50 years ago tomorrow. I was standing there in the living room in front of the one and only TV in the house, in Warsaw, Virginia, in my parents’ home. I was a recent college graduate, just filling in the summer with a Headstart teaching gig, before coming to Prince William County permanently, to teach.
My brothers and I stood there, watching in total amazement as Armstrong and Aldrin “moon-walked,” a term that was yet to become part of our vocabulary. We had al held our breath as the eagle silently landed on the surface of the moon, with mission control updating us as to what was really going on. “The man in the moon” had been something said to me since childhood. Now there really were 3 men on the moon–a slight variation of that childhood expression.
Little did I know that I would be sitting here with my own computer, 2 cell phones thousands of times more powerful than those who put those men on the moon, and that I would be going by my blog name, Moon-Howler.
Today, only Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins are still alive. Yet, that trip was miraculously amazing. If you missed “Chasing the Moon” on PBS, it was extremely well done. This American Experience production showed this country’s participation in the space race, geeky stuff and all. You can watch it on your computer if you missed it.
So the Summer of 1969 was quite a summer. The moon landing, Woodstock, the Manson murders, the Stonewall riots, Chappaquiddick, and the trans am making its first appearance. Tricky Dick was in the White House. (Oddly enough, I didn’t hate the man. Before I found out how corrupt he was, he did some decent, progressive things for the country.) Of course, I had my cute little blue Camaro. Oh I absolutely thought I was hot stuff in that sweet little car.
50 years later, I am supremely disappointed in my country. Students aren’t rioting in the streets but crowds are filling up stadiums chanting “Send her back” at the president they elected, who happens to be the most morally bankrupt, corrupt, unqualified person to hold that office in my lifetime. Where is all of this going? Time will tell. In 50 years, I would have thought this country would do better, be better, think better. We have children and refugees being held in detention centers at our border. We are not a shining city on a hill. We aren’t representing American values. We are in a war that has gone on nearly 2 decades. Where is the outcry?
Please enjoy Summer of 69. Perhaps it will take us back to better days, although I never thought I would say 1969 was a better year.
enjoy, Love, Moon- the howler
