THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SARAH HENRY

Bob threw my paper today and the headlines were:  Glendale Woman Missing.  I sat down on front porch to read.  The rest felt good after a day of doing yard work.  The missing woman was a Sarah Henry, an old woman who stayed with her Son and his wife at 3508 Las Palmas Ave.   That address was right behind 3509 Rosemary!!!  I went down to Bobby's house and knocked on the door.  Carl, his Father (my father) came to the door and welcomed me in.  I asked if I could visit with Bob and was told  he was in the shed behind the garage.  I walked back to she shed and he was punching his punching bag.  He was so glad to see me and went right into his new model airplane engine he had just bought with his paper route money. "I'm getting ready to put it on my test stand and break it in." His test stand was a block of wood cut into a U shape so he could bolt the side mounts to it.  There was a wood bench with a metal  top  screwed to it.   "Bobby, did you read about the old woman who is missing?   She lives right behind you." I said.    "Yeah, the cops came by earlier to talk to my parents and asked them stuff.   She was the one I saw light my lantern.   She never talked..I would see her once in while walking around their back yard.  The people she lived with were weird...they were nice looking but never said anything.  I love their back yard....I wished ours was like that...lots of bushes and succulants....very dark and magical....Mr. Key, were you kidding me about your airplane?"   I could go two ways on this....either simplify and say yes, or lie and say no.  I decided to lie.  He seemed disappointed in me.  I saw the lantern hanging off of the lathe house...right outside the door with the pane of glass.  I asked him if we could go look at the lantern together and he said yes.  He reached up and took the lantern down.  It was an old construction lantern and he said he stole it from a work site.  He had his favorite lanterns and when he got tired of one, he found a construction site and traded it for another one.  I asked him why he liked lanterns so much and he said that they spoke to him in a silent language.  "Lanterns are lonely...the flame is so silent,  no one notices them...I love the smell of kerosene fumes...they live and throw soft comforting light on a dark world.  I think little families live inside the globe..I can sense them peeking out at me through the glass.  I asked him again.  "Bob, don't be angry with me; did you really see the old woman lighting your lantern?"   Yes, it was her...the next morning I found a pink house slipper on the grass right outside the door.  I kept it."  he then reached up on top of a box and brought out an old, pink house slipper. His  Mother called for Bob as it was dinner time.  I bid him good by and told him I wanted to spend more time with him.  He was delighted.  I left and walked over to Las Palmas and by the house where the old woman lived.  A police man was talking to the Son out in front.  I stopped to visit and they immediately turned their attention to me.  I explained I was a neighbor to the Fishbacks and had heard about the disappearance.  The Son said it was very mysterious,  his Wife had been home taking care of Sarah and when she went to bring her her lunch, she  was gone,  "Just like she had been taken out through the roof."   (to be continued)

SHOCKING SURPRISE

I spent the better part of the day at Indian Springs lazing around the Olympic sized pool.  The little valley that held the springs used to be a campground for the Tsonga Indians and there was a natural spring of water that came to the surface there.  The pool and grounds were built in the very early days of Montrose and it was hoped that the spring would feed the pool, but it was not enough water, so the spring was re-routed. I found that I did not have the nerve to dive off of the high board, but did some dives off of the low board.  Then, I went to sun and enjoyed that feel of the skin drying with a sort of stretching feeling. I went back home about four in the afternoon and I saw Bobby out in his front yard.  He came running to me and gave me a hug which really surprised me.  We sat on the front porch and talked.  He said his grades were coming up and seemed surprised at himself because he found his studies interesting.  But, it was clear he still practiced his meditations at his secret places.  He found an old roll away bed somewhere and had put it in the shed attached to the back of the garage,  He told me he slept there sometimes and related how in the middle of the night, he awakened and saw the old lady who lived behind him lighting his lantern which hung from a hook outside the door that led to the back yard.  "At first, I wanted to scream, but could not move nor make a sound.  It was her.....I saw her face in the light from the match.  She seemed so intense or serious.....She was in a white, flowing gown...it scared me to death...she just disappeared.  I ran into the house to my bed."  I suggested that he dreamed all of that and he said that it was no dream...it was her....it wasn't imagination either...I thought of the space craft in the garage and asked him if he would like to see a very strange airplane.  He became very intense and asked me to show it to him.  We walked back to the garage and I opened the garage door.  THE SPACE CRAFT WAS GONE !!  I felt a great  fear trying to strangle me....why can't I have a normal and sane day.  My first thought was that Jerome came and took it because I seemed to disappoint him at not being more excited about it.  I sent a mental message to Jerome and he sent one back...it was like something talking in your head.  "No, Robert, I did not take the ship. We have no use for it, however if you want to give it back and you find where it went, we will take it back"  I lost some ground with Bobby, now he thought me a liar.  I became more afraid as the Sun went down and darkness began to paint its colors.  How can I sleep not knowing where it is and how did it get there.  I wondered if it could fly itself, maybe it had a mind and was a living thing.  I hated that thing....pretty much put a dent in my plans and tranquility.. I had to make contact with it somehow  (to be continued)

NEXT DAY

I pity the person who starts reading my diary starting at the top, they won't be able to make heads nor tails out of it.  In this case it won't matter; I can't either.  I gave up a long time ago trying to convince people this is not fiction.  I'm like the pilot who sees a UFO and refuses to report it because people will never view him the same.  There are supernaturals out there, God being the author of all things, and it appears a person has to fit some mold in order to catch their fancy, God excluded as He loves everyone.  I am still in bed and not wanting to get up.  When you get up, things start to happen; you are faced with decisions all day and obligations to meet.  When you lie in bed, the only decision you have to make is whether to turn over or not.  I did get up and call the operator on the phone to ask what day and date it was.  I swear, I had no clue.  I did get up around 10 A.M and showered and put on all fresh clothing.  I drove the car up to Anita Christine Restaurant in Montrose and had ham and eggs with black coffee.  I decided to quit drinking no matter how hard it was.  I needed a clear mind for the role I found myself in.  As I ate, I thought about how the place would burn down in a few months.  After all, I really lived back then and knew about it.  I thought about the space craft in the garage, and I suddenly did not want it there.  I did not need bizarre things, I need normal things.  Oh well, out of sight, out of mind; I had my Hudson to drive around in.   As it was a warm day and as it was a Saturday, I decided to buy some swimming trunks and go to Indian Springs where I had spent many pleasant hours as a lad.  Indian Springs was a magical place.  Right in the middle of Montrose and all the other end to end cities that went on and on for miles.  Verdugo Road turned East when it reach Honolulu, the main street of Montrose.  It went up a hill towards La Canada.  A small dirt road branched off of Verdugo and it would be easy to miss as the road began a steep descent into a small valley filled with Oaks.  The only way it could catch your attention was there was a big white plaster figure of an Indian's head.  Colored feathers and all.  From Verdugo, you had a side view of his head.  Then, there was a white plaster arch way right at the start of the road going down to the swimming pool and the picnic tables, and the squirrells eating nuts, and the smell of wood smoke, weenies cooking, a waft of chlorine from the pool, and, and girls, girls, girls.  Little boys digging in the dirt, some playing ball...parents setting the picnic tables and yelling at their kids.  Girls running a feigning a scream as boys chased her.  The loud splashes from the pool as someone did a belly flop.  The sounds of laughter.  It was crowded that day. Lots of girls meant lots of boys and that meant alot of hot rods.  Roadsters with gleaming chrome flat head Mercs with three carbureators.  Yes, this is what I need, no more of strange trips in strange machines,  I need to be here.  I will continue this later, I am going into the old rock bath house and change into my trunks.  Maybe I will get a 73 year old chick's attention.  (to be continued). 

LEARNING HOW TO FLY THE MACHINE

I approached the chain link fence and saw a  tear drop shaped shiny something resting on the field.  It was like a somewhat flattened teardrop, maybe fifteen feet in length, eight feet wide and about six feet tall.  A dim light was coming from the windowed cabin.  I climbed over the fence and approached the craft.  A side hatch opened up and a figure emerged.  I stopped walking to assess this being and he started walking towards me.  "Are you Bob Fishback? "  He asked.  "Yes, are you my flight instructor?"  "Yes I am, come on over here and I will explain a few things"   When I got to him, he extended his hand and said "My name is Jerome.....just squeeze yourself in this seat and I will go around and get in pilot's seat."   After we were seated, he said that he would beging with some facts about the craft,   He flipped a switch and I heard a low winding up whine like a turbine.  He said "The sound you hear is a super-conducting magnet the spins at 20,000 R.P.M  It draws in cetain particles from space, sepatates them, and produces particles called graviphotons which have electromagnetic and gravitational properties. These are greatly amplified.  These are beamed to the rear conducting plate where a very great gravitational field is generated and this pushes againt the ship with great force.  And the directional beam can be adjusted by the stick here in the cabin.  Just like in air planes.  This is a completely different craft than the whooshy which is  much more complicated and advanced.  This ship is good for going to the Moon and that is about it.  The top speed is about 3,000 mph and it will take several minutes to reach it.  This ship is also equiped with the invisible feature so if you wish, you cannot be seen nor detected by radar.  You can also select any destination on Earth, even down to street address, punch in your desired travel time and go to sleep if you wish.  .  The computer selects the rate of increase or decrease in speed.  Also, this ship is fitted with material penetration so you can fly through the Rockies if so desired. I asked him how it could do that and he said the same way coffee can be poured through a paper filter.  Actually, the ship does not dematerialize; we just call it that.  Remember, there is more non-particle space in an atom than particle space.   You will hear no flight sounds, you can fly through a thunderstorm and not feel a thing.  You can set the cabin temperature using this thermostat.  You will have a pressurized cabin at all times.  Every hour, you will hear a set of five numbers broadcast over the speaker.  You are to punch in the five numbers you hear, he pointed to a keyboard.  You will be given three tries and if you miss all three, the computer flies the ship back to your home base and will wait for you there.  If you want  the ship to become invisible while parked, put on those goggles hanging above your head and flip the invisible setting on this switch.  That way you will be able to find the ship when you get back. There is a way to fly this with abilities to accelerate, turn, go up, or go down.  We decided to make something you are familiar with and so there is a gas pedal on the floor....you steer with the stick like an airplane.  Just flip manual control right here.  "  He then locked the hatches, put it on manual flight and we started to rise. It felt just like an elevator going up.  The lights of the city dropped away slowly and the altitude was above the verdugos and a whole panorama of  city of fifteen million dropped and dropped away.  " I am going to stop at ten thousand feet and we will just cruise around.  I already explained most of what you need to know.  The computer will always save you, you cannot kill yourself in this machine.  "Will this craft bank on a turn?" I asked.  Yes, it is computer controlled bank based upon g-forces and velocity.  "I brought some earth music for you to listen to, we even copied one of your C.D players.  He looked over at me and asked what I thought of the ship. I told him it was kind of cramped and that I honestly did not know what I would do with it as I like the open road.  He asked me if I had figured out where to park it.  I thought a minute and said if it would fit in the garage, it would be out of the way there and would not draw attention.  I was tired and asked him to take me home.  I moved the Hudson out of the garage and found the ship would just fit.  We did a clever thing.  He dematerialized the ship and he set it down going right through the roof.  It rested on some little wheels that lowered out of the belly of the ship.  He turned the rotating magnet off and we got out and walked into the front yard.  "How are you going to get home?"  I asked.  "Whirly will pick me up down at the school in a little while. " I asked him in, but he declined.  He mentioned that he was surprised at how dis-interested  I seemed to be with my ship.   I apologized and told him I felt bad, very tired and weary....just too much exposure to too many things that were just too weird. He asked if I would like to go back to 2012 and I said NEVER. " I need a good night's sleep and some fun times with Bobby."  He agreed and we parted ways.  I just wanted to sleep, pull the covers over my head, and just not think......(to be continued)

MORE ON TIME

On the way to meet my teacher, there was the most brilliant fireball that shot across the sky.  It was so bright, it lit up the Yuccas growing in the Verdugos.  They were in bloom and the light caused them to become very visible.  Tall and slender plants.  Leafy around the base and a bare stalk growing up perhaps eight feet or more.  As the stalk progressed upwards.  little stems or small limbs grew out perpendicular to the stalk.  At the end of each stem. there was a profusion of white petals.  These plants are also called "The candle of the Lord"   I thought of more of what Whirly told me about time.  "Time is but a perception of space or a lapse between events"   Time is perceived by change; not change is caused by time"  In about ten minutes, I will be in my own space ship and learning how....can't wait.  (to be continues)

WHAT TIME IS

I was resting on my couch and waiting for the time to walk down to Fremont Elementary school, when the phone rang; It was Whirly.  He apologized for being so short with me and assured me that my flight instructor was very understanding.  Knowing my fascination with time and where it goes and where does it come from, he gave me a little secret.  "All moments in time exhist in the now.  Each episode that occurs in time is really like frames in a movie. The frames move so fast passed the lens, there is no perception of a break in the frame subject.  Just as you have archives of old movies, there is also an eternal archive of all frames or moments that have ever occured or ever will occur.  And just as old films can be retreived and re-played, so can the reels of time.....and..they can be re-wound.  Of course God has the only access to His archive and He chooses which ones to activate.  Now, you know." with that, he wished me a good experience, told me to relax, ask questions.  And then he said "good bye"    (to be continued)

LEARNING TO FLY THE MACHINE

First, a note to the readers  I am not going to use part one and two  any more.  Each new story will be a continuation for the one below it.      I had used up all of my Whirly On Call time and I think the Queen decided to let me use a very simple Space Traveller in hopes to get me out of Whirly's hair, or perhaps, I  might kill myself.  I still wonder at the motive for plucking me out of a World gone mad in 2012 and bring me back to my childhood world to nurture me when I was twelve years old in 1952.  I had asked my angels many times and got the same answer.  I fit the criteria for such a privilidge.  I rather thought it was an experiment conducted by the Queen of Urserene.  But, whatever it was, I was loving it so as I had had an obsession with the past and more to the point, my past.  At any rate,  a flight instructor was on the way with my ship.  I already knew it would not even be close to what the Whooshy could do.; like time travel beyond the speed of light, make no noise, travel un-harmed into the bowels of the Earth, and simple things like that.  It was several days later that I got a phone call; it was my instructor and he told me he would set down on the school grounds two blocks South of me and for to be there at one in the morning...sharp.  He did not ask any questions; he gave intructions and hung up,  As it was 10 a.m my time, I decided to try to sleep as there was no telling how late we would be up.  Did you ever try to sleep knowing that in a few hours you were going to get a lesson in flying a space craft?.  I closed the curtains and turned on a fan for white noise.  I did get some sleep.  Awakened at ten p.m. showered and put on fresh clothes.  I sat on the couch with my alarm set at midnight.    My heart was beating fast and I felt so nervous, but maybe the instructor would be a nice extra-terrestrial.....I will tell you about it later.   (to be continued)

A GIFT FROM THE QUEEN OF URSERENE

After I had satisified my strange passion to return to Tulsa, I called upon Whirly to take me back to Glendale, which he did.  He bawled me out and told me he was not my waiter, that he had responsibilities on Boppf and this would be the last time he would cater to my whims.  Then he told me something that really got my attention.  He had sent a request to the  Queen asking if I could have a very scaled down version of his space copter and she said she would send one to Glendale with a trainer to teach me to fly it.  I found out how un-ready I was for the trust as I began to think about taking Bobby Fishback on a secret night time adventure when nobody woud notice his absence.  (to be continued)

TOTAL MAELSTROM PART XXX

After W.S, left, I went on a drinking binge.  Alcohol affects me in strange ways.  It opens doors of observation and abilities I never soberly had,  It was true,  For example, I beat a chess player five games in row and he had a U.S, C. F rating.  The secret was to meaure my drinks so I was never really drunk drunk.  Just drunk..  I know all the arguments about alcoholics believeing their mind is enhanced when it isn't.  Trouble is, mine actually was.  It was walking a fine line, one drink more and too soon would plunge me into absurdity.  I thank God I never got into drugs.  To me, alcohol in the just right amount, swept away all impediments that came from ingrained programs that were downloaded in my childhood.. To prove my point, I cannot remember my last hangover, never had a DUI.  I was a highly skilled stoner.  I preferred a very fine Scotch.  After a good load, I called Whirly back and told him I wanted him to come back ASAP and take me back to Tulsa.  He did so, and without any advice to give.  So, here I was, back in my town of ago, back in 1952, seventy-three years of age, here I was three days ago, and now I am back.  It really didn't matter much anymore.  Time only works to both degeneration and very interesting experiences like the one I was experiencing.  Whirly dropped me off at the DX gas station across from 216 S. Frisco.  It was three in the morning Tulsa time.  After assuring him that this was needed and I would be OK,  he left.  It was like I was being guided by some unseen guide.  I must go into Aunt Nora and Uncle Lem's house in back of Grandma and Mimmi's house.  No thoughts of right or wrongs; morality was not in my deck of cards right then.  Something greater in store, something profound. No one locked their doors back then.  I entered  the house from the rear; a screened in back porch that had been over grown with Morning Glory Vines.  Moonlight was filtering through and left little splotches of a bluish white on the old floor.  The heat brought out the night insects singing their "cherreee...cheereee"  I crept into their bed room.  it was both a bedroom and their living area.  A chair or two, a few small tables,  an old clock on the wall still ticking..its pendulum swinging their lives away.  They were having a wonderful sleep if snoring is any indicator.  Both hard workers all of their lives.  Now, just waiting.  I wanted to go upstairs to the hot attic where there were racks of old clothes..dresses, suits. hats..all dusty and just waiting ....all testimonies of a younger day,,,,the wedding dress, the tuxedo....all just waiting....and one year from now, Bobby and Farm girl would visit Auntie and we would climb up here and she would try on Aunties dress and she talked me into stripping off my clothes and trying on Uncle Lem's Tux.  We laughed and laughed and frolicked...but this is now and that was to come.  (to be continued)   

WHIRLY'S VISIT PART 20

Whirly showed up and we seated ourselves in my living room.  He was only four feet tall and would actually pass for a human on Earth.  He told me he was about two thousand years old using our years as a measure.  He had a long flowing white beard and looked like a little Sants Claus.  I asked him where he parked his craft and he said it was in the middle of the playing field down at the school two blocks south.    He suggested I walk down to the school and we would talk while crusing in his machine.  It had been quite awhile since I had ridden in this amazing machine. We ascended to 20,000 feet and he put it on slow which was about 1000 mph.  There was absolutely no sound.  He asked if I would like to visit while riding or would I like him to park it somewhere.  I preferred to ride.  I asked him to slow it down after we got out over the Pacific.  He set it in a slow circle over the Hawaian Islands.  "How do you feel the project is going?"  he asked.  I related how I had made good contact with Bob;s family and Bob himself.  I told him about my trip to Oklahoma.  I then asked "Is what I have told you alright with you?"   "You have been given alot of liberty because you are the one to figure the best way to accomplish what you wish to accomplish. Remember, the only forbidden act is to reveal by any means who you really are."   I said " Sometimes my goals become clouded, I felt last night that Bob's World was over-coming my world...it was sobering."   He replied  "Your goals cannot be done over night, you want to mentor him so that he aspires to great things and above all, to keep him from getting into alcohol so he will not become the alcoholic that you are."   "I want to get him into sports where he can compete and feel apart of something.  I have never felt a part of anything...just an observer."  I said.  "Yes, I know....how would you like to go down under the mantle of the Earth and see the Cascadia Subduction Zone?"    "Will we be safe"  I asked.   "Yes, you may never have thought of it this way, but these powers we have are God's gifts and are used to entertain Him.   He enjoys doing things that almighty men say are impossible....He never tells them what He is doing, He just enjoys doing it"  'OK, let;s do it"     We submerged off the Northern California Coast and whirly turned on the brightest flood lights imagimable.  A beautiful greenish blue revealed the Sea Floor and a number of fish fleeing the light.  He began a lesson on the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate...The Pacific Plate was moving Northerly and the North American Plate was moving Southwesterly.  The Pacific plate was riding under the N.A. plate and pushing it up and rolling it back like a carpet.  Now, he said.  "we are going down into the mantle and you will  see the power in this battle for supremacy. "   There was no scraping sound and no feeling of penetrating rock.  Pretty soon, it began to glow red outside the windows.....then yellowish red, then white hot.  Geysers of white hot magma pushed against upper layers of red hot magma and what appeared to be large chunks of the red broke off and sank out of sight into the light of a thousand Suns below.  The Pacific Plate was being bent and bent back and up until someday it would throw up its hands and cry Uncle.  Then, the death grip between the two would break and the Pacific Plate would reclaim its territory,   To say it another way, a good part of the west coast would rush out to Sea and probably break into many pieces and sink just abit.  I told Whirly I was feeling sick and could I go home.  He flipped several switches and window shades descended over all the windows.  Then he flipped the switches back and we were resting on the Fremont Elementery  School Playground.   He said:  "Bob, be brave, be focused on what you want to do.  We are not going to be severe taskmasters with you; we know you.  Just take it one day at a time.  Bye Bob"   (to be continued)

GETTING MY DUCKS IN A ROW PART 19

I needed to talk to WHIRLY SQUIRRELY,  I liked that name that the Boppfites gave him more than Daniel.  I sent a mental messge to him and my phone rang! It was W.S.   He said he was on the way,  he was drawing protons from a neutron star to power his ship.  "I will see you tonight, I want to set the ship down when it is dark."   I had some time to kill, so I thought I would contact Bobby's Father, Carl.  It was nearing five in the evening, and I thought of Dad getting off the bus, coming home from work.  I drove the Hudson over to Verdugo Rd and Sunview and waited for him.  The bus pulled up and dropped Daddy off.  I loved my Daddy,and as I, said before , I rued the fact that I never went over to give him a ride home.  I had a home and clothes and many things because of Daddy and Mama.  He walked across the street and I yelled "Mr. Fishback".  He turned and smiled and came walking over.  "Get in, I will give you a ride home."  He asked "How did you know I get off here?"   I replied "you told me that when we had that wonderful Sunday lunch."   "I'll be darned "  he said.  He began talking as we drove the five blocks.  "Bob is different now,  he studies his books hard, in fact he reads ahead.  I just don't know what happened to him, but he changed after that night you took him for a ride.  Edith and I certainly thank you....what did you say to him that night?"   I wanted to be honest, so I said, "I took him downtown and showed him a bar where a drunk was sick. I told  him he would wind up like that if he did not prepare himself for life or ever started drinking,"  My father was not angry, but amazed.  "To be honest, I never felt equipped to be Bob's Father.  There was too much tension in our home, not very much fun and games...much too serious...I never played ball with him, I was too demanding.  I wanted him to be a showcase kid.  I wanted to tell of his achievements in school; I wanted him to play the piano for others." he said.   I felt love over flowing for him and I patted him on the shoulder and said, "You have done a wonderful job in the crucial areas...Bobby will be alright someday, but it may take a lifetime!   I needed to get home for Whirly's visit, so I excused myself and he said:  "I want you to reach out to him, do what I never did, come down to his level,  play with him..he loves model airplanes and other things I don't understand......like candles, and sad defeatism music.  You are welcome here any time."  We shook hands and I went home to wait for Whirly.   (to be continued) 

RELAPSE PART 28

I was just sitting there that morning,  on Rosemary Ave.,  and something overpowered me.  How can we carry on, how can we progress, when things bigger than we are take over?  The healer became the sick, the teacher became the student.  The spirit of the little boy just down the street became one with me.  The world of old lanterns, incense, quartz rock, maps on walls, beckoned to me.  Maybe this was planned so I could be more refreshed in knowledge of what it was really like back then.  Maybe I needed this to mentor myself.  In my world, time divisions had no purpose, subject matter was paramount.  The counsel of Psychologists, logisticians all went out of the window.  So, I just laid my very tired head back on the pillow and thought of the hymn," Lead on Oh King Eternal."   I felt like I was going to sleep in one World, and waking up in another.  I had rushed my trip to Tulsa to the point that it worked against my purposes.  Time had no meaning and developement of sequince meant nothing either.  So, as I had no choice in the matter, I just went along with it.  June, 1953.  Back seat in new Chevy.  Ray Kinnard driving, his son, Bob in back seat with me and a little boy.  Another little boy in front seat.  We had pulled out of the heavy and cool Marine layer of southern California, and were entering the Mojave desert.  By the mile, the temperature climbed.  We stopped beside road for lunch,   Ray brought out an ice chest and we ate fried chicken.  We continued on through Arizone, up through Prescott where we stopped for gas.  We slept beside the road near Winslow...Drove on to Clinton , Okla.   slept outside of Clinton...Bob Kinnard and I could not sleep, and late in night, we decided to walk back into Clinton just for something to do.  Bob was older than I and he said he wished some kids would challenge us for a fight.  Did not appeal to me.  We entered Clinton and passed the Marcy and Rosebush  Beer distributorship.  We walked back.. Slept towards morning.  Got up, drove on.  Blazing heat pouring in through windows...Reached Tulsa...said goodbye to Kinnards and hello to Grandma and Aunt mimi..   I bedded down in my little bed in the very back.  The hum of the window fan  in the bathroom pulling hot air in over me and Grandma Bertha and Aunt Mimi.  They deserved this lovely fan, they worked hard for it.  Lacy white curtains blowing in.....and, not known to me, the farm girl visiting next door, peering out through her window into my window.  Like two ships passing in the night, a friend for the Summer, only to disappear and become absorbed by a very great mass of the un-knowns.   I really like her and she liked me.  She was my first kiss on the lips.  We went to see the movie Shane together down st the Orpheum Theatre downtown.  A grand old theatre with marble statues.  The damp cool of the inside kept us comfortible as we watched Alan Ladd outdraw a real bad man.  We munched on popcorn and drank pop together.  When the movie was over, we walked back up the aisle and out the front door,  Blinding Sunlight and searing heat.....A wonderful memory....She was a beautiful, suntanned farm girl.....just a cipher....just passing through...I guarantee you, I am not through with that summer of 1953.  Bobby will come later after I am more equipped.  (to be continued)

ORIENTATION...PART 27

I awakened, still tired from the trip.  I fixed ham and eggs and a pot of black coffee.  Things were such a blur, I needed to go back and re-construct the things that brought me back in time to my home town and street.  I thought of 2012 from which I was plucked, and taken to a mysterious island which turned out to be a training ground for potential time travelers.  This operation was conducted by an outer space people and planet named Urserene.  At the very top was God Himself.  Going down the chain of command, we come to the Queen of Urserene, an angel.  She was over Urserene and appointed Daniel to supervise a new home for a very simple and fun loving people who lived on Urserene, but did not relate well to the beings that lived there.  The queen appointed Daniel, also a lesser in power angel, to take these simple little people to their own planet.  The planet was perfect for these little folk.  These little ones had two things they really enjoyed.  They like to jump up and down, and also grow vegetables.  They were little human like creatures and so cuddly looking.  Daniel was given control of an amazing flying machine.  It looked like a helicopter, but was far from it.  It could travel at the speed of light, made no noise, could become invisible.  It got its power through capturing magnetic forces and amplifying them to tremendous levels and focusing them depending on how fast and what direction Daniel wanted to go.  Daniel made a number of trips from Urserene to the little people's new home.  The little people renamed everything according to their likes.  The Space Copter was "Whooshy"  and Daniel was "Whirly Squirelly".   When the little people were brought to their new home, one of them made a sound...."BOPPF"  The rest of them liked the new word so much, they named their planet BOPPF, and they became known as Boppfites.   Whirly was given time off from watching over the Boppfites and he like to play around with Earth.  He wanted to establish a training base on Earth in order to fit people for time travel and Space Flight.  That is how I became envolved.  Whirly basically kidnapped me from my own mysery and suicidal tendencies and show me things beyond the imaginable.  He probably saved my life by taking me back to mentor myself when I was young.  So I spent some time on the Island, was briefed by Daniel (whirly) and traveled back to 1952, living five doors North of where I lived back then.  I felt this was needed for the late-comers to this site.  I will take off from here in next chapter or part.  (to be continued)

TRIP BACK TO GLENDALE PART 26

I decided to take the Southern Route back.  As a child, we took this route a few times.  This time, entered california at  Blythe instead of Needles. I also stopped and walked down into Carlsbad Caverns.  My parents took me there as a child.  As it was 1952 my time, it wasn't that many years ago. There are two things that affect me very much:  one is staring up at the universe from a mountain top and the other is walking through Carlsbad Caverns.  The universe speaks of infinite power and wisdom, the caverns speak of eons and eons of antiquity.  One drop of water from the ceiling every few minutes, carried sediment that over the millions of years, built towering stalagmites and stalactites.  Towering giants glistening in the dim light.Before WW2, they used to play Rock of Ages at a particular giant stalagmite. But, with so many sons overseas,  people wept, and they stopped playing it.  When I came to the border at Blythe, there was a check station where officers checked for fruit.  You could not bring out of state fruit in because of disease and insects.  This had to be the most rushed trip I had ever taken: three thousand miles for two days back home.  But, seeing my Aunt Mimi was worth the trip in itself, and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's home on Polk street...that made it all worth while.  I was very tired when I finally turned onto Rosemary Ave.  Alot of kids out, some roller skating, some playing anti-anti over where you yelled that before you threw  ball over the house to the kid in the back yard.  Little groups of girls playing Jax in the front porch.  Some were playing hop-scotch using chalk-drawn squares on the side walk.  The Sun was setting over the Verdugos and painted this lovely portrait in the softest gold you can imagine.  It was gold...it sure was.  I parked the Hudson in the drive and brought my luggage in.  I checked the mail box; one letter from 3509.  Bob's Father wrote that what ever I had done with his son that night we went for a ride, had made a vast improvement in his study habits.He thanked me and said that Bob was quite upset at my disappearance.  He asked me to get in touch when I got home. This was very good news.  I thanked God for His kindness and the beauty of His ways.  One thing the trip made me aware of:  How permanent the Earth seems to be, and how transitory we are.  (to be continued)

THE REST OF THE DAY PART 25

You do remember I am on a vacation away from California where I am in the process of mentoring myself when I was 12 in 1952.  Easy to get confused without  reminder once in while.  I am writing from my memoirs and have greatly neglected my homestead.  In fact, the City called me and said if I didn't cut the grass in front yard, they would and bill me.  I asked them to cut it and bill me.  They had to use a farmer's combine to cut it, but in the process, they found my Volkswagon .  I wondered where it had gone.  Now, back to Tulsa in 1952.  Having seen Mimi again, and having tasted afresh that wonderful time, I began to think about 12 year old Bob back in Glendale; I needed to get back, but not before going to McAlester, about eighty miles South. That is where Mom grew up.  It was 1952 and Polk Street was still a dirt road.  208 E.Polk; home of Fred and Jennie Swanson.  The four children had left home years before and now it was just Fred and Jennie.  Fred ran a small dairy and Mom helped deliver the milk when she was just a little girl.  Mae died from cancer in 1945, Ruth became a nurse, Ray became an agent for a major railroad, and Edith became my Mother.  Just to bee there and drive by was good enough for now.  There was Jeff Lee Park with its play ground and swimming pool.  There was the baseball stadium where the McAlester Rockets played minor leage.  It seemed the whole town turned out for the games.  Before the game, a water truck went down Polk and sprayed water to settle the dust.  Little urchins used to run behind the truck and dance around in the cool spray.  Lots of small town spirit....it was a big deal.  I was tired and stayed in the Hotel Aldridge....McAlesters finest !!   I hated to leave so soon, but it seems we all have to leave too soon.   I watched in the rear view mirror and saw the old water tower shrink away....wind in the windows...road flying at me.   it was time.   (to be continued)

THE TICK OF TIME PART 24

Aunt Mildred graduated from watch repair school and went to work for the Tick of Time clock and watch repair shop on 4th street, just west of downtown.  It was a small business but did pretty well in both sales of new time pieces and repair of broken ones.  They also had a contract to clean and repair meter clocks that were used in the oil and gas industry.  Mildred (I called her Mimi)  had the front repair desk that was separate from a big room to the rear where the clocks were serviced. There were five people who worked there including Fern Campbell, the wife of Oscar Campbell who did the clock work.  Fern greeted the people and helped with selections of watches which were in glass cases running along the entrance way to the store.  The only air cooling came from a water cooler that was mounted over the front door and constantly dripped water on people coming in.  Via the time travel, I knew what the future held while viewing their  present back in 1952.  I was to spend the Summer of 1953 with Grandma and Mimi and it was my most memorable Summer.  At least a part of it was due to the girl my age visiting her grandma right next door. I think I mentioned her before.  I did not know she was there but found out the next day when she came calling.  She was tanned with dark hair..very cute with brown eyes.  She wasn't exactly flushed with social graces as she told me that she had watched me undress the night before.  Her bedroom window was about four feet from my bedroom window and her bed was right next to her window as mine was next to my window.  She really rubbed it in.  She told me she layed cross ways on her bed, parted the curtains, and watched.  I was growing red in the face from embarassment.  She came across as a very honest, but not too bright of a farm girl.  I turned out to be right.  Back to tick of Time.  Knowing mimi would not recognize me, i must not be familiar with her.  She was stunning in looks; her face actually glowed with joy of some kind.  I decided to shop for watches to give some reason for lingering.  Fern helped me and i bought one.  I took it back to mimi and asked her what she thought of it.  It was a 17 jewel Gruen and she said it was a very good choice.  I glanced around and saw Oscar bent over a pot of Benzol cleaning a meter clock.  A very slight of stature man who could have played a dwarf in a play.  I wanted to scream at him  "Oscar, don't you know that solvent is cancer causing"   No one really knew about that stuff back then.  After spending some non suspicious time there, I left and decided to walk down to third street where the Norvell and Marcum clock parts supply store was.  A year later I would make a few trips there to pick up parts.  I planned the rest of the day and night.  I wanted to go down and sit on Grandma's swing and watch the circus out in front of the Club JE- RE- CO. Grandma and Mimi would be asleep and no one would notice.   (to be continued)

ROAMING AROUND TULSA PART 23

I decided to make the Mayo Hotel my headquarters while in Tulsa.  The Mayo was built in 1922.  There was a marble slab inside the entrance, and the bell hop stood on that slab waiting to serve.  The slab was ground down in the middle due to thirty years of turning of shoes by the bellhop.  The lobby was grand with ornate marble and huge chandeliers that hung from the very high ceiling.  Years later, Elvis, Barbara Streisand, the Beattles, and the Rolling Stones stayed there.  In 1949, the premier showing of the motion picture "TULSA"  was shown at the Orpheum theatre, and all the stars of that movie plus a massive parading of oil field equipment were in one of the grandest parades Tulsa ever had. Tulsa once once called the "OIL CAPITOL OF THE WORLD"...This was because there were over three hundred independant as well as a few major oil companies had their headquarters there.  In spite of what I said about the criminal element here, Tulsa was an all American city.  Readers Digest Magazine called Tulsa "America's most beautiful city."   This was back in the 50"s.  This was because of the proliferation of beautiful green trees plus a world class Rose Garden that people from all over the world would come to see.   During WW2, the B-24 bomber was built here, the parking meter was invented here, and I was born here! But I am not here to sing the praises of Tulsa. I am here to see that which was and is no more.  I stepped out side to downtown Tulsa in the morning.  The sidewalks were filled with business men going to work.  Suits and ties.  It bustled with econimic and moral health.  The other element crawled into their dens when the Sun came up.  I was only two blocks from the Tick of Time clock and watch repair shop; where Aunt Mimi worked.  Mildred A. Fishback was sricken with Polio at two years of age.  She could not walk and eventually she went to Iowa University which had a specialaized Medical Dept which treated Polio victims.  They fused her spine, using bone chips from her legs.  She spent months in a body cast.  She was fitted with leg braces that locked at the knee.  She came home to  live with her blessed Mother, Bertha Fishback.  Her Father and Bertha's husband, John Fishback, died in a mental institution in 1944.  My father, Carl,  quit high school to go to work in order to help support the family.  Mildred (Mimi) learned of a watch repairing school and went and learned to repair watches.  Her right hand, bent at a ninety degree angle to her wrist, became one of the most sought after watch repair persons in the city.  She died in an old age home in 1981, a few years after her Mother, Bertha died, and left her all alone.  Something in Mimi died also.  They were liftetime companions.  Even though Mimi's body was twisted from Polio, she had the face of an angel.  Even so, the Mortician could not take away the very deep sorrow in Mimi's face. Now, Grandma and Mimi are with the Lord, and i simply cannot wait to see them again.  Now, I am going down to Tick of Time to see my Aunt Mimi.  (to be continued)

PART 22 ADDENDUM

The room service lady asked if I would like something to drink and i said no thank you, and went to bed  :)

TULSA AT LAST PART 22

For as long as I can remember, there was something special about coming home to Tulsa.  It had  an odd feeling...a great preparation in the sudden appearance of structures that grew in attention getting by the mile.  After it had gotten a little serious, there was the Texaco refinery to the South.  Steel towers with twinkling lights, flare stacks aflame...the smell of refined oil as sweet as baking bread on hot Summer nigthts.  The skyline poking up and lit with all sorts of colored lights.  The feel of and the surety of danger here as in all cities.  This was a city of extremes; the very rich and the very poor; the law abiidng and the killer waiting in the darkness.  There was no place like Tulsa in terms of extremes and the heat of the day to light the fire of danger at night.  You could feel it in the air.  The sky scrapers seemed to be smirking ..very content to look down on you as you pleaded for your life.  All of this had to do with the very wide variety of socio-economic classes.   The ignorant, the poor, the criminal minds,  the whores, the run away children just passing through, the very rich who had their way in things that mattered.  I say, Tulsa is a very easy place to be killed if you are in the wrong business.  But, it was and is my home.  I drove into downtown; it was quite warm; the red neon sign on the fifteen story MAYO  hotel was ablaze, and seeings I had plenty of money aboard, I spent the night there.  This was THE Hotel in Tulsa.  Elegant,,,,  I secured my room and it was very nice.  I strolled around the lobby, thinking someone might size me up and offer a service.  That happened and it was very discreet.  I asked for and got a lady visitor via a soft knock on the door.  (to be continued). 

ON TO TULSA U.S.66 PART 21

I crossed into the Texas Panhandle and the land was as flat as a billiard  table.  Amarillo only major town.   After about four hours, crossed the line into Oklahoma.  There was a blue sign with OKLAHOMA painted on it and also a yellow star.  I did not need the sign to tell me, the road told me.  Narrower and a little bumpy.  Bless their hearts, they try.  I used to make my California friends mad when I told them when the Okies left Oklahoma during the dust bowl in the thirties.and went to California to pick fruit,  it raised the IQ level in both states.  I went through Texola and saw where some prangster had climbed the water tower and painted SEXOLA instead of its real name.  An hour or so later, I came to Clinton, a fairly nice little town.  The home of POP HICK'S restaurant .  Great food and had alot of business.  About a mile East of Clinton, I stopped and parked the car at the side of the road.  The old  MORTON'S SALT sign was the que.  Now, the time travel thing kicked into gear again; in one year, myself and two little boys, and Bob Kinnard and his father, Ray,  would camp beside the road right where I was standing.  I was 14 yrs old then.  Ray worked with my Father and when my Dad learned Ray was going East to see relatives in June, my Dad offered Ray money to take me along and drop me off in Tulsa.  That is how that trip  came about.  I would have a wonderful Summer with Grandma Bertha and Aunt Mildred, in whose eyes I could do no wrong, and Carl and Edith would also have a wonderful Summer without me.  That June night in 1953 was one for the memory books.  We all slept on sleeping bags because it was too hot to get in them.  A Summer breeze was blowing and that old salt sign squeeked in the wind.  It sounded like someone trying to play a flute and failing.  That was not enough, the Mosquitoes had a field day.....all of them told their relitives about some good white meat on the road..and they all came.  That still was not enough, some kids drove by and threw a burning paper  sack filled with firecrackers at us and Ray Kinnard was up and attem in one second.  That was the second fastest move I had ever seen.  The first fastest was when my Dad went onto the front porch at night and peed off the porch.  He was part Indian and claimed there was an electricity that came up from the ground.  When he headed for front door, I knew what he was going to do and I headed for back door.  I snuck down the driveway and simulated the neighbor lady's voice and said  "Well, Carl, what are you doing?"   That move of putting it back in beat Ray Kinnard.  He was furious with me and probably had alot to do with his pawning me off to Grandma for the Summer,  (to be continued)

CONTINUING ON...MOTHER ROAD PART 20

I got up early enough to watch the people leave and to watch the Sun rise.  Such a strange land to me.  The Anasazi lived here eons ago and left the relics and carvings in the rocks.  Mesas, canyons, ancient volcano cones, lava flows, the time less looking Painted Desert, Dinosaur bones, and of all places, a huge meteorite landed here leaving an ancient and huge crater.  This was a place where Summer Thunderstorms would cause flash floods in a few minutes and dis-appear about as fast as they came.....and always with a rainbow spanning the sky.  This was also a place of death.  The fatal car accidents were memorialized by placing little white crosses where they died.  Sometimes, there would be a group of five crosses....a whole family with children....probably on vacation, which made it even more tragic.  I stopped in Holbrook for breakfast.  Lot's of excited children, looking for a new day of travel.  They seemed so happy, probably because they kept their parents awake all  night !   I continued on after breakfast and crossed into New Mexico. I was fascinated by the old cars on the road.  Even though it was 1952, many cars from the 40's and even a few from the 30's.  Many of the old Burma Shave signs which Lady Bird Johnson had removed because she thought them ugly.  I did not care for Lyndon Johnson, but I did find a way to tell when he was lying:  if you saw his lips moving, he was lying.  I approached Albuquerque and that long hill down and down into valley where the city was.  The highway back then went through every town, not around it.  Driving is conducive to thinking and I got to laughing when I suddenly remembered that as a boy in the back seat, I found a paper and a pencil and wrote down every bad word I knew...(shit, damn, hell)  and I dropped it out of the window in downtown Albuquerque!  Weird kid !   The way out of Albuquerque was as it was on way in.  Long up hill through the Sandia mtns.  Twist and turn, climbing, climbing   Going East, the land settled down, flatter and flatter.  When I got to Santa Rosa, I stopped for the night.  There were some very deep natural water holes there.  They were surrounded by rocky formations and were hundreds of feet deep.  I had heard that you could take diving expeditions with a guide.  No deal, I was afraid of drowning as much as I was afraid of throwing up.  Weird kid!!!    I rented a room at a Mom and Pop and took a hot shower.  Then, I decided I would mosy across the highway to a local bar.  Lot's of relics on wall.  Very few people..quiet...hurricane lamps on tables...I noticed a sign on the wall;   JOIN OUR PISTOL CLUB, DRINK TILL TWELVE, PISTOL TWO'    I knew well what tomorrow would bring as far as topography.  At the New Mexico and Texas border, I would be ushered into the Western fringe of the high plains.  This was also the Western fringe of tornado alley.  This was where Gulf  moisture would get funneled in to meet the dry air from the west.  Dry air is denser than moist air and so it shoved in under the moist air and lifted it up.  Thunderstorms did not form, they exploded like an atomic bomb.  Tendrils of spinning vapor would come down and then pull back up.  Sometimes no tornado funnel became visible, but was there,  Sometimes a distant field would suddenly erupt in clouds of spinning dust and the funnel would suddenly appear.  Lightning stabbing the Earth and sometimes balls of electrical fire would roll down the barbed wire strung along the road.  I reached up and turned off the light.  I was relaxed from my drinks and the hot shower and slept through the entire night.    Welcome to my new friends in Latvia, Malaysia, Germany, and China.......(to be continued)
   (to be continued)

NEXT DAY PART 19

I woke up with worries; I thought about my rather severe and shocking trip to the bar with Bob.  Now, I regretted it.  I wondered if he had told his folks and how they felt about it.  Time would tell; if they were angry, I would know about it.  Dad would either contact me or they all would just leave me alone.  I felt it best to lay low until they contacted me.  I decided to take an extended trip back to Oklahoma where I was born.  It was 1952 and the old mother road had not been plowed under yet and there were no massive chains of motels or restaurants.  I packed the Hudson, withdrew a thousand dollars from my bank account and took off that very day.  That Hudson was a great road car.  Circular Track Racers loved Hudsons because they were fast and had a very low center of gravity. Around Barstow, I saw my first desert warning sign.  DANGER..300 MILES OF DESERT AHEAD.  A skull and cross bones for added comfort.  It was true it was a very hot stretch of road with temps reaching 120 deg in the shade.  A wonderful opportunity for selling Desert Water Bags to hang on front bumper, buy chests filled with ice, and get your car back flushed.  That was where they force fed water through radiator and engine, but flowing the wrong way.  As a kid, back flushes always troubled me....the car's grille work seemed to have expressions like smiles or grimmaces.  I would see them backed into a garage, hood up, steam and water flying every where, and the car grimacing with pain.  It reminded me of a colonic irrigation.  As a kid, I was paranoid about getting sick.  I was always getting nauseous and was afraid I would throw up,  I imagined myself sick many times, I really felt sick.  I also read medical manuals to see if I could find symptoms that would fit.  I read about the Mayo clinic in Minnesota, and one time I saw the big Mayo Hotel Sign in Tulsa and felt squeemish.  I was so afraid of throwing up.   I continued on old U.S. 66....through Needles, the hottest place on 66.....through Kingman, and then began to climb to high country.  The dry scrub got bigger and greener and soon a few trees started to appear.  Finally, I was at Williams where the Pines were and it was cool.  I absolutely had to eat at Rod's steak house where we ate as a family many times.  Suddenly, the time warp brought something to mind;  in several months, Bob and his parents would be travelling through here on their way to Oklahoma.  I had adjusted to time travel pretty well, but once in awhile, it hit me with a great dis-orientation and I almost felt a panic attack coming.  I continued on to Flagstaff, the highest point on 66.  I was very tempted to spend the night in "Flag" because of the stars....the sky looked like it had been white washed with the Milky Way.  It got chilly at night in Flag even in the Summer.  I wanted to experience an old Mom and Pop motel with the damp, musty air coming out of the water cooler.  I wanted to hear the sound of gravel crunching beneith tires from the late arrivers...hear the trunk lid slam down and then silence.  I wanted a motel that had a circular drive with a big green lawn in the middle...trees. tables and chairs, magazines flapping in the breeze.  I wanted to find a post magazine with a full page picture of a little girl staring straight at me....like the one I saw on a trip in 1949.  I was smitten with her.  There was the strangest word underneith her picture..'EPILIPSY"  I found such a place outside of Holbrook.  In fact, it was the very one we stayed at in 1949 !   I checked in,  unpacked my bags, played with the water cooler, and went to bed.  I heard the gravel beneith tires a few times and heard the old dusty venitian blinds banging against the window from an errant breeze.  saw the distant lightning playing over a pre-historic and very eerie land....Tomorrow will soon be here....(yawn)   good night....Hello Latvia...welcome (to be continued)

BOBBY AND HIS HOMEWORK PART 18

Bob knocked on the door and asked me to help him with his math homework. I doubted it was due to his interest in math, but due to fear of being expelled. He had some simple geometry problems and I began with the basics.  He seemed bored and began to shift restlessly in his seat.  "Bob, what's wrong?" I asked.  "This just is not interesting"  he said.  Who cares, he added.  I had to reach deep in order to try to reach him.    I used an anology of building a house.  "When a house is first started, they start with the foundation.  They dig a trench and fill it with cement.  If that was where they stopped building, what would a cement foundation do to catch the future owners interest?  He envisions a beautiful home to enjoy life in.  But, that foundation is necessary to a beautiful home.  Your bedroom that you love so much rests on a solid foundation.  You are building your life.  Someday, you will be responsible for your own survival; you will change as you grow older; you will wish for a family and children, you will seek pleasure from life.  You must build a solid foundation before you can have a good life."  He stopped fidgeting and listened.  I felt like I was on a roll and asked him to take a ride with me.  He jumped at the chance.  I stopped at 3509 and asked his parents if I could do that as I wanted to teach Bob a lesson.  They also jumped at the chance.  I drove Bob down to a dive...a very low class bar..I wanted him to see something.   I parked the car and approaced the bar.  Raucus sounds were coming from inside and as luck would have it, there was a bum lying on the ground and vomiting.  Bob turned pale and told me this was horrible and why did I bring him there.  I pointed at the bum and told him that this was the end product of building no foundation ; this was the end product of alcohol!!!  "don't you ever start drinking unless you want to end up like this. No one ends up like this unless they take that first drink".  I really over stepped my bounds; I grabbed him and shook him and said  "never take that first drink, do you understand me?"  He was frightened beyond measure, and looked me in the eyes and said  "yes sir".....I took him back home and he said nothing as he got out of the car and walked head down to 3509.    (to be continued)

VISIT TO DOWNTOWN GLENDALE PART 17

HAVING FINISHED MY COFFEE AND SEVERAL DOUGHNUTS, I BRUSHED MY TEETH WITH IPANA TOOTHPASTE, LOCKED THE FRONT DOOR, AND FIRED UP THE HUDSON.  I DROVE THE SHORT DISTANCE DOWN ROSEMARY AND TURNED LEFT ONTO SUNVIEW.  WHEN I REACHED VERDUGO ROAD, I HAD THE WILDEST IDEA.  I PARKED THE CAR RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE OF KENT LIQUOR STORE (!) AND DECIDED TO RIDE THE BUS TO GLENDALE.  I WALKED ACROSS VERDUGO AND WAITED AT THE BUS STOP.  IT TOOK ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES FOR THE BUS TO COME AND I WENT INTO MEMORIES FROM MY 2012 PERSPECTIVE, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS 1952.  THIS CORNER WAS WHERE MY DAD CAUGHT THE BUS TO GO TWELVE MILES SOUTH TO DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES.  THE SUBWAY TERMINAL BLDG.  HE WAS AN ACCOUNTANT ON THE FIFTH FLOOR OF THAT BLDG.  FOR YEARS, HE WALKED THE SIX BLOCKS FROM HOME TO CATCH THE BUS AND WALKED SIX BLOCKS BACK AFTER A HARD DAY'S WORK. IT CAME TO ME THAT I NEVER DROVE OVER TO PICK HIM UP AND DRIVE HIM HOME IN THE CAR THAT HE HAD BOUGHT FOR ME.  THAT MEMORY BROKE MY HEART.   THE BUS FINALLY CAME AND I GOT ON AND DROPPED SOME COINS IN THE LITTLE GLASS BOX ON A METAL STAND WITH THE LITTLE WHEEL THAT WENT ROUND AND ROUND WITH A CLICKING SOUND.  I GOT OFF AT DORAN AVENUE AND WALKED TO BRAND BLVD,, THE MAIN STREET.  I WALKED NORTH ON BRAND AND PASSED A MUSIC STORE THAT STILL HAD THE WHITE PLASTER DOG SITTING ON SIDEWALK OUTSIDE THE STORE...RCA VICTOR!   I WENT A LITTLE FURTHER AND WALKED INTO A SHOE STORE.  THEY STILL HAD THAT WOODEN BOX YOU COULD STEP UP A STEP, STICK YOUR FEET INTO A SLOT, LOOK THROUGH VIEWING GLASS, AND SEE YOUR FEET INCLUDING BONES WITH YOUR SHOES ON.  OBVIOUSLY, THERE WAS SOME KIND OF RADIATION THERE, AND THEY GOT RID OF THEM LATER.  I WALKED BY A RESTAURANT WITH SIDE WALK VIEW TABLES INSIDE, AND I REMEMBERED THE THE TIME WHEN MY BUDDIES AND I STOPPED THERE AND JUST STARED AT THE PEOPLE EATING.  UP AND DOWN BRAND I WALKED.  THE OLD ELECTRIC STREET CARS COMING AND GOING.  EVERY PERSON LOOKED SO WHOLESOME AND WELL DRESSED.  I SPENT HOURS DOWN THERE, JUST WALKING AND LOOKING.  THE SETTING SUN WAS PAINTING THE WESTERN FACADES ORANGE, AND I TOOK THE BUS BACK HOME.  CAR STILL THERE....DROVE OVER TO ROSEMARY....WENT INSIDE MY HOME, FIXED A SCOTCH AND SODA. AND PONDERED THE DAY.   (TO BE CONTINUED)

NEXT DAY..PART 16

IT HAD RAINED ALL NIGHT, BUT THE STORM MOVED ON AND I WAS TREATED TO A BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE.  THERE WAS A SPECIAL LIGHT THAT FELL ON THE VERDUGO HILLS, STARTING AT THE TOP AND WORKING DOWN.  IT WAS A BRILIANT ORANGE FALLING ON CLUSTERS OF DARK GREEN.  ONLY A FEW CLOUDS CRESTED THE TOPS OF THE MUCH HIGHER SAN GABRIELS TO THE NORTH.  IT WAS TUESDAY AND PEOPLE WENT BACK TO WORK OR STOOD IN THEIR KITCHEN APRONS WASHING DISHES FROM BREAKFAST.  I HEARD  A LITTLE WHISTLE AND MY WORD, THE HELMS MAN.  I HAD NOT THOUGHT OF THE HELMS DELIVERY FOR DECADES.  A YELLOW CHEVROLET VAN THAT DROVE SLOWLY UP THE STREETS AND THE DRIVER ANNOUNCED HIS PRESENCE BY BLOWING A LITTLE HARMONICA LIKE DEVICE.  I DECIDED TO STOP THE HELMS MAN AND HE STOPPED AND OPENED THE DOUBLE DOORS IN BACK.  THEN, HE PULLED OUT LONG WOODEN AND SHALLOW DRAWERS AND OUT CAME FRESH CINNAMON ROLLS, BREADS, COOKIES,  THEY WERE FRESH AND THEY WERE KEPT WARM.  THIS WAS A WONDERFUL SALES PLOY; HOW COULD YOU NOT BUY WITH THE WONDERFUL AROMAS.  I BOUGHT SOME DOUGH NUTS AND SOME COOKIES.  I PAID HIM AND WE WENT ON HIS WAY WITH A TOOT TOOT.  I THEN SAW BOBBY, STANDING WITH HIS NEIGHBORHOOD BUDDIES IN FRONT OF PHIL'S HOUSE.  THE BOYS STOOD THERE WHILE THE GIRLS STOOD ACROSS THE STREET RIGHT WHERE THE SCHOOL BUS WOULD STOP.  I REMEMBERED SO WELL THE THREE YEARS I RODE THE BUS TO CLARK JR HIGH.  THE BUS MADE SEVERAL STOPS IN OUR GENERAL AREA TO PICK UP OTHER STUDANTS.  IT GOT PRETTY FULL AND THEN BEGAN ITS TRIP TO CLARK.  IT WAS PRETTY EASY FOR THE BUS ENGINE UNTIL WE CAME TO RAMSDELL.  THAT WAS UPHILL FOR A MILE OR TWO AND THE DRIVER HAD TO PUT IT INTO SECOND GEAR IN ORDER TO MAKE IT, SOMETIMES HE HAD TO GO TO FIRST GEAR.  THE KIDS WERE VERY POLITE BACK THEN AND NEVER RAISED ANY TROUBLE ON THE RIDE.  I REMEMBER ONE DAY I LOOKED DOWN AT MY LEGS AND THOUGHT MY THIGH BONES WERE TOO SHORT.  I CONTINUED TO WATCH THE BOYS WAITING.  THEY LIKED TO PULL THE  LITTLE CYLINDER UP ON ONE OF THE SPRINKLER HEADS. AND THEN PUSH IT DOWN AND WATCH THE WATER COME OUT.  THE BUS LUMBERED UP ROSEMARY, STOPPED, PICKED UP THE KIDS, AND WENT ON ITS WAY.  BOBBY WAS NOT IN THE CARDS FOR ABOUT EIGHT HOURS.  I DECIDED TO DRIVE TO DOWNTOWN GLENDALE.  GLENDALE WAS A BEDROOM COMMUNITY  TO LOS ANGELUS.  DON'T KNOW WHY I SAY THAT, GLENDALE WAS SUFFICIENT IN ITSELF.  IN FACT, THERE WERE ABOUT FIFTY CITIES ALL PACKED TOGETHER THAT COLLECTIVLEY CALLED THEMSELVES  "L.A."     AS FAR AS LIVIBILITY IS CONCERNED, GLENDALE WAS THE PICK OF THE BUNCH, THE CREAM OF THE CROP.  BEAUTIFUL RANGES OF HILLS ALL AROUND.  IT WAS CALLED "THE JEWELL CITY"   IN ITS EARLIER DAYS, IT WAS A BASTION OF WHITE, ANGLO SAXON, PROTESTANTS AND EXTREMELY CONSERVITIVE.  IN FACT, IT WAS A WELL KNOWN FACT THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR HAD BETTER BE OUT OF TOWN BY SUNDOWN.  NO PUBLIC DANCE WAS ALLOWED FOR MANY YEARS.  FUNNY THING, NOW IT IS OWNED AND GOVERNED BY ARMENIANS.  GLENDALE HAS THE SECOND LARGEST ARMINIAN POPULATION IN THE WORLD.  THERE WAS AN EXTREMELY WEALTHY MAN NAMED L.C. BRAND. HE SAW SOMETHING HE LIKED IN GLENDALE AND INVESTED MILLIONS IN THE DEVELOPEMNT OF IT.  HE BROUGHT THE PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAIL CARS TO GLENDALE, HE HAD ALLOT TO DO WITH BRINGING UTILITIES TO GLENDALE.....AND..HE BOUGHT A LARGE PARCEL OF LAND UP AGAINST THE VERDUGO HILLS AND BUILT A FABULOUS CASTLE THERE.  IT IS STILL THERE AND HAS BEEN TURNED INTO A LIBRARY.  SINCE THEN, MUCH OF HIS LAND HAS BEEN SOLD OFF AND NICE HOUSES BUILT ON IT.  BUT, BACK THEN, BRAND WAS INTERESTED IN AIRPLANES, AND SO HE BUILT A RUNWAY FOR LANDING AND TAKE OFF AND THREW A PARTY TO END ALL PARTIES.  ONLY THING WAS, YOU COULD NOT COME BY CAR, YOU HAD TO FLY IN!....AND FLY IN THEY DID....MOVIE STARS AND THE CREAM OF SOCIETY....WELL, I AM STANDING HERE ON THE CURB WITH SOME DOUGHNUTS AND COFFEE WAITING INSIDE.  I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE REST OF THE DAY AS SOON AS I LIVE IT.    (TO BE CONTINUED)

PART FIFTEEN (15)

I DROVE BACK DOWN THE CREST HIGHWAY, FEELING A COMFORT THAT ONLY WIND THROUGH THE PINES CAN BRING.  THAT SOUND MUST HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY GOD...SUCH A COMFORTING WHISPER THAT COMES AND GOES, LIKE MOODS.  I CANNOT HELP BUT THINK OF OTHER HUMANS ALL AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE JUST LIKE ME.   THEY HAVE THEIR PINES, THEIR SCENTED FIRES, THEIR LONLIES, ..WE ARE ALL ALIKE IN MANY WAYS.  THE STORM WAS MOVING IN AND THE FIRST SPLATTER OF RAIN DROPS HITTING WINDSHIELD.  THEY WERE BIG DROPS, AND I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE A BIG STORM.  AS I DROVE DOWN TO THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAINS AND ENTERED THE FLAT CITY,  I COULD SEE THE MANY EVERGREENS BENDING OVER IN A STRONG SOUTH EAST WIND.  I PARKED THE HUDSON IN THE DRIVE AND ENTERED INTO HOUSE USING THE SHELTER OF FRONT PORCH.  I HAD NOT BEEN IN THE HOUSE TEN MINUTES, WHEN THERE WAS A KNOCK ON THE FRONT DOOR.  IT WAS BOBBY..DRIPPING WET.  HE WAS VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE RAIN.  I INVITED HIM IN AND GOT A TOWELL AND DRIED HIM OFF THE BEST I COULD.  HE WANTED ME TO GO WITH HIM ONTO FRONT PORCH AND WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE RAIN, SO I DID.  HE SAID THAT HE LOVED THE RAIN BECAUSE HE SAW IT AS THE SKIES WERE EITHER SICK, ANGRY, OR SAD.  "I FEEL SO SECURE IN MY ROOM LOOKING OUT...I LOVE TO HEAR THE TAPPING OF THE WATER ON MY AWNINGS AND THE SOUND OF RAIN WATER HITTING THE BOTTOM OF THE DOWNSPOUT...I HOPE IT LIGHTNINGS TONIGHT...ONE TIME IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT AND THERE WASN LIGHTNING...I LOOKED OUT MY BACK WINDOW..WHEN ALL WERE ASLEEP. AND THE LIGHT FROM THE LIGHTNING LIT UP THE SILVER CLOTHES LINE POSTS..A SILVER TEE IN THE BACK YARD... THE WHITE PLASTER DUCKS LIT UP..EVERY THING LIT UP FOR JUST A SECOND"    WE TALKED FOR QUITE AWHILE, AND THE RAIN LET UP.  I SUGGESTED THIS WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR HIM TO GO HOME.  HE AGREED AND I WATCHED HIM WALK HOME.  THE LOW CLOUDS OVER THE VERDUGO HILLS LIFTED FOR A MOMENT, AND I COULD SEE THE BLACK ETCHED OUTLINE OF THOSE HILLS...WHERE I SPENT ALLOT OF TIME AS A CHILD....(TO BE CONTINUED)

NEXT DAY PART 14

IT WAS A MONDAY AND A PACIFIC STORM WAS DUE TO HIT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LATER IN THE DAY.  ONE TO THREE INCHES OF RAIN EXPECTED.  THERE WAS A CIRRUS DECK ALREADY WITH THE LOWER LEVEL NIMBUS EXPECTED SOON. I SPENT THE BETTER PART OF AN HOUR UPDATING MY DIARY..TRYING TO RECALL EXCACTLY WHAT BOBBY SAID.  IN A WAY, HE WAS A GENIOUS...MISGUIDED, YES, BUT FOR A TWELVE YEAR OLD TO CONCOCT SUCH AN IDEALOGY WAS AMAZING. HE SAID THAT LANGUAGE WAS A VERY FAULTY WAY TO COMMUNICATE AND THAT WAS WHY HE DID NOT LIKE SCHOOL.  HE LIKENED LANGUAGE TO A STRING OF DOTS, WHEN DEEP SECRETS ARE ONLY REVEALED IN A CONTINUING LINE.  HE TOLD ME THE SPIRITS HE LOVED GAVE IMPRESSIONS IN A CONTINUING  LINE...NO WORDS,,JUST AN UNDERSTANDING,  I HAD NOTICED A NICE QUARTZ ROCK ON HIS DESK AND ASKED HIM ABOUT.  HE SAID MR BRANN NEXT DOOR HAD GIVEN IT TO HIM.  "MR BRANN IS A ROCK HOUND. HE GOES ROCK HUNTING IN THE DESERT AND ONE TIME HE TOOK ME WITH HIM.  HE EVEN GAVE ME A ROCK HUNTERS HAMMER.  HE REALLY LIKES ME.  HE MAKES UP FOR SOME OF THE THINGS DAD DOESN'T HAVE"  HE SAID.  I ASKED HIM "LIKE WHAT?"   "I AM KIND OF AFRAID OF MY DAD....I DO NOT FEEL ACCEPTED BY HIM....HE IS GENEROUS, BUT NEVER PLAYS BALL WITH ME.....HE CAN GET SO MAD I RUN OUT OF THE HOUSE.  HE LOVES MY MOM, BUT WHEN HE GETS REALLY MAD AT HER, HE IS VERY LOUD.  HE NEVER LAYS A HAND ON HER AND DOES NOT SWEAR, BUT THE SOUND OF HIS VOICE .....ONE TIME AFTER ONE OF THESE SPELLS, I WENT INTO THE BACK YARD AND THREW UP.  HE WAS SILENT FOR QUITE AWHILE..THINKING...THEN HE CONTINUED...."ONE OF THE WORST DAYS IN MY LIFE WAS WHEN I WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD.  WE LIVED ON NORTON STREET BACK THEN AND ONE SATURDAY, HE TOOK ME TO A MATINEE AT THE ATWATER THEATRE.  I HAD SEVERAL DOLLARS IN MY POCKET AND I WANTED TO SURPRISE HIM.  I RAN AHEAD AND BOUGHT OUR TICKETS.  HE ASKED ME WHERE I GOT THE MONEY AND I COULD NOT REMEMBER.  THEN, HE ACCUSED ME OF STEALING IT.   I WILL  NEVER FORGET THE SHOCK AND MY FIRST FLUSH OF FEELING LIKE I WAS A BAD PERSON."  I QUIT WRITING IN MY DIARY AT THAT POINT.  NOW, MONDAY...BOBBY WAS AT CLARK IN SCHOOL, HIS PARENTS WERE AT WORK,  AND I AM SITTING HERE WONDERING WHAT TO DO WITH THIS DAY.  I DECIDED TO BUY SOME HOT DOGS AND BUNS AND SOME LIQUID REFRESHMENTS, AND DRIVE UP THE ANGELUS CREST HIGHWAY.    THE ANGELES CREST WAS A VERY CURVY  ROAD THAT STARTED AT THE BASE OF THE GABRIELS AND SNAKED ITS WAY UP TO THE TOPS OF THE MOUNTAINS INCLUDING MT WILSON..HOME OF A VERY FAMOUS TELESCOPE AND OBSERVATORY.  MANY DISCOVERIES OF THE HEAVENS WERE MADE THERE UNTIL L.A. GOT SO BIG, THERE WAS A LIGHT POLLUTION PROBLEM.  QUITE A FEW WEALTHY INNOVATORS WERE FASCINATED WITH THE POTENTIAL OF THE SAN GABRIELS IN TERMS OF RESORTS AND SKI SLOPES.  ONE SUCH VENTURE WAS ON MT LOWE.  A TRAM WAS BUILT FROM ALTADENA TO MT LOWE, AND A VERY NICE INN AND RECREATION AREA WAS BUILT THERE.  THIS WAS BACK IN THE VERY EARLY  20'S.  NOW, (AND THEN)  THE INN WAS IN RUINS,  THE TRAM HAD BEEN WASHED OUT IN A FLOOD..AND ONLY REMNANTS OF THE GRAND OLD INN STILL REMAINED.  PORTIONS OF THREE STORY WALLS REMAINED STANDING, WITH TONS OF RUBBLE EVERY WHERE.  LOTS OF COPPER LYING AROUND FROM THE OLD TRAM.  WELL, I WENT TO SHOPPING BAG AND BOUGHT FRANKS, BUNS, MUSTARD, RELISH, ONIONS, CHIPS, MATCHES, AND A GOOD SIZE BOTTLE OF SCOTCH FROM HILL'S LIQUOR MART.  THE TRIP UP WAS LIKE GOING BACK IN TIME !!!!  THAT HIGHWAY WAS SOMETHING THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS COULD NOT CHANGE.   IT WAS AND IS A VERY DEADLY HIGHWAY.  STEEP DROP OFFS ON THE OUTSIDE TURNS AND NO GUARD RAILS. I DROVE ON UP TO CHILAO FLATS, ABOUT 6,000 FEET ALT.  THERE WAS A NICE PICNIC AREA THERE WITH TABLES AND GRILLS TO ROAST  WEENIES.   I SELECTED A SPOT OFF THE PARKING LOT AND JUST SAT DOWN AND LOOKED AND LISTENED.  SO MANY, MANY TIMES MY PARENTS BROUGHT ME AND FRIENDS HERE ON A SATURDAY....TO FEAST AND FELLOWSHIP.  WE KIDS ALWAYS FOUND SOMETHING TO DO....ONE TIME, MY PAL DEANY HURD AND I WENT THERE WITH MY FOLKS AND WE BROUGHT OUR TOY CARS AND GUNS.  WE BUILT ROADS AND FORTS,  STUCK OUR GUNS IN THE SOIL AND PRETENDED THEY WERE CANNONS.  NOW...JUST THE WHISPERING OF THE PINES...A SQUIRREL STOOD UP ON ITS HIND LEGS AND NIBBLED A NUT BETWEEN HIS PAWS...I BUILT A FIRE USING NEEDLES AND PINE CONES....THE SMOKE WAS AN INCENSE,,,THE GIVING UP OF CENTURIES OF STORIES.  THE HOWLING BLIZZARDS...THE WARMTH OF A THOUSAND SUNSETS,  THE MANY PEOPLE WHO CAME THERE TO TALK AND PERHAPS WORSHIP...THROUGH THE SMOKE OF MY FIRE, I BRIEFLY SAW TWO LITTLE BOYS PLAYING IN THE DIRT...TOY CARS...IMAGINATIONS RUN WILD..THEY WERE HAVING SO MUCH FUN....I ROASTED MY WEENIES...AND TOASTED THE BUNS...THEY WERE SO GOOD...BUT NOT AS GOOD AS WHEN I WAS WITH PEOPLE I LOVED.....(TO BE CONTINUED) 

ADDENDUM TO SCARY EVENT PART 13

I TOLD YOU THAT I HAD A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP THAT SUNDAY NIGHT, AND THAT IS TRUE.  BUT, I AM WRITING FROM MY DIARY AND FAILED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING BEFORE I WENT TO SLEEP.  I HAD GOTTEN  INTO BED AND WAS ABOUT ASLEEP WHEN I HEARD A KNOCK AT FRONT DOOR.  I WENT TO THE DOOR IN MY PAJAMAS AND IT WAS BOBBY.  "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP AT THIS HOUR?"  I ASKED.  BOBBY ASKED ME TO GET DRESSED AND COME DOWN, HE WANTED ME TO SEE HIS ROOM AT NIGHT.  "I DON'T THINK YOUR PARENTS WOULD MUCH LIKE THAT"  I SAID.  "THEY ARE ASLEEP AND WILL NEVER KNOW....PLEASE".....I DECIDED TO COMPLY WITH HIS REQUEST.   WE WALKED DOWN TO 3509 AND HE MOTIONED ME TO FOLLOW HIM TO BACK DOOR.  THERE WAS A SMALL SCREENED IN PORCH WHERE THEY ATE THEIR MEALS WHEN THE WEATHER WAS NICE.  A REDWOOD TABLE WITH BENCHES ON BOTH SIDES.  WE WENT FROM PORCH INTO AND THROUGH THE KITCHEN, PASSED THE BATHROOM, AND INTO HIS BEDROOM.  HE INVITED ME TO SIT ON HIS BED WITH HIM.  HIS CANDLES WERE LIT AND PUT LITTLE DANCING CIRCLES OF LIGHT ON THE CEILING AND A RED GLOW ON THE WALLS.  NO WONDER THE CATHOLICS LIKE THESE, I THOUGHT.  A CURL OF INCENSE SMOKE ROSE FROM THE BUDDHA BURNER..."HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?"  HE ASKED.  "I LOVE IT" I SAID.  HE MOTIONED ME TO COME AND LOOK AT ONE OF HIS MAPS BY CANDLE LIGHT.  "JUST LOOK AT ALL THE NAMES OF MOUNTAIN RANGES AND TOWNS......LOOK..THE OLD WOMAN MOUNTAINS..HOW SAD...THERE MUST HAVE BEEN AN OLD WOMAN FOR WHOM THEY WERE NAMED....MY FAVORITE PLACE IS THIS"  HE POINTED TO THE CRATERS OF THE MOON NAT'L MONUMENT IN IDAHO.  "I MUST GO THERE SOON....IT MUST BE SUCH A MAGICAL PLACE..SO LONELY OUT THERE ALL ALONE IN THE MOONLIGHT"  HE ADDED.  I TOLD HIM THAT HE HAD A GIFT OF PERSONALIZING PLACES, THEN I ASKED HIM WHY HE DID NOT FIND PLEASURE IN PEOPLE.  "THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND ME...THEY ARE SO LOST IN THEIR WORLD...ALL SORTS OF GROUPS OF FRIENDS BAND TOGETHER..NEVER ASKING ME IN...IT'S OK. I DON'T WANT TO BE IN.  I HATE SCHOOL...THEY ASSUME I AM INTERESTED IN WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY...THEN THEY GIVE US TESTS TO SEE IF WE LIKED THEIR OWN PERSONAL INTERESTS   I HAVE UNSEEN FRIENDS WHO LIVE IN TREES AND ROCKS...THEY ARE SPIRITS AND THEY HOVER OVER THEIR FAVORITE HAUNTS....THEY ARE FRIENDLY....NEVER CRITICIZE...NOTHING REQUIRED OF ME TO PROVE MYSELF TO THEM...THEY INVITE ME IN TO JOIN THEM IN THEIR SECRET AND STRANGE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE NO WORDS OF HURT....JUST A BEAUTIFUL LONELY"   I HAD FORGOTTEN HOW ARTICULATE I MUST HAVE BEEN, BUT I UNDERSTOOD HIM COMPLETELY.  HE STOOD UP AND SAID "I AM AFRAID DAD WILL CATCH US HERE ALONE..LET ME GO WITH YOU OUTSIDE.  I WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND....."   I WALKED HOME AND HAD THAT GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP I WAS TALKING ABOUT....SUCH A STRANGE LITTLE BOY..........WAS I.  (TO BE CONTINUED)

PART TWELVE..A VERY SCARY EVENT

I CAME HOME FROM MY DELIGHTFUL DAY WITH THE FISHBACK FAMILY.   I SAT DOWN WITH A SCOTCH AND SODA AND BROUGHT MY DIARY UP TO DATE..FOR POSSIBLE FURTHER CONSULTATION !  I FIXED A SECOND SCOTCH AND THOUGHT OF THAT MYSTERIOUS LITTLE BOY DOWN THE STREET, AND IT BROKE MY HEART TO THINK HE WOULD TURN INTO AN ALCOHOLIC.  I NEEDED TO STOP THE EVENT IN HIS LIFE THAT WOULD BEGIN THAT FOR HIM.  I REMEMBERED THE COUNSEL FROM MY ANGEL  "DON'T TRY TO CHANGE HISTORY."   SORRY, ANGEL, I AM GOING TO TRY.  I WENT OUT ONTO THE FRONT PORCH AND JUST LOOKED AROUND.  I FOCUSED ON 3509 AND SAW A SHADOWY FIGURE DART DOWN THE DRIVEWAY BETWEEN THE BRANN'S HOUSE AND THE FISHBACK'S.  I DIDN'T FEEL TOO GOOD ABOUT THIS AND THE SCOTCH MADE ME A LITTLE BRAVER THAN USUAL.  I WALKED DOWN TO 3509.  I WALKED DOWN THE DRIVE BETWEEN THE EBMEYER'S HOUSE AND 3509.  BOBBY HAD HIS SHADES DOWN BUT I COULD SEE THE FLICKERING LIGHT FROM HIS CANDLES.  NO ONE TO BE SEEN.  AS I WALKED BACK OUT TO THE STREET, I SAW THIS SHADOWY FIGURE DART DOWN MY DRIVE WAY AND DIS-APPEAR.  FEAR NEARLY CHOKED ME....I WALKED BACK UP TO MY HOUSE AND STOOD ACROSS THE STREET TO SEE IF I COULD SEE WHO THIS WAS.  NO SIGN OF HIM.  I WAS TIRED AND WANTED TO GO TO BED.  BUT WAS AFRAID TO ENTER HOUSE.  I REASONED WITH MYSELF AND BECAME ANGRY..IT WAS MY HOUSE AND I AM GOING IN.  I WENT IN, SEARCHED THE ENTIRE HOUSE, AND FOUND NOTHING.  I WENT TO BED AND HAD A GOOD SLEEP..PROBABLY ONE OF BOBBY'S PRANKISH FRIENDS...I HOPED....(TO BE CONTINUED)

SUNDAY DINNER PART ELEVEN

I FOUND THAT I QUICKLY ADAPTED TO BEING WITH MY PARENTS AND MYSELF (!)  DURING THE VISITING WITH THEM AROUND THE TABLE.  IT WAS MAMMA'S HOME COOKIN...ROAST BEEF, POTATOES AND CARROTS, LIME JELLO WITH FRUIT SALAD.  AND STRAWBERRIES AND ICE CREAM FOR DESSERT.  I OFERED TO HELP CLEAR THE TABLE, BUT MOM RESISTED.  AFTER THE TABLE WAS CLEARED, BOBBY WANTED ME TO SEE HIS ROOM.  I LONGED TO SEE IT TOO !   A FULL SIZE BED AGAINST THE NORTH WALL AND HIS DESK TO THE LEFT OF HIS BED.  A TABLE MODEL RADIO ON END OF DESK SO HE COULD REACH IT WHILE LYING IN BED.  CHEST OF DRAWERS ON EAST WALL. ON TOP OF THE CHEST WAS AN OLD MARBLE MANTEL CLOCK THAT WORKED.  ON TOP OF THE CLOCK WAS A BUDDHA INCENSE BURNER AND ONE RED GLASS VOTIVE CANDLE ON EACH SIDE OF BURNER.  THERE WAS AN OLD OVER STUFFED CHAIR IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER.  THE EAST WALL COVERED WITH MAPS OF THE SOUTHWEST U.S. AND ON THE EAST SIDE OF BED AGAINST THE NORTH WALL WAS AN OLD FIVE BAND RADIO.  THERE WERE TWO WINDOWS ON EACH SIDE OF BED AND ONE ON WEST WALL LOOKING OUT OVER BACK YARD.  UNDERNEITH THE WEST WINDOW WAS A WALL MOUNTED GAS HEATER.  I COMPLIMENTED ON HIS DECOR AND HE SAID THAT EVERY THING GAVE HIM A SENSE OF BEING.  HE TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO VISIT HIM AT NIGHT WHEN HE LIT HIS CANDLES AND BURNED INCENSE.  I ASKED HIM WHY HE LIKED THOSE THINGS, AND HE SAID IT GAVE HIM A GOOD FEELING.  HE SEEMED TO STRUGGLE WITH HIS VOCABULARY.. BUT DID MANAGE TO ENLARGE ABIT.  "I LIKE THE FEELING OF LONLINESS,  THERE IS A PRESENCE IN LONLINESS...MANY THINGS THAT CANNOT TALK DO TALK IN A WAY I LIKE."   I WANTED TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT, SO I ASKED HIM ABOUT THE OLD FIVE BAND RADIO.  HE TOLD ME HE BOUGHT IT AT A SECOND HAND STORE USING HIS PAPER ROUTE MONEY,  "I GOT IT FOR TEN DOLLARS"  HE SAID.  "I CAN PICK UP HAM RADIO OPERATORS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD...I LISTEN TO THEM SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE TO TALK TO  CQ CQ CQ  TWENTY METERS....THIS IS W5 ARM IN LEVELLAND TEXAS CALLING CQ"  HE RELATED.  HE THEN WENT ON..." I STRUNG AN AERIAL WIRE FROM MY ROOM TO THE POWER POLE IN BACK...I REALLY LIKE THE LEAD IN WIRE THAT COMES FROM ROOF DOWN OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.  WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, I CAN HEAR IT TAPPING AGANST THE SCREEN.  MY FRIEND WHO LIVES UP THE HILL HAS A WIRE COMING DOWN OUTSIDE HIS WINDOW, AND I SAW IT BLOWING....AND IT GAVE ME A GOOD FEELING, SO I HAVE ONE TOO"    MY FATHER....CARL..CAME IN AND INVITED ME TO VISIT IN LIVING ROOM, SO I THANKED BOBBY AND PATTED HIM ON HIS HEAD AND LEFT.  DAD, MOM, AND I HAD A LONG VISIT.  I MUST HAVE SAID THE RIGHT THINGS, BECAUSE DAD WANTED ME TO STAY AWHILE.   HE BECAME INTERESTED IN MY INTEREST IN THE BIBLE.  BOTH DAD AND MOM TAUGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL.  HE WAS INTERSTED IN TALKING THEOLOGY AND ASKED ME WHAT I THOUGHT OF COVENANT THEOLOGY.  JUST TO SEE WHAT HIS RE-ACTION WOULD BE, I TOLD HIM I WAS A DISPENSATIONALIST.  THAT REALLY GOT HIM GOING.  BEFORE WE KNEW IT, THE SUN WAS SETTING AND I TOLD HIM I NEEDED TO GO.  I THANKED THEM BOTH FOR THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY.  BEFORE I LEFT, I ASKED IF I MIGHT SEE THE BACK YARD,  "SURE"  HE SAID AND BOTH OF THEM WALKED WITH ME TO THE BACK YARD.  I PEEKED INSIDE OF THE LATHE HOUSE WHERE I KEPT MY SUCCULANTS.  THERE WAS THE OLD DRIED STAR FISH I HAD HANGED ON THE LATHE HOUSE.  THERE WAS BOBBY'S RED GLASS KEROSENSE LANTERN HANGING OFF OF A CROSS MEMBER OF THE LATHE HOUSE. THERE WAS MOM'S CHASE LOUNGE UNDER THE APRICOT TREE.  AND HERE CAME SQUEEKY THE DUCK WHICH BOBBY BOUGHT FROM ALAN SLOCUMB.  HE CAME QUACKING OUT FROM HIS SHELTER BEHIND THE GARAGE.  ALL OF THIS SERVED AS A GREAT PLOW SHARE STUCK DOWN INTO THE EARTH OF THE MAGICAL PAST.  THE VOICES THAT STILL CRY FROM THE FIELDS OF THE FORGOTTEN AND UNKNOWN.   (TO BE CONTINUED) 

QUICK LINK TO THIS SITE

bobfishback.blogspot.com/

OLD HAUNTS PART TEN (SUNDAY DINNER)

AT ONE P.M. I WALKED UP THE DRIVE AND UP THOSE OLD FAMILIAR PORCH STEPS THAT I HAD WALKED  SIXTY YEARS AGO.  A LONG NARROW PORCH, BUT WIDE ENOUGH FOR A WICKER PORCH COUCH, AND END TABLE.  THE OLD AVACADO TREE WAS STILL THERE AND IT BRANCHED OUT OF THE GROUND RIGHT NEXT TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE PORCH.  TWO EQUAL SIZED TRUNKS WENT UP AND FORMED A PERFECT VEE UNTIL THEY SPREAD OUT IN A PROFUSION OF BRANCHING LIMBS AND LEAVES.  THE LIMBS HUNG DOWN ABIT AND SHADED THE PORCH.   I CLIMBED THAT TREE MANY TIMES BACK THEN.  I PAUSED BEFORE RINGING THE DOOR BELL.  THERE WAS THE LITTLE BROWN BOX HANGING NEXT TO DOOR WITH "LEAVE A NOTE" PAINTED ON THE LITTLE DOOR OF THE BOX.  I RANG THE BELL AND, OH, BOY,  DID THAT TAKE ME BACK...TWO CYLINDRICAL TUBES HANGING RIGHT INSIDE DOOR AND A LITTLE HAMMER HIT ONE AND THEN THE OTHER IN ABOUT ONE SECOND.  I REMEMBERED THEIR FRANTIC MUSIC DURING THE BIG QUAKE OF JULY, 1952.   MY DAD CAME TO THE DOOR AND WELCOMED ME WITH A BIG SMILE.  MY MOTHER WAS STILL IN THE KITCHEN, BUT SHE DUCKED OUT AND CAME TO GREET ME ALSO.  NO WONDER THEY HAD SO MANY FRIENDS.  A GENUINE LOVE FOR PEOPLE.  I FELT SO CALM,  SO WELCOME.  THE OLD HOME WAS  HOME TO ME AND STILL WAS.  THE FRONT ROOM WAS PLEASANT, BUT OBVIOUSLY BEFORE MY DAD RECEIVED A PROMOTION AND COMPLETELY REDECORATED THE PLACE INCLUDING ALL NEW FURNITURE, NEW WALL TO WALL CARPETING..THE WORKS.  BUT I WAS GLAD TO SEE THE OLD STUFF.  MY FATHER WAS A MASTER AT MAKING PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTIBLE.  HE COULD SENSE WHEN IT WAS TIME TO CARRY THE CONVERSATION OR LET OTHERS TALK.  DINNER WAS NOT QUITE READY AND SO DAD TOOK ME ON A TOUR.  I PSYCHED MYSELF TO NOT TALK TOO MUCH OR ASK QUESTIONS WHICH I ALREADY KNEW THE ANSWERS TO.  BOBBY'S ROOM DOOR WAS CLOSED AND HE WAS INSIDE DOING SOMETHING THAT HE WANTED TO DO.  MY DAD STARTED TO OPEN THE DOOR AND I SAID,,,,WAIT A MINUTE, HE MIGHT BE UNDRESSED.  I BROKE A CARDINAL RULE, BUT MY DAD SAID  "COULD BE"  I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT I HAD POSTED A SIGN ON MY DOOR.."KNOCK, BEFORE ENTERING."   MY WORD, THEY NOT ONLY CAUSED ME TO BE IN THE FIRST PLACE, BUT HAD FED ME, CLOTHED ME, BOUGHT PRESENTS FOR ME.."  AND I WROTE "KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING"  MY DAD SHOWED ME THE VERY SMALL BATHROOM, IT HAD A TUB AND SHOWER, BUT JUST ENOUGH ROOM TO MOVE ABOUT A LITTLE.   THE WALLS WERE PINK TILE TRIMMED WITH A MAROON. THE WASH BASIN CURVED UNDER AND TRANSFORMED INTO A SINGLE WHITE COLUMN THAT SUPPORTED IT.  ON THE INSIDE OF THE DOOR HUNG MY FATHER'S RAZOR STRAPS.  HE WAS OLD SCHOOL AND SHAVED WITH A STRAIGHT EDGE.  I GAZED INTO THE SMALL MIRROR ABOVE THE BASIN AND REMEMBERED HOW MANY HOURS I SPENT IN FRONT OF THAT MIRROR..ASSESSING MYSELF.  I USED A HAND MIRROR TO LOOK AT MY DUCKTAIL WHICH WAS SO IN WITH THE KIDS BACK THEM.  LONG HAIR COMBED STRAIGHT BACK AND OVER TO MEET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BACK OF THE HEAD.  MY FATHER SAID IT LOOKED LIKE A GOOD PLACE TO BURY AN AXE.  I ALSO SURVEYED MY PIMPLES. I HATED THIS THINGS....I HAD A FEW BUT THEY WERE LIKE TAIL LIGHTS ON CARS. ANGRY RED KNOTS.  I REMEMBER MY FIRST WHISKERS...TWO OF THEM RIGHT TOGETHER ON LOWER RIGHT OF MY CHIN.  I HEARD BOB LEAVING HIS BEDROOM AND MOM YELLED "DINNER IS READY."  I FELT LIKE I MIGHT FAINT.  SO VERY DEAR. SO VERY FAMILIAR,  SO MUCH LIKE YESTERDAY BUT SO FAR AWAY.   (TO BE CONTINUED)

OLD HAUNTS PART NINE (SUNDAY)

I HAD SET THE ALARM TO WAKE ME UP IN TIME TO GET DRESSED AND GO TO CHURCH....IT STARTED AT 11 A.M.  THE AUDITORIUM WHICH SEATED ABOUT 200 WAS FILLING UP AND I FOUND A BACK SEAT SO I COULD SURVEY THE PEOPLE.  I SAW BOBBY COME IN AND HE WENT OVER TO THE LEFT SIDE AND SAT NEXT TO AN OPEN WINDOW.  I DID NOT SEE MY PARENTS UNTIL THE CHOIR CAME IN.....BOTH OF THEM SANG IN THE CHOIR AND MR. LIBBY GOT THE BEST OUT OF THEM....A REALLY GOOD CHOIR FOR ITS SIZE.  I WAS HOPING THEY WOUD SING "IF I COULD PUT TIME IN A BOTTLE"  BY JIM CROCE, BUT THEY OPTED FOR "OH FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES."  THEN, T. MYRON GOT UP TO PREACH,  HOMLIER THAN A MUD FENCE, BUT COULD THAT MAN PREACH.  REMINDED ME OF MOSES STANDING ON A ROCK AND COMMANDING THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL...HE WAS A LITTLE AUTOCRATIC, AND ONE DAY HE APPROACHED MY FATHER AND TRIED TO TALK DAD INTO BOTH THEM "RUNNING THE PLACE"  MY DAD GAVE HIM A GOOD SCOLDING AND ENDED BY SAYING "DON'T SHIT IN YOUR NEST."    T. M. AS HE WAS CALLED, FELL INTO DIS-FAVOR WITH THE BOARD OF ELDERS, AND ONE NIGHT T.M. KNOCKED ON DAD'S DOOR AND SAID RATHER SHEEPISHLY, "I SHIT IN MY NEST"   HE WENT ON TO OTHER THINGS LIKE RADIO MINISTRY.  CHURCH LET OUT AND BOBBY CAME RUNNING TO BACK DOOR.  HE SAW ME AND STOPPED IN HIS TRACKS.   "MR KEY'   HE CAME OVER AND WAS ALL BUBBLING ABOUT FLUBBING UP IN A SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION CONTEST BETWEEN 7TH AND 8TH GRADE.  HE QUOTED THE VERSE THAT SAYS  "THOU SHALT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THYSELF."   HE PESTERED ME TO MEET MOM AND DAD AND I AGREED.  HE BROUGHT THEM TO ME AND THEY  WERE SO DIS-ARMING...EXTENDED THEIR HANDS AND TOLD ME HOW MUCH THEIR SON LIKED ME.  THEY TOLD ME HE HAD TOLD THEM....."HE'S JUST LIKE ME"   THEN, THEY INVITED ME OVER TO THEIR HOME FOR SUNDAY DINNER.   I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE, BUT TRIED TO MUTE MY EXCITEMENT.   I THANKED THEM AND TOLD THEM I WOULD LIKE TO GO HOME AND CHANGE INTO SOME COMFORTIBLE CLOTHES.  THEY AGREED AND TOLD ME DINNER WOULD BE READY ABOUT ONE O'CLOCK......JUST ENOUGH TIME TO CHANGE MY CLOTHES AND HAVE A SCOTCH AND SODA FOLLOWED BY LISTERINE......(TO BE CONTINUED)