I Wanted To Be An Astronaut

I am loving the History Channel today.

The date is July 20, 1969. I am sitting on the living room floor of my father's townhouse and we are watching history unfold on his old black & white console television. I am mesmerized, rapt, awestruck, and I can. NOT. tear my eyes away.

For the next few years, I was spacestruck. I read everything I could get my hands on about the space program. I wanted to go to Purdue University because that's where Neil Armstrong went to college. I wanted to work for NASA. A 13 year old girl so fascinated with space? Hmmmm, how to convince you?

Ooh ooh, I know. I'll show you some of my toys, none of which I have been able to get rid of. BS will have to do it after I'm dead, because these will stay with me as long as I breathe.

I saved Cheerios box tops until I had enough to send away for this totally awesome moon globe (which, by the way, currently resides in my living room) . . .

I saved my meager allowance until I had enough to send away for this 4 foot moon map (which BS is holding up for scale & to show you I still have that too). It lived on my bedroom wall for several years, but now I really need to do something to preseve it . . .

I read this book (copyright 1969) until it was dog-eared and whole pages practically memorized. It still lives in my bookcase . . .

And this Saturn V rocket model? It's my 2nd one. The first one was glued together & painted about 39 years ago and has long since disappeared. I'll show you this one when I'm done with it . . .

When I think about the computer class I took in 1975, when the computer took up a whole room and we wrote programs on IBM punch cards, I feel nothing but awe for the engineers & pilots who orchestrated the space program using the technology of the 1960's. Even more amazing is the fact that NASA didn't lose a single astronaut during any of its missions. I know, all 3 Apollo 1 astronauts died, but that was during a routine test while still on the ground.

Would you have trusted the technology of the time to put yourself in space? Before anyone even had a pocket calculator?

And today, the History Channel is chock full of specials about the space program. I am reeeeeeally glad I don't work on Mondays. I'm not leaving my couch all day!

Please leave a comment and tell me where you were when you watched the moon landing. And yes, I know I may get some sarcastic comments about still being in utero, or not even a twinkle in your dad's eye yet. Tough. What did the space program mean to you?

A Bowl of Summer

When my sisters & I were little, growing up outside of Chicago, there was a hedge of red raspberry bushes between our house and our neighbor's house. Seeing things through the eyes & mind of a child, we were convinced that these neighbors were mean and hated us.

Why? Because technically, they were the neighbor's bushes. And we stole them. Shamelessly, deliberately stole them (the berries, not the bushes). Hey, even though the neighbors planted them & the bushes were on their property, you know what? A whole side of those red jewels were facing our yard, and we figured they would never know if that side of the bushes never seemed to bear fruit. They couldn't pick them without coming into our yard anyway, and that would be trespassing, right? And they couldn't go to waste, so every summer, our fingers & lips & chins bore the telltale signs of wanton berry theft. And sometimes the neighbors would yell at us. Well, maybe they really didn't, but that's how I remember it. They were mean.

To this day, raspberries taste of summer and memories, 2 of my favorite flavors. So, when I was at the Price Club today (I know it's really Costco, but I called it the Price Club for too long), these beckoned me, and I could not resist their siren call. Guess what was for dinner tonight? A bowl of these sweet, juicy beauties and a piece of peanut butter toast (whole wheat bread and natural peanut butter). It was a feast.