After almost a year sidetracked, I guess it's time to continue on here. This current year (real-time) has brought back memories of earlier California memories. My Aunt Blanche finally passed away this past March (which is about the time my writing hiatus began.) She was almost 98! Too bad my body is built like the squatty, stalwart (Dutch) side of the family -- I might be able to get all my writing done by MY 90th birthday! Guess that means there's no time like the present to get "a round tuit."
I should probably close-out the California chapter of my life with jumbled memories of lots of images I still see in my mind's eye. For some reason, big-bullet-boobed, slender Patty across the street protrudes into my consciousness right now. Raquel & I joined Patty & her husband to see a performance of the musical, "Hair," touring from New York City. Remarkable at THAT time, the players climaxed the show with a lengthy nude musical act venturing out into the audience where I saw only the 4th or 5th real set of female pubic hair I was ever to see! (Playboy & Penthouse magazines notwithstanding -- THEY did not show pubic hair then!)
There was an off-duty, night, cross-country, road rally with directions designed to trip up even a seasoned real-world combat-experienced navigator. "Discover California!" was the first and last road rally I will ever go on -- the only reason we didn't go all the way south to Fresno instead of northeast to Folsom was that my impending sense of doom made me retrace the directions, find my directions-reading error, and drive straightaway to Folsom to find the pizza parlor we knew we were supposed to wind up at!
Next, I'm recalling the image from an official AF photo where I was being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross & another Air Medal at a ceremony when I first arrived at Mather AFB (Sacramento) after post-Vietnam leave. My auditory memory smiles to hear the tinkling of little bells tied to the shoelaces of my baby, Ivan, which were clearly audible in spite of the simultaneous, loudspeaker reading of the decorations' citations. That is a very, dear memory.
I suppose the way to get out of California is to mention another awards ceremony just before my departure. Many of us who were ready for normal rotation were receiving recognition and thanks at a Commander's Call for all we had done in giving up many overtime hours to put the new nav training program together over the preceding 2 years. I was awarded the Air Training Command's Master Instructor Certificate for many hours & top ratings in teaching all phases of the USAF Undergraduate Navigator Training Program (classroom, simulator, and flight missions.) I still display that certificate many years later decoupaged into a PermaPlaque on my wall! I guess it didn't really matter that I almost was busted on a flight-exam checkride because I couldn't get my squadron to issue me the new, fire-retardant flightsuit all of us were supposed to have received. Anyway, I was not going to be flying for at least 4 more years since I had been selected for an AF-sponsored Master's degree in engineering psychology at a civilian institution, Texas Tech University in Lubbock!
posted by Richard A @ 12:46 PM
