Friday, November 14, 196- hands down, the most boring AND exhilarating morning of my life.
Mim & I were soaring when Jim Harkins waved us off to a side road that gave a WOW vantage point for seeing the launch. The rocket, well over a mile away, was SO tall & the stretches of grassland between us & it SO flat, it almost felt like we were among the honored guests in the viewing bleachers at the Kennedy Space Center.
EXCITEMENT! We parked our van next to about ten other vehicles, climbed out, checked out our environs - and realized that we hadn't thought to bring a) lawn chairs for sitting, b) food or drink, other than what Mrs. Harkins had packed for us, c) toilet paper, d) extra batteries for the transistor radio, or e) anything to READ over the wait.
We sat in the hot van, watching guys playing with frisbees, older couples settled in comfy chairs reading, kids frolicking with their dogs. That got old real fast. There wasn't a decent radio station to be found on the radio & they all seemed to be repeating the same particularly irksome ad for a local car dealership over & over & over.
To break the boredom, I'd climb up to stand on the roof of the van to watch the rocket through Dad's binoculars.
Did I mention that my lower left leg was in a full cast, thanks to a broken ankle?
Or that I made the climb up & down several times while time ticked by?
If only i could find the photo Mim took of me, atop the van, cast on foot, binoculars in hand, no ladder in sight.
Somehow, I managed to hoist myself up on the steps of the front passenger side & use the open window to heave myself up... Nah, after that there is NO memory of how I managed it. Other than propelled by sheer, unremitting boredom.
That is, until everyone's radio, by now all tuned to the same channel, said, "We have T-minus 10 minutes & counting." Our hearts zoomed & everyone's eyes turned to the rocket.
Did I mention that storm clouds were moving in swiftly from the north, threatening to engulf the Cape in grey cloud cover?
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