us up, a little early
at 2:45. I hung my suit out on the line and watched TV. Jeanne
put out some baloney and bread to make our own sandwiches. Didn’t
do much after that. Don came home at 4:00 per usual. Hand hamburgers
and french fries for supper. Frankenstein 1970 was on TV.
Sue was scared. I helped em put a puzzle together. Sat outside
watching Double Deej running around for about 15 minutes. Helped
Don put some water in the Chevy then. Was looking at the Zelen’s
picture album before I came in here. Now it’s 8:40. ?
Now it’s 11:42. Everybody’s asleep except me, of course, and Jeanne
who is playing bridge someplace. After 8:40. I watched a little TV
and finished off some cold french fries left over from supper. Played
with JD a lot this evening, bouncing him up and down. He ran around
with only pajama tops on for quite a while cause everyone was too lazy
to put his diaper on. Finally, I got tired of him and stuck him in
his crib with a bottle (he soon went to sleep). Deb and I stayed
up ‘til 11:30 drawing stuff on the blackboard. Jeanne came home when
I was writing and took Sue and Nancy to the bathroom. They were already
wet. It’s Thursday at 12:04.
** Jeanne got a letter from Mom and Dad and from Jack. Mom sent
Frank and me $2 apiece and told us about Karen Davis. Jack told of
his car accident and his marriage plans.
Thursday, July 14th
It’s 10:15 in the morning. I’m sitting on the bed listening to
the record-player waiting to go to Bailey Springs at 11:00. Besides
us Pam and Cathy are going. Jeanne hates to drive us there cause
she has to use the Chevy. (The Ford is getting a 3000 mile check-up)
and the Chevy has no air conditioner. Got up before Frank when DJ
came in and terrorized us. Watched Lucy then ate my own breakfast
of 4 pieces of toast and hot chocolate.
-> It’s tomorrow, up too late. Went to Bailey Springs and stayed
there most of the day. Got there about 11:30. Frank and I swam
right away but Deb and her girlfriends didn’t go in for quite a while.
Laid in the sun for a while. Went swimming again. Then it was
2:30, the time when Jeanne was supposed to pick us up. Frank called
at 3:00 and Jeanne said that DJ was sleeping and she’d be there in half
an hour. She finally got here at 4:00 after another telephone call.
While waiting I read an old Reader’s Digest and sat in the hot sun.
But most of the time I was just bored. Got home and I was starving,
but we couldn’t eat ‘til Don came home. Luckily, he got home early at 4:30.
He said that Reynolds was on strike. Watching the news, I heard that
“8 nurses were murdered in Chicago”. It’s termed the crime of the
century. We had corn on the cob and steak for supper with tapioca
pudding for desert. Watched TV for a while ‘til Don called me and
Frank outside to help him build his extension for the patio. He lined
up the bricks and chiseled part of the ground away and put most of the
bricks in place. Frank carried the bricks from the pile to the sandbox.
We quit when it got dark. Jeanne and Don left for shopping.
Nancy came in then. We watched TV for a while, then Mysterious Island
came on. Nancy was scared and sat on my lap. They came back
when it was half over. Nancy, Sue and Deb each had a bowel of Life
cereal. I hid it so I could finish it tomorrow for breakfast.
Jeanne stuck an apple pie in the oven. Stayed up to 11:38 watching
the Untouchables.
**Sixth consecutive day with 100 or more temp. 101 today
** Braves win. Bucs in 1st by 2 percentage points.
Friday, July 15
It’s 11:40. The radio is on (WOWL). Don’s sitting up waiting
for Deb to come back from a dance. Jeanne let me sleep late this
morning, ‘til 10:30. Fixed the Life that I hid yesterday for breakfast.
Jeanne left some place at 11:00 and didn’t come back for a while.
I think I was outside today for about a minute or 2. Watched TV ‘til
Jeanne came back at 1:30. She put us to work cleaning floors.
Had a little trouble working the floor scrubber, the liquid stuff wouldn’t
come out when the button was pushed. Susie adopted the DeFauseo’s
dog today. She’s called Helga. She has been in and out since morning.
Sue fed her a couple of times. Nancy played on the new house they’re
building in the lack lot. Jeanne yelled at her and told her not to
do it. (Deb just got home: 12:01) Didn’t have any planned meals.
In fact I would term this day the deadest since I’ve been here. When
Don go home, Jeanne left with him somewhere. This was at 4:30.
They didn’t get back ‘til 9:00 and what a time we had in between.
Deb left somewhere right away, so Frank and I were automatically in charge
of DJ. A couple of times there I thought he’d never stop crying.
I stopped him once by bringing him outside in the sandbox and once by giving
him part of an ice cream cone I made. As instructed earlier by Jeanne,
Frank made some spaghetti, but he didn’t leave it in long enough.
Needless to say, I only had one bowl of it. Helped Sue put together
two puzzles, one of the Munsters and one of a bunch of monkeys. Don
and Jeanne got home just at the start of U.N.C.L.E. About half way
through, Jeanne asked me to have a game of chess. I showed her how
to play and when I beat her I played Don, of which I also beat. An
Atlanta-Astro game was postponed in Atlanta because of a fierce rain storm.
It thundered and lightninged outside but not rain yet. Tomorrow up
at 7 AM! (12:15)
** Vacation is 1/2 over
** 102 today
Saturday, July 16
Woke up this morning quite early, at 7:30. Hurried up and ate
eggs and toast that Jeanne made. Left for Huntsville
and the NASA arsenal at 8:30, 30 minutes behind schedule. It was
a longer trip than I expected. It took an hour and a half.
Deb fell asleep and so did DJ, but I couldn’t. Got to the guard at
the gate a little after 10:00. We saw the large rockets outside first
then went in the museum for a while. Nancy ran to the drinking fountain
right away because for half the trip she complained, “I’m thirsty”.
We saw a short movie on space travel in the museum. We drove around
for a while looking for two domes. After asking a guard we finally
found it. First we looked at some missiles. Then we went in
the domes and looked at the various displays. What an echo is in
there! Sue and Nancy were yelling and Frank would clap his hands.
I found out today how those things work that the weatherman uses on TV.
You know, the ones he takes on and off and flashes off and on. They
had a display that used this kind of rotating light. Because Don
swiped his medal off the shoulder of a soldier mannequin, I took the other
one. I felt so awful I’m going to return it. On the way home,
we stopped off and ate at a place called Pizza Inn. Frank, Don, Jeanne
and I had a large sausage-cheese pizza. Don had to go to a nearby
Jacks (a Southern hamburger place) to get hamburgers for the kids.
We got home at 3:45, got our bathing suits on and as soon as we hopped
in the car, a loud clash of thunder rang out. Needless to say, we
all came back in the house. But I was so hot I went outside under
the hose. That is ‘til it started raining. I tramped around
in the rain and washed Don’s Ford in the process. Came in then and
watched TV the remainder of the evening. The Miss Universe pageant
was on. Miss Sweden won, but I watched an horror movie on Jeanne’s
TV. Got to bed at 11:30 after reading Mad magazine.
** Deb bought Hungry
Sunday, July 17
It’s 11:25 now. Just watched Jesse James and Burke’s Law.
I was woken up at 8:30 by the pitter patter of little feet and stayed in
bed until 9:00 when Jeanne would officially get me up. I constantly
looked at my watch, 8:35, 8:41, 8:48, 8:50, 8:59, finally Jeanne yelled
that breakfast was ready. Had eggs and toast for breakfast while
watching Top Cat on TV. We got to church late; at 9:55. No
teacher in our class again, so the other guys in or class talked about
caves and Frank seemed real interested. After our refreshments we
went in the sanctuary and heard the sermon. On the way home I asked
Frank a mathematical question “How many times as fast as usual does
the minute hand have to go for the hour hand to keep up with the second
hand?” He didn’t guess 600. After a snack for lunch we
went to Bailey Springs, but the gates weren’t open. It was 3
minutes to 1:00, so we rode down to Shole Creek. Came back and swam
in the pool. As soon as we got there, there were not life guards
as Frank and I swam in the deep diving part. I caught some
kind of weird-looking butterfly there. At 4:00 went to the stables,
but I didn’t ride any horses cause I had only my bathing suit on.
The kids rode in a horse-drawn little carriage. We got home at 5:00
and I was totally starving at 6:00 when Jeanne announced the meal was ready.
It was veal, potatoes, peas and cherry pie for desert. I went in
the room and layed down then, ‘til Don called me outside to do some work
(helping him with his brick laying). Went back in almost fell asleep.
Then Don yelled “Want to get some gas?” Everything went wrong.
First I couldn’t start the car. Then I turned a corner and I rammed
the bottom, then at the next corner I started to turn right instead of
left. That’s when he started yelling at me. But I drove it
there and back without further incident. Watched TV ‘til past 11:00.
** Don was ready to checkmate me, when he stalemated me instead.
I’m still undefeated.
Monday, July 18
It’s 10:42. Frank and I are having a discussion on Marvel People
(Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men). Deb is lying on the hall floor reading
a Romance book. All else are sleeping. Got up at 10:00 (I was
still tired). Jeanne said she had the pancakes ready. Jeanne
told us something Don wanted us to do. First we were to cut the lawn,
then clean the garage. But we tried and tried and still we couldn’t
get the lawn mower started, so we started cleaning the garage. All
we did was sweep it. Came in and watched TV a while. Jeanne
called up Don, and he said for us to put in some more bricks. Frank
and I did it for a while, then Frank cut his finger and went in so I worked
alone for a while. Came in to eat my lunch. It was ground up
baloney. Deb ground it up when I was outside working. Played
records for a while. Then we all went to Bailey Springs except Frank
of which took care of DJ. When we got there half the pool was roped
off. So we didn’t have munch fun. I threw Nancy real high in
the air, ‘til the lifeguard told me to stop. We left early at 2:30.
When we got home, Don called and said he wouldn’t be home ‘til late.
Didn’t do much ‘til Don got back. Sue tried to guess some records
I played. Frank wrote a letter to Char and today he also joined the
MMMS or the Merry Marvel Marching Society. When Don got home, he
told me that he got the mower started so I went outside and cut the back
yard. There wasn’t much to cut because most of the yard was dried
up. I also got a hatchet and cut a lot of trees that were just starting
up. Frank was playing catch with the little guy next door.
I called him when the front needed cut. When I was cutting the grass,
I had the transistor up to my ear. Came in and watched TV.
Before going to bed, I drew a lot of animals on the chalkboard. I
even drew a picture of the X-men for Frank. Got to bed at 11:30.
** Kolfax lost and the Braves won 9 to 8
Tuesday, July 19
It’s tomorrow again I was too lazy to write. I got up a little
after 10:00. Jeanne had a bunch of pancakes made and I was stuffed.
Jeanne must have come in to some money because at about 10:30 everyone
except me and DJ went shopping. I was too tired so I stayed home
with DJ and watched Donna Reed. During Father Knows Best, DJ was
getting tired so I took him in on Jeanne’s bed in no time at all he was
fast asleep. I slowly creeped out to watch Ben Casey ‘til 12:30 when
all came back. A few seconds later DJ woke up. Jeanne came
home just in time to watch her sob story. Did she buy a lot of stuff.
Nancy got a new 2-piece bathing suit. Susie got a granny pajamas
and Frank bought Don’t Bring me Down by the Animals. Everyone had
planned to go to Bailey Springs this afternoon but during lunch, it started
coming down, so we sat home. It was a short rain and since we had
our bathing suits on Susie wanted to water fight. We did, but it
didn’t last long. DJ was out there and he’d cry, then laugh when
we squirted him. Once when I had the water on, Nancy kinked the hose
so it wouldn’t work. I stopped her and warned her not to do it again.
So when she did it again I yanked the hose. She ran in the house and told
Jeanne that I tried to strangle her. Don got home again after working
late ‘til 5:30. After supper we went to Bailey Springs. Frank
said this was about the best time we had. Don borrowed a set of golf
clubs and we played 4 holes. We quit when Don lost his ball at the
4th hole. Frank had 24 and so did I. There was complete darkness
when we went swimming. For a while we were the only ones in the pool.
Frank and I played catch with a rubber ball. Left at 8:00.
At 11:30. DJ wouldn’t sleep, so I got up from a Marvel and joined
in search for his bottle. Got to bed at nearly 12:00.
Wednesday, July 20
Got up at 10:30 in time to see Dick Van Dyke. Jeanne offered to
make eggs for breakfast but I wasn’t too hungry, so I just ate some toast
and milk. After searching everywhere, I finally found my bathing
suit in the back of the car. So we left for Bailey Springs at 12:00.
Jeanne stopped off at Florence first to get some spaghetti for lunch.
We were swimming at Bailey Springs by 12”20. It was kinda boring.
Frank and I played golf at 2:00 but we quit when we lost the ball.
Didn’t have anything to do then, so took Don’s suggestion and read a book
in the freezing building about Bailey Springs. Left at 3:30.
Jeanne made the spaghetti just before Don got home. After we all
ate, we hunted around for some flashlights. After a half hour lapse
we left to find a cave. Jeanne brought along a bag and wouldn’t tell
anyone what she had in it (it was her surprise). Don had a crude
map on how to get there. But it took four stops to talk to 4 different
colored families before we arrived at the cave entrance.
To get to the cave you had to go down a steep rocked hill. The entrance
to cave was just large enough to crawl down. Once in the cave, the
temperature dropped 30 or 40 degrees. As soon as we were in the cave
we viewed a large auditorium-type structure with names and dates written
all over the cold walls. The floor was made of small boulders.
To the left there was an inclined path just wide enough to get up.
At the top, about 15 feet farther, the cave stretched in may directions.
To the left was a deep pit and another cave entrance. Straight ahead
after about 20 feet, the floor finally hit the ground. On the
right the cave struck off in two directions. To the right but
farther back, a small path went very far ‘til it went straight down.
I wrote this in the cave on a piece of paper:
Right now, I’m in the back of a cave. Frank and Deb
are talking to each other below. It’s so cold I can see my breath.
What fun, Huh! At the end of this, there is a hole. Frank tried
but it’s too small to fit down it. When I turn off this flashlight,
it’s total darkness.
|
When I got home, it was pitch dark. I took two showers.
Watched TV and read a book to real late.
** Once out of the cave Frank said, “and these are white levis”.
** Once when I was in an unfamiliar part of the cave, I struggled through
a small opening only to find myself in the main chamber.
** Started reading Catcher in the Rye.
Thursday, July 21st
It’s 11:15. Frank and I were just arguing about certain facets
of the cave we visited yesterday. We just finished a flash-cleaning
job of our room for Mom and Dad tomorrow. They’re supposed to come
around at 6 or 7 in the morning. (I hope I’m conscious by then).
I know I got up at 10:00 because Andy Griffith was just starting.
Jeanne fed us pancakes for breakfast for again and Susie ate one.
We made a big deal about her eating one, because about 2 hours earlier
she had her breakfast of cereal. We shouted “Susie has 2 breakfasts”.
Don had given everyone work to do today. Jeanne had to weed the yard
and garden. Nance and Sue had to help (they didn’t). Deb had
to watch DJ (biggest job). Frank and I had to put down some more
bricks. It only took us to noon (about 45 minutes). Came in
a while, then started watering the lawn for want of something better to
do. I played a lot of singles on the record player. Jeanne
couldn’t watch The Edge of Night and Nancy couldn’t watch her cartoons
because the astronauts landed today. Read about 40 or 50 pages of
Catcher in the Rye. It’s a good book (by good, I don’t mean holy).
I was still reading when Don got home at 4:30, but I came out when supper
was ready at 5:00. (no lunch). Jeanne fixed hot dogs and beans and
sugarless ice tea (ran out of sugar). After Don and Jeanne argued
about who was going to take DJ, Don won. We had to be back by 8:00
because Jeanne had to go to play bridge. Got there at 6:15. [Jeanne
just got home. Deb, Sue, Nancy and Helga all woke up to meet her.
Jeanne just said “what’s all this?” Nancers in the pancers replied
“I’m hungry”.] It’s 12:00 midnight. [just had a discussion
with Jeanne and she brought DJ in here]. Back to Bailey Springs now.
Stayed ‘til 7:15. Don and I threw the ball back and forth, then Frank
and I did. I read more of the Catcher in the Rye. Read in the
bath tub, while watching the Braves lose and while watching a John Wayne
movie Don had on. Finished it. [Frank is playing The
Last Time for Deej. Naturally DJ is dancing or a reasonable facsimile
thereof.]
** Gemini 10 came down today!
** No idea of what’s number one in Chicago
** Braves dropped 3rd in a row 7 to 4 to St. Louis
Don, Deb, Chris, Frank, and Nancy by the entrance of the cave
Friday July 22
It’s 10:45 and all peaceful at Zelen household. Deb is writing
in a diary she just started. I’m in the living room. Sue and
Nance are asleep on the floor on the two mattresses that Mom and Dad brought.
Early this morning, I heard Don leave for work. That’s all I heard
so I knew Mom and Dad had not arrived. Got up at 7:30 and layed on
the couch a while. Ate some Life for breakfast. Then watched
a few TV shows – you know all the regular stuff. Jeanne finally announced
their arrival at about 10:20. We helped carry some stuff in.
(Boy! It’s hard to believe I’ve been here for 4 weeks already). Frank
saw his surveys right away. Paperback Writer didn’t make number one
and Wild Thing by the Troggs was number 2. We took a fast look at
our yearbooks and at some wedding slides through this portable-type gadget.
Mom and Dad went to sleep, being up all night and such. Jeanne took
us to Bailey Springs a little while later at 2:30. She left us there
‘til past 5:00. I played catch with Frank first, then everyone tried
to catch me on the air mattress. At the end, I was playing with Nancy,
teasing and playing with her. We all went to get this foot-long hotdog
and a shake for a dime a piece (grand opening), but the line was
so long we went to a McDonald’s next door. Had a hamburger, shake
and french fries. Went to K-Mart then. Don was astonished
to see a colored girl with light blue hair. After that, we went to
Andersons (a book store) and got a Mad Magazine. Sue got this troll
she was pestering Don for. Got home at 7:00 or so and sat on the
couch and read Mad. After that, I didn’t feel like doing much. So
I went in my room and looked over the surveys and the Powder Horn..
Came out finally and it was past 9:00. Ate some watermelon that we
got at K-Mart, but was interrupted when I had to go to the car three times
to get pillows. First the doors were locked, then I didn’t get them
all. Helped Susie and Nancy put together new puzzles.
Mom got them at K-Mart. They also put the other ones together.
Later I casually asked Don if he had any more good novels because I had
finished Catcher in the Rye. He went out in the garage and looked
through all sorts of boxes. Jeanne said “He wouldn’t have done this
for me”.
** I plan on reading 3 books. I’m starting with Caravan by Mitchner
right now.
** Deb is reading some old Archie.
Saturday, July 23
It’s Sunday morning now, at 9:00. I’m in the back-back seat of
our station wagon with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Mexico. We’re
in the end camp site at Panama City, Florida. Got up Saturday morning
the latest I ever did. It was 11:45. I was hungry, but I waited
for lunch ‘til 1:00. We had steak and noodles for lunch. Most
of the afternoon I read Caravan. It’s a darn good book about this
Mark Miller in Afghanistan. I read from 12:30 to 3:30 stopping only
to eat. I put down my book when we started to pack. I helped
them move the Apache trailer down the steep driveway and pack my own personal
junk. Deb & Sue got real interested in the tape recorder, so
I let them sing all kinds of songs and recorded DJ’s baby talk. Deb
got her own tape and I think Sue and Nance used it more than her.
We planned to leave at 8:00, but an oddity happened, we actually left a
half hour sooner—at 7:30. Don took the lead and Dad kept right behind
him. We pulled over to a Jacks after a little while. I ate
a hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake. Right after that we made
for a gas station and filled ‘er up. We drove
for about and hour then Dad pulled over and let me drive. The whole
time since the start, I was reading Caravan and was now well over half
done. I used a 6-volt light that plugged into the cigarette lighter.
I took over at 12:30 and went through Montgomery, Troy, and Dothan and
finally here at Panama City at 4:45 AM. We stopped once at a gas
station in Dothan. (that was the longest stretch that I ever drove).
Along the way I saw a few shooting stars, saw a magnificent sunrise, listened
to WLS ‘til nearly dawn (4:32). Once here we had to get in a long
line of cars. Frank and I jumped out and I beat him on a 100 yard
dash over white sand hills to the Gulf. The sand was whiter that
I have ever see. I said it looked like an enormous ash tray.
I was quite sleepy so I slept in the back on the station wagon (Zelen’s)
and that’s where I’ll end the day with a 3 hour nap.
** First time in Florida
Monday, July 25
It’s 10:00 exactly. I don’t feel like writing much. It’s too hot
in this stupid pup tent. I’m in the same campsite I reported yesterday.
I wanna read a little when I’m done here. Mom and Dad are sleeping
in the station wagon right outside my tent opening. Mom just said
“Chris, is the tent big enough?” Frank is sleeping in the Zelen’s
station wagon. And all the Zelens are jammed in the trailer.
After my nap from 4:30 to 8:00 we drove to this camp site. Dad thinks
it’s the best around because it’s on a corner. Set everything up
right away. I had Life for breakfast. There’s a water faucet
near, but the water’s putrid. Went to the beach at 9:30 or so.
It was saltier than I had expected, blah! Susie and I dug a big hole
on the beach. Mom and Dad showed up a little while later. Mom
said it was the 1st time she’s been in water for years. Before we
left we took showers in these things in the open air. Got home around
1:00. Ate 2 or 3 sandwiches, then read a little in the car; fell
asleep in there. Then came out and slept on a mattress for a few
more hours. It was 4:00. I had a doctor pepper on ice as soon
as I woke up. Then went in the lagoon (20 yards away). I picked
up crab after crab after crab, all small and in shells. Before the
day was over, I had 90 crabs (counted them) and a lot of snails.
We fried hamburgers for supper and I had to wake up Sue and Nance who were
sleeping in the trailer for 4 hours. I had 3 of them and a few rolls
for dessert. About dusk we all got in Don’s car and went to see the
city. We brought a few things at some stores. We saw
all sorts of shell shops and places for renting Hondas. I’m thinking
seriously about getting one. We saw literally hundreds of hotels,
motels and carnivals. Frank commented that so far "Florida is a drag”.
We didn’t go to any places, only located them for later on. When
Back, I put on the Coleman lantern. After a snack of donuts, I prepared
for bed getting an air mattress, blanket, flashlight, book, this thing
and pajamas on. I hear the waves at 10:25.
**No reading today
Monday, July 25
6:16. I better write while it’s still light outside. I’m on a
white dune. It’s the highest in the area. It’s something like
the sand dunes but the sand in white al all the trees are conifers.
Bye. Sue just yelled “We’re going to Miracle Strip”.
It’s tomorrow. I was too tired when I got back yesterday.
Because the air mattress I was sleeping on all night was deflated, when
dawn came around I didn’t feel like sleeping much. So believe it
or not I got up at 4:45AM. Took a bath in the gulf because it’s a
lot closer. I spent an hour or so starting a fire. Then Mom
got up at 6:15. And Jeanne up a little later. Then Don, then Frank,
Dad, Sue, Nance and finally sleepy head Deb. After
breakfast I slept in the station wagon till 9:00 when Sue woke me up and
said we were going to Shell Island. The ferry boat we caught was
close by and we got here just in time. It left at 9:30. It
was about a 20 minute ride to Shell Island. We had ‘til 11:00 to
find our shells. Found a pretty lot about 10 feet out into the water.
Mom, Dad, Sue and DJ left at 11:00, but the rest of us decided to stay
‘til the boat came again at 2:15. Soon as it left it started raining
and Nancy started crying. We went under the dock for some protection.
We got a few shells on the hill there, then hiked to the other side—about
200 yards. There we swam in the big waves and I found a ton of shells.
While there we also caught a blue crab and a sand crab. We saw a
real jellyfish and some sort of lizard with a long tail. The boat
came with more passengers at 2:00, but it left at 3:15. The pop on
the boat costs 16 cents! We all got back safe and sound. We had chili
for supper. Was up in the hills when I was called to go. We
all went in Don’s car as usual. This Miracle Strip is one long street
with thousands of hotels motels and amusement parks. First we stopped
off at this place where we played baseball. It pitched, we hit.
Then Frank, Deb and I went on these go-carts. We went to the amusement
park across the street then. First on the roller coaster, then a
lot more rides. Before we went, we went to Jungle Land.
It’s mainly this large volcano with a path through it and lots of animals.
When we got back, I had lots of hot dogs. Dad said that I should
forget about my trip to Europe and I said I’ll get the money if I have
to quit football.
Tuesday, July 26
I felt like quitting, but as long as I have time, I’ll write.
It’s Wed at 3PM. I have trouble writing because I’m riding in our
car. Got up late at 7:30. Most everyone else was already up.
I had 2 eggs and laid around a while longer. Don went to the beach
right away with Deb and Frank. He came back a while later to get
the air mattress and to get a dollar to rent a surf board. I went
with him this time, but I didn’t go surfing. The waves were big today.
They were fun to swim in. I laid on the blanket a while to get a
tan on my stomach. Nancy and Sue showed up then, so I splashed with
them a while. Frank came back from surfing and said what fun it was.
Swam a while longer, took our showers near the parking lot, then left.
It was about noon. I didn’t do much in the afternoon. I got
interested in Caravan again and before the day was over I read the last
100 pages. The ending of it wasn’t too great. About 4:00 we
decided to go to town for the last time. The first thing we did when
we got there was to play a short baseball game. I played twice and
the 2nd time I hit all but the last ball. Went to one of the amazing
places in my life. It’s a miniature golf course, but just not an
ordinary one. Each different hole had some kind of monster or house
or something by it. We took some pictures of the scenery and of the
family. We played 2 different games of 16 holes each. On the
2nd course Nancy joined me, Frank, Sue, and Deb. Frank beat me by
two shots each time. On the way home we went to a few stores.
At one time Frank went in and won a case of root beer, but Deb had a conniption
fit so he had to put a Pepsi in it. As you can guess, Deb doesn’t
like root beer. [We just stopped the car at a gas station between
Montgomery and Birmingham]. Got to bed late after sitting around
talking to Don about college. Jeanne almost had a heart attack when
DJ ran out in front of a car in the dark. It just missed him.
When sleeping in the back of the station wagon, the mosquitoes were terrible.
** Mom said at a nearby bank it was 120
** Last night our land crab escaped
Wednesday, July 27
Today nothing much happened since we traveled most of the day.
Got up at 8:30. I was still in the back of the car when Jeanne
drove it to the store. I had Kellogs korn flakes for breakfast.
I noticed a putrid smell then saw that the can the crabs were in was stinking.
It must have become polluted. So I dumped them out in the lagoon.
It took us a while to get everything packed and cleaned up. I dug
up a few plants for Jeanne. Took some films of DJ trying to dance.
Left for Florence at about 10:30. Dad drove and Mom was in the front
seat with him. Frank and I were in the back seat reading comic books
and Sue was I the back-back sleeping. It was this way ‘til we got
to Dothan, Alabama. At the Florida/Alabama border, Dad took pictures.
He also took pictures of “Vulcan the Iron Man” at Montgomery.
Just before Birmingham we stopped off to eat. Everyone had a hamburger,
french fries and a drink. I was still hungry so I sat in the back-back
and had a sandwich and a root beer. I wrote Tuesday back there.
We stopped when I was just about finished. Jeanne drove in their
car then I drove. Going through Birmingham wasn’t too easy, especially
at 4:00. It must have taken us an hour. Something weird happened
while driving through some high hill country. You could see the rain
falling about ¼ mile away and how you drove right into it.
While driving I put the car in low gear for the first time. We stopped
outside of Birmingham. Jeanne gave us DJ. She said he was pounding
on her head and wouldn’t let her drive. About an hour later we stopped
at a store in Florence. Got home and everyone was happy at 7:00,
because Lost in Space was on. Don turned on the air conditioner cause
it was 90 here. Helped unload a little bit. Mom cut open a
watermelon, but it was rotten. All but one spot. I ate that
spot. I took a very welcomed shower then. I went to bed the
earliest in a while at 9:25.
** Sugar and Spice was no. 1 requested
Thursday, July 28
It’s Friday, but I didn’t write because I was tired. I read 4
new Marvel comics that Frank bought. Thursday there was only one
major topic: the tree house. Woke up at 9:30 and watched
TV for a while. Had eggs as usual for breakfast. I saw Dad
and Don working outside and I wondered what they were doing. I
went outside to find they had two 2 by 4s nailed between the two trees
8 feet over the wood pile. This was the beginning of the tree house.
Don finally started to do it when Sue and Nance nagged him and Dad said
he’d be glad to help and Jeanne said that he never did anything for the
kids. I went out there and slowly but surely we got it up.
The floor was done before lunch, then after a lunch of watermelon
and pop, Don and I went in the woods across the street and cut down trees
of about the same size. We used these for the braces with three live
trees. It was a big job digging five 2 foot holes to stick them in.
I had to make mud and stick it in the holes with rocks. We put up
some more braces and then started on the roof. Frank, Deb, Sue and
Nance came out to paint then. They used the color of blue as the
house is painted. We planned on stopping at 6:00 but after supper
we turned on the back porch light and I brought out the Coleman lantern.
We finished most of the roof and the trap door. I went over to the
house being built next door looking for a lot of usable pieces of wood.
We got all the wood and most of the nails from the being-built house.
Came in all 9:30 and Mom said “I thought the police might come to the door.”
Stayed up to watch part of the movie but I got bored and went in our room
‘til about 11:30 reading Marvel. NOTE: Well, this marks one
month of being away from home. The things I miss are: color TV, Jim
the Pig, sidewalks, the attic, cooler weather, people who talk normal,
a radio station that plays good songs. I miss swimming in a real
lake and every other person that you meet knows you. I miss the Walkers:
Chrisie laying on my shoulder, Shelley’s pot and voice, and Jimmer wanting
to go everywhere.
Friday, July 29
Right now it’s 11:40 and Frank is sleeping next to me. I’d like
to write the rest of the page but I have to get up tomorrow at 7:00 to
look at some caves. Signing out!
Now it’s tomorrow at 12:42PM. Yesterday was just a normal day.
Got up around 10:30. Don was up then and he looked out the window
and said “I thought Johnny was still sleeping. That’s why I was laying
around”. Had the normal eggs for breakfast, then Don and I went outside
to finish up the tree house. Painted for a while until the paint
was gone, then put the last part of the roof on. We did plan on going
to Bailey Springs today, but all of a sudden it got real dark and the wind
started blowing. Although it got that dark and windy, we only had
a few off and on showers. I hardly got wet since I was in the tree
house or working under it. Dad was on the roof for most of an hour.
I didn’t know what he was doing when he came down he said he had asphalted
the roof. I know he did, because for the next few hours everyone
was full of tar. Don and Dad went to Sears then and went in the house
for a while for a pop break. They got the wire and rope we needed.
It was a hard job putting up. Don put the rope ladder together and
after a few adjustments on the trap door, it was finished at 4:00.
George (the 5year-old next door) came over and Sue brought over a few of
their friends. I was up there watching DJ when Jeanne sent up a pizza
on the pully-basket we made. Then Deb was there to help to put up
all the furnishings as the table and chairs, stove and refrigerator, sink
and cupboard. Jeanne, Don, Mom and Dad went out shopping so Deb,
Frank and I took care of DJ in 15 minute shifts. Was I glad when
they got home. Got to bed after Man from UNCLE at 10:00.
T H A T’ S A L L I C A N
W R I T E.
** Summer in the City by Lovin Spoonful is no 1.
Saturday, July 30
We’re getting ready to go home now. Mom’s packing everything and
everything we’ve spread over the house over the last five weeks is being
collected. Frank is trying to work a puzzle I gave him: “Tails to
Astonish”. We’re all ready to go. Goodbye Alabama. “sob”.
?I’m home now. It’s tomorrow night. This morning everyone
was up early to go to the cave. Dad, Don, Frank, Deb, Nance and I
went in Don’s Chevy. On the way there the fan belt came off the car
so we had about an hour delay. At one place we stopped Frank bought
a lot of old comic books. Don didn’t exactly know where the cave
was so we went way out of the way getting there. The cave was after
you pass the Tennessee River on the left about ¼ mile. We
finally found it. I brought the Coleman lantern this time.
This cave was a lot bigger than the other one was. Dad, Deb, Frank
and I went way in the back of it. After half an hour we didn’t come
to the end so we came out. This cave wasn’t as exciting as the other.
Took some Polaroid pictures around it. Got home at 12:00 or so.
After lunch we went to Bailey Springs. For a while we had it all
to ourselves. Dad went in, but Mom didn’t. After a good swim
we went golfing (Dad, Deb, Frank and me). I did pretty good.
I had a big meal of ham and potatoes when home. We started packing
after supper, but we kept procrastinating. I painted a sign for the
tree house:
Completed July 28, 1966 by the Zelens and
the Foremans
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We had to tie this chest of drawers on top of the car for Mom.
It was full of White Cloud. (Don gets it for free). Took some pictures
of everyone in the tree house. Jeanne showed the wedding pictures
to Dad and Don because they didn’t see them. Parting
was such sorrow. Nancy was crying and I played with DJ to the last
second. Jeanne said she just got used to us. We left at 8:30
after a long good-bye. Dad started out driving and drove until he
was about 50 miles in Tennessee. Mom drove for an hour then I drove
for a few hours until the Nashville city limits. Dad took over to
northern Kentucky. I drove 3 hours about 30 miles past Evansville.
Dad took over and I slept the last thing I remembered is 37 miles to Terre
Haute.
** Frank’s spoiled. He doesn’t want to swim in any old lake any
more
** Deb said it was her Catch us if you Can. ** Bye-bye
Alabama
Sunday, July 31
I got up at 7:00 about 60 miles from home. Everything started
to seem familiar. Someplace in Hammond we stopped for groceries. We
pulled in to good old 1750 Lake Avenue at 9:00. Big Jim was watering
the grass. Carried some stuff in the house. I was shocked
at how tall the flowers were in the back planters. Then I was equally
shocked at how our new bedroom looked. Char drove up then and we
greeted and talked to each other. I went up to the church (with Jim
the Pig who came a little earlier). I picked up Jimmer and Shelley.
Was I happy to see them. I gave them their drums that mom bought
and a lot of shells. Jim and I talked. He said that he had
a girlfriend named Jeanie Grinstead? He said old Buckner got his
right hand blown off with fireworks. We talked and talked ‘til about
2:30. He left then and I went on my new bed and slept ‘til 6:30 when
mom called me and said to get ready for church. Frank watched the
Sox vs. Yankees game when I was sleeping. I lasted through church
(I was still sleepy). After church, Char invited us over her house
(now 2 months old). Shelly and Jimmer ran to the door to greet us.
Char fixed us some ice tea. Jimmer showed us his new speedometer
and that he could go 20 MPH down the ally. He also showed me “Cookie”
and how big she was. We left at 9:15 and tried to stop of at White
Castle but it was too crowded so we passed it by. Came home and watched
TV for a while. I didn’t feel like staying up so I went to bed at
10:30. But at 11:00 Jim tramped in the house and said “You’re not
going to sleep yet, are you?” So we talked a while down here until
Frank got up. So Jim and I went upstairs to talk all night.
I brought up the Beatle Album to play it. He talked about his girlfriend
again. He read a Mad magazine. He finally conked out at 2:30,
so I went to sleep also. It seems usual yet it seems different for
me to be up here writing. I feel like I’m still in Alabama.
I’m counting the days to Football practice starts on August 15th.
** Bye-bye July. Hello August
** Last Tuesday our refrigerator conked out and everything melted all
over the floor. Char cleaned it up.
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