DEALING WITH THE HEAT... & more (Part 174m)

DEALING WITH THE HEAT… & more (Part 174m)

It was the end of a pretty fruitful day. I had the distinct feeling that Elle felt pretty much the same way. Reasonable temperatures (and our extra curricular activity) almost guaranteed a good night’s sleep. It was when I went downstairs to take my shower in the morning that I remembered the picture so grabbed the camera from the closet and pulled the tab. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. (see last post) Then I remembered the last few had been a bit disappointing as well and chalked it up to a bad pack of film. It had happened before and was due to the age of the film. I was usually on top of that but couldn’t remember if I’d checked the date on it when loading the camera. I made a mental note to get another pack before heading home that night.

There was nothing in my DayTimer about work that day. However, there is one entry and it took me a few seconds to have it register in my brain… Sweet Charity… it was a movie. Being a Friday I knew I had to have gone to the garage to check on the race car and the only thing I can come up with was Elle convinced me to take her to the movies after it. I honestly didn’t remember the movie and had to look it up, on line. Reading the intro it came back to me. Elle fancied herself as a Rockette, like at Radio City Music Hall in the city, and would day-dream about it from time to time. She wanted to see anything with dancing in it. There’s nothing else to give me a clue and I don’t know why. Even on my busiest days, or first thing the next morning, I’d find the time to make at least some cryptic notes. Strange!

The notes pick up again for Saturday. It was a typical day… lawn and chores at the church and a trip to the landfill. Junior had rejoined his wife and sister, next door and the women planned a little ‘welcome back’ party for him. Elle, I and the kids were invited but I was off to the races. According to my notes it was not a night to remember. No trouble qualifying, we started 10th, stayed out of trouble and finished 8th. The only thing memorable on that night was the guy who gave us the sponsorship money to buy the Chevrolet motor (Neil) had the car he fully sponsored there for the first time. The car had been racing at the track closer to home and the one where I’d raced. C J had raced against him before coming to this track and Cliffy went to him to find out what he could expect. His name was Curt and C J said he could be a hot head. I made a point of watching him and didn’t see anything special. Neil had told me he had wanted to get out of the sponsorship and thought he could do it back when he was initially talking to me. It turned out that he couldn’t. Since he didn’t own the car he couldn’t stop the guy from changing tracks. Because he was new to the track he had to start in the back and didn’t qualify. I wasn’t surprised.

When Cliffy talked with C J they also talked about the new open competition race that Fairlane John had offered to buy us the tires if we’d go. When he came back to the car he told us that C J was definitely going. The promoter of the race was going to pay every car that showed up $100. Cliffy said the $100 would pay for the gas and tolls for the race car hauler which he felt made going to the race a reasonable proposition. It was a one day race, a Sunday, which meant we’d be able to race, as usual, on Saturday. If everything was OK with the car when the races were over we’d just leave the track and head for Dover Delaware.

After the night's races were over, when the fans were allowed in the pits, most of the conversations had to do with the landing on the moon scheduled for the next day and not the races. Both Alan and Buster worked at the local aerospace company that did a lot of work on the moon landing project. However, the two of them assembled jet fighter planes and didn’t have anything to do with the moon project. But, they’d both been invited to go see the landing on a special TV that was to be set up in a hangar at work. There was also going to be a big celebration with all the employees getting some sort of commemorative gift. They were both excited about it as were most of the people who stopped by the car. For me, I’d not gotten caught up in the whole thing. Elle, being a teacher, had been collecting articles from the newspapers so she’d been getting more and more excited as the day approached. With the landing being on a Sunday I was more interested in the sailboat races. It had been a very disappointing Summer as far as sailing was concerned and I desperately wanted to get out on the water. One thing I’d picked up in the conversations around the car was they weren’t sure just what time the landing would be and then, more importantly, when they’d attempt to walk on the moon itself. As we left the track I was hoping to get to see something of it but was not going to dedicate the whole day for it.

One of the reasons I attended the 8am church service on Sundays was that it took less than an hour because there was no sermon. With so much attention being put on the moon landing, the minister decided to bless us with one attempting to tie the project in with spirituality. I was mad about the change so really didn’t pay any attention to it or him. When I finally got home I found Elle had retrieved the Sunday newspaper which she usually left for me. As could be expected the bulk of the news had to do with any and everything to do with the moon project and the landing. When I told her I was going to the sailing club she was upset that I didn’t think it was important and that I wouldn’t see this monumental event. She proceeded to excoriate me for not being excited about this once in a lifetime event. I pretty much ignored her and ended up leaving for the club after getting a bite to eat at noontime. I do remember getting to the bottom of the driveway and stopping, thinking about it for a few seconds, and then driving off.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised that the parking lot had but a few cars. Sundays, in the Summer, it was always full as the lot accommodated cars for the public beach, the softball field and the sailing club. Making the turn into the lot another thing that caught my attention was that there was no one on the ball field. Sunday afternoon ball games always drew a crowd. I was able to pull up right by the pathway to the club and then made my way to the porch. There was a hand written cardboard sign taped to the door that the races for the day were cancelled. I recognized some of the ‘regulars’ sitting on the steps and asked why the cancellation. Of course, it had to do with the moon landing starting with the fact that the guy the club had hired to provide a boat from which to run the races called that morning and said he wouldn’t be there. Then, the Commodore (head honcho) made some calls trying to find a replacement and was turned down. The guys on the steps told me they were going to go out and run some informal races and asked if I’d participate. I was there so said “Why not!”

There were four of us in all and it was while we were launching our boats that I realized that there weren’t many people on the public beach. All in all I don’t think I saw more than a dozen and only a few females. After we sailed out a ways into the bay we realized we’d not brought bouys to set up a race course. One of the guys said that “it just wasn’t meant to be…” as far as sailing that day and we headed back to shore.

To be continued…