Could Have Kept Going to Moon in 1973 but stopped for 53 Years

 Back in late April 1973, Meg, a good friend of my sister Anita, took us on a trip down to central Dade County, in its Coconut Grove section.  There we found their museum of science, along with the Space Transit Planetarium.  On that Sunday Star Trek's Mister Spock, aka Leonard Nimoy, hosted a show there speculating about what direction we're going with our space program.  I need not mention here that then-president Richard Nixon...who would be run out of office August the following year because of Watergate, felt absolutely no desire to move forward with human space exploration...hence he canceled the final scheduled Apollo Moon missions.  Since December 1972 no human has walked on the moon's surface,only briefly flying around it a few days ago. I believe that on April 30th 53 years ago I happily walked into my Nova High School Planetartum in the afternoon, expecting a pleasant chat with the aging director.  He was in an angry state and sounded like he was chewing ME out..no interest in exchanging any ideas or showing any  respect.  I was informed that he was retiring...and if others didn't share his astronomy interests, then screw them.  I felt offended and insulted by his childish attitude...It' like that of a spoiled brat engaged in a temper tantrum: If you don't always let me win, then I'll pick up my toys and go home.. Later in 1973, I tried joining Nova's astronomy club, but felt excluded because Steve Johnson, its president, was too important and preoccupied grinding mirrors for a new telescope.  So when i went there for meetings I spent most of my time trying to stay out of Johnson's way...he was polite but overly dismissive: I didn't quite qualify in his estimation as a legitimate guy interested in the field...or as a human being for that matter.  As it was, the club leaders cared only about Comet Kohoutek, highly hyped but turning out to visually be a monumental dud. When I was admitted to Hollywood Memorial Hospital in mid-October for corrective left inguinal hernia correction surgery, I was relieved to not be attending any more astronomy club meetings, which included some classes that I hated. Well, we're supposedly nowadays "going back" to the moon (Obama is known for flippantly dismissing that option in 2010), so let's see what the schedules reveal... 

Some Perspective About My Past in 1971

 It's Friday morning on what used to be a typical weekday.  55 years ago I would have been showing up in the ninth grade at Nova in Davie as the weather outside was transitioning to a stench of chronic Everglades fire smog.  Lobo's debut hit Me and You and a Dog Named Boo was getting its radio overplay...soon I would tire of hearing it.  I was fourteen and a half, thoroughly tired of having to go to school for  a year. After school I temporarily stood up to a bully leaving the bus one afternoon and go t a little beat down in a fist fight)The esxperience taught me what contemptible ghouls the unwelcome onlookers were who were staring at me in a circle.  The next morning I received some sympathy from busstop classmates for what I went through, and that creep Arnone laid off me, never to be a friend. Later that summer during the early 10th grade I would return to school more serious in my studies.  On prime time sitcom television, some new series like All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore were starting their runs...my family became good fans.That fall "my" Miami Dolphins, coached by Don Shula, were good enough to make it to the Super Bowl...which they convincingly lost to Dallas. Overall, I was not a happy camper and tended to slip into daydreaming for much of my high school class time.  At home, my father would overdose me with talk of his dog racing betting strategies and philosophies. Still, I appreciated his efforts at weightlifting to the point of getting good at the bench press, pull-up, and standing press (I could lift up my own weight from the ground).   Growing up during this period was a confirmation of me not having an easy life. In my home neighborhood, my neighbors were raucous and out of control, loudly playing music deep into the night.  

Early Rising, Exercising, Cut back the Spending

 During the major college football championship playoffs a couple of months ago, I adopted the posture that it was  okay if "my" team won...and okay if they lost.  This is the identical position I've taken regarding basketball, particularly men's basketball.  The Florida Gators, seeded #1 in their region, had folks in their corner confidently predicting double-digit wins for their tampa contest against #9 Iowa.  But the Hawkeyes managed a last-second unguarded three-pointer to surpass and beat Florifa 73-72, causing star starting center Rueben Chinleyu to bitterly cry over the heartbreaking, season-ending loss.  Well, better luck next year.  If today were 3/25/71, I'd still be getting myself up early to prepare for my long grind of a Nova High School 9th grade day. As for right now, I have all of today ahead of me, including more exercise, reading and studying.  I'll be rerturning to the back bedroom with some A.C. and our sweet pea Daisy as the new day slowly dawns on us.  I don't see any scheduled excursions for us anytime soon.  I'd also like to take it light and easy with the expenditures, too.No need to get carried away with laying out the dough unnecessarily. There is nothing pressing down on us to unnecessarily spend a lot of our saved money on "stuff" when I for one don't see the value in going down that road. I'm not looking to struggle against anyone determined to spend down our reserves of cash. I'm old, but i'm not at all in a big hurry to become poor, all for the very foolish sake of "stuff"...I'd like to believe that somewhere along the lines of my 69 years of age I've outgrown the need to be lectured about money by someone else like my father with important ideas on the subject that may diverge a bit from mine.  The last thing in the world I want is to be dragged down into poverty because I'm supposed to want something (and if I don't there's something wrong with me).  I'm still looking forward to doing well with my cancer treatment and recovery.  I think that's the area I should be focusing on...I think I'll stash away the petty greed: relaxing and taking it easy with my loved ones is a good thing...

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This was a "good" early morning for me,  Let me do a few little things and enjoy life for a while. and enjoy the down time as well. Nothing wrong with some contentment and gratitude, too,...

Looking Forward to Day Ahead

 It's a little past 7:30 in the morning on the 16th, "Hump Day for the month of March, as we are passing through it.  I have further medical procedures lined up in the next few days, and chemotherapy infusion and an MRI figure into the picture.  I brewed the flavored decaf coffee and ran in place for my routine 8 minutes...now this blog article.  Were this still the ninth grade and 1971 for me, I guess I would have already begun to suffer the stench of the smog coming from the Everglades fires which that drought brought some 55 years ago.  Yesterday they ended that TPC tournament with an underspoken, anticlimactic short winning putt at the 18th hole by Cameron Young, who to his credit refused to kiss the trophy and kept a reserved, taciturn expression before the press afterwards.  As for how today will unwind, i'd like the donut drivethrough, some reading progress, study foreign languages, and exercise along with some temperance regarding eating.  And some more sleep should fit the bill as well.  I think I'll listen to some stuff from the late Jim Rohn, too. And see if I can't fit in some material from Andrew Huberman and Rob Dial...