September 1963 by Clifton (Jerry) Noble, Sr.

jerrysr-headshotOn Sunday, September 1, I took the baby to Westfield when I picked up Hester to go to church. The choir marched in singing “Come to the Church,” and Bruce Morgan from Amherst College gave a good sermon. Marian Cushman will retire in November and go to Florida for the winter.

On Monday I did laundry from 7:25-9:00 am.  I let air into the water tank so the pump would work longer instead of so often, then I washed the car.  I got a fire permit, burned a pile of branches and weeds, then put waterproof paper on the ridge of the schoolhouse roof to replace what was blown off by wind.
I got an inspection sticker and lubrication for the state car on Tuesday. The Atwaters came at 4:30 and reported that Collins’s blood pressure was 210 again. The doctor says he’s too nervous.

The next day, I asked Dorothy Barnes to sing at church on Sunday, then I phoned Mrs. Knott to put her name on program. The baby can identify some wildflowers.

On Thursday, Hoey and Thurston consulted about promoting Penna to grade II. Penna had become punctual and more interested in his job. I prayed about it, and the answer said that my support of his promotion was right.

I met Lil Albrecht at the A&P on Friday. She said the college was taking their land so they would have to sell their house. She told me they were planning to leave for Germany soon. Johanna’s 6-month-old baby was with her husband’s mother while he and Jo bicycled through Denmark.

I ironed and hung curtains in Elizabeth’s room on Saturday. Uncle Ralph arrived and told me how hemlock seeds favor the moisture of rock moss, and once there, they send out roots to encircle the rock and find soil to support the mature tree.

On Sunday, September 8, Margaret Peckham came up to church with her daughter, Dorothy Barnes, whose solo was very nice.  Doctor Teale told Hester about Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick, where cars reportedly roll uphill instead of downhill.  Al Murphy said it was an illusion.
Walter Forbush, who was 58, died on Friday, Sept. 6, 1963.

I was busy on Tuesday. The car radiator boiled over, and South Street Service Station loosened the pressure cap to fix it.  Dry weather made the road down the mountain terribly rough.
On Wednesday, I used the walkie-talkie to find Bob Fay in Holyoke.

vinniepennaOn Friday the 13th, Claude Crepeau was one of 15 out of 325 who passed the grade 3 exam—the  only one in District 2. Barbara Chase told her husband Ned that he didn’t pass. She added, “Try not to forget the milk.”

I took the baby out the wood road on Saturday. He picked another bottle gentian from the power line clearing, where they were plentiful.

Dr. Teale omitted the anthem on Sunday, and at noon he asked everyone to stay for questions and answers about the United Church. The Choir and Wyben people walked out. Mentioning the omitted anthem, Dr. Beckwith said now was the chance for choir to show “charity.” That was an imposition on folks like Mrs. Webb, who had to get home early. His sermon was just reminiscences. Mrs Webb loaned me Handel’s Messiah  from the Dalton Church.  I took Elizabeth, Hester and the baby to Look Park. The baby enjoyed the miniature train until other kids screamed in tunnel and got him crying.

Monday found me in Greenfield by 8:03. I helped Al Murphy make slope sheets for Interstate Route 91 between Deerfield and Greenfield, condensing 19 of them onto 4 typed sheets (5 copies each) from 11:30 to 3:05 p.m. The baby knows lower case letters now.

On Wednesday at 6:50 a.m., I picked up the Agawam Baptist Church sign from Jim Constantino. At the Northampton Service Center I delivered time sheets and the sign, and I got Al Abare’s name straight. He says it was originally Hebert. When his father went to school the teacher spelled it the way she heard the French pronunciation.

Mrs. Barnes phoned. She says the electricity will be off on Thursday morning. Elizabeth verified this with the company and phoned Kneil Coal Company to cancel furnace repair appointment. Mildred Moore phoned from Wyben. They came today to close their house. I took the baby to Mildred and Marion’s. The sunset was pretty. Driving home, I sang “Long, Long Trail” to the baby.

On Thursday, Dad Atwater couldn’t wait for Elizabeth to finish making her apple cobbler to send home with his wife. He sat in the car and blew the horn. The electricity was off from 10:00 am to noon for the voltage change.  In the afternoon, the Kneil Coal service men cleaned and adjusted the furnace.
It rained on Friday.  I saw Henry Milonas about Saturday work. Henry was trembling with chills.

Afterwards I felt as if I had caught his cold. I made an appointment on Tuesday morning with Riverdale Auto Body to repair the state car’s dent and radiator.  Dad Atwater phoned. His blood pressure is down. I used vitamin C to cure my headache and sore throat.

On Saturday I started the brook pump and ironed laundry. Fletcher delivered a new gas tank. Uncle Ralph came at 11:30.  I took Uncle Ralph to Chester with me to return Mrs. Webb’s music. Her husband, a railroad engineer, is putting a closed-in porch on back of their house.

On Sunday I took the baby to Westfield to pick up Hester at the Sarah Gillett Home. Hester sold $5 worth of her decorated writing paper. At church, Dr. Teale apologized for forgetting the anthem last week. Later we took Hester to Westfield and we stopped at Atwaters. Elizabeth told her father what Adele Davis’s book said about calcium being good for hot flashes and cold sweats.  Bob Fay phoned to say a tree fell on him Saturday, injuring his left leg.

Monday, September 23 was a busy day. Those 12-hour days would get me terribly tired and ready to cry.  Elizabeth had a nice supper ready. Dad Atwater asked Dr. Logie about dicalcium phosphate and was advised to take it.

The Atwaters came up in Wednesday morning.  We had potato, hot dog, cabbage salad, and custard pudding for supper. Elizabeth got the baby in bed.  I read to him for 20 minutes and he went to sleep by 9.

On Friday, George Berry got Frank Hoey’s permission for Bob Fay to check contract parties and direct them. In the evening I played with the plastic railroad with the baby.  While trying to get up off floor I had a gas pain near my heart so sharp I could get neither up nor down.

I skipped lunch on Saturday and cleaned the wellhouse. I ran the brook pump three times to fill the reservoir. I made a concrete doorstep for the wellhouse and a stone wall in back of the woodshed.
On Sunday, I had a dream about church and trying to accompany Mrs. Webb without music. I was rested despite chest pain. Mrs. Webb phoned to say she wouldn’t be at church. At the Sarah Gillett Home I made check for $180 instead of $190 (to pay for two months), but Mr. Dupuis gave me a receipt for the extra $10 I gave him. The anthem went well. Hester and I read the paper in the car to give the baby time to go to sleep at home. He woke screaming at 10:30 p.m. Elizabeth put paregoric on his gums to quiet him.

The Atwaters came up in the evening on Monday while Elizabeth was washing the floor. Elizabeth and the baby met Clarence Barnes. Clarence reports there is plenty of water in the spring.

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