Whaddya mean 1969 was the first moonwalk?
Seriously. Didn’t you know that earthlings have been rocketing back and forth to the moon since forever? Yes, really. Until I was about six years old, I sincerely believed that. Too many cartoons? Probably. I do remember having a very serious conversation with The Commander during which she carefully deprogrammed me. Sayonara, cheesy green moonwalks.
I watched the first real moon landing in an old log cabin on the shores of Gitchee Gumee and I can’t remember if the TV I was watching it on was color or black and white. That’s because I was at the cabin where all of the ultra-cool teeny-boppers hung out, not at our cabin. At our cabin, a bunch of little kids and OBs* were watching my parents’ old black-and-white Zenith, the one that I eventually took with me to college and beyond until it died. I should remember the basic specs of the TV at the cabin where I watched the moonwalk because we hung out there every night but I don’t.
I was sick during the moonwalk. Yes. Sore throat/fever-type virus. I felt like you-know-what but I was hiding that little detail because I desperately wanted to watch the moon landing with all the cool kids instead of being home in bed where I probably belonged. I have quite a track record of being sick for historic events. Mrs. Bishop brought a TV in to my second grade classroom the day John Glenn orbited the earth. I don’t remember anything about it except for vomiting all over my desk and then spending the rest of the morning in the nurse’s office because The Commander was off gallivanting around somewhere without her iPhone. And the day President Kennedy was shot? Strep throat.
I’m a little confused about the time of the actual moon landing. I am probably crazy but I seem to remember it being light out. With daylight savings time, it is indeed light out on the shores of Gitchee Gumee until 11 PM or thereabouts in June. By the 20th of July, old Mr. Golden Sun is starting to slip southward again. So I’m just not sure.
Where were you when you saw the moonwalk? Check out RegenAxe to see where the Marquis was for the moon landing (and NPJane, check the comments). And where were you?
*OB stands for Old B—-, not obstetrician. It meant anyone over 30. You can fill in the blanks.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I was 13, but for some reason, I barely remember it. I remember way more when JFK was assassinated because my mom cried. (and that upset me)
July 20th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I was at the Kayak Woman’s cabin, with said black and white TV, and not with the cool kids. I guess I was a little kid (only 2-1/2 years younger), or maybe it was because Jim (the Engineer – my compatriot) was staying home. But any time we got to go over and watch TV was special. I do remember the landing, and I thought it was dark out.
With respect to TV at the cabin, I really do appreciate the lack of TV now. Part of what makes it special, and when I can really get books read.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I was at the cabin with Katie and Kristen, who were 4 and 2. I can’t remember the time of the day, or the kind of TV.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
I was at a beach cabin with a girlfriend (we were both 13), and they had TV there, but nobody in her large and boisterous family had any interest in watching it. So, I sat there all by myself and just marveled at the whole thing, but worried that one of the bratty brothers might come along and turn the channel to cartoons or something and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because it wasn’t my house. I remember feeling a little sad that I wasn’t home watching it with my dad, because he and I were both space buffs and had been looking forward to this for a long time. At the tender age of 13, I found the whole thing awe-inspiring.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Susie and I had just returned from a long weekend drive to Connecticut for a couple of job interviews for me. She had a flight to catch and almost missed it because we had to wait until the actual “walk”. Good thing there weren’t the security things you have to do now. I think it was about 10pm or so.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:46 am
HL. All the kids piled in that chilly family room around a 13 inch black and white, and me up front in my sandy wet bathing suit. Big deal I thought. I just wanted to go swimming. I think all the kids and our 2 cousins were there. Greg & Jeff from Wisconsin, which means Aunt Gale or maybe Grandma O’Niel were there? The GG kept telling me what was happening, but I was little, cold, wet sandy and just wanted to go swimming. I was sitting on a rickety white kids metal folding chair. They made me get out of the lake to come in and watch it.
I was more excited when the GG built a model of the space vehicle, and got a huge map of the moon, and took a stick and string, and did a space landing in the living room of Woodsboro House. I liked that better. GG always did the neatest stuff. Back then he was Billy…. with a “y”.