Almost a half a century ago seems like a long time - But it was Magical | Eastern North Carolina Now

    On this day in 1969 I sat at my parent's house watching television. The country was in the midst of a tumultuous war, there was unrest in the street, and racial tensions were high. Pretty much the same as it is now.

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Almost a half a century ago seems like a long time

July 20, 1969
    I had been back in the world for six months from that tumultuous war. I was not yet adjusted to civilian life. I had just been discharged from the Army a month before and had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life. As a matter of fact, I did not really give a damn about the rest of my life. I was hell bent on having a good time without any thought about anything but me. You might say I was pretty PI$$ED at the world. Such were the thoughts of a self indulgent twenty-four-year old feeling sorry for himself.

    But somehow all that was put in perspective when I sat and watched one of the most amazing accomplishments that mankind had ever made. On this day in 1969 a flimsy spacecraft landed on the moon. Using less computing power than I currently carry in my Iphone, they were able to navigate through space and set down on the surface which had until then been nothing more than a white sphere in the night sky every 30 days or so for me.

    When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, it was probably one of the most uplifting affirmations of the human species' ability to overcome adversity. Many did not think it was possible because of the laws of Physics. Some today still don't think it was possible or happened.

    One of my favorite folk writers of that era was John Stewart (Formerly of the Kingston Trio). He wrote a song about our inability to get along on earth yet still be able to accomplish so much when it comes to technical goals. I have always felt that folk music was one of the ways to change the way we treat each other. Unfortunately, most folkies then and now thought that was the government's job as well. When their music failed to change the hearts and minds of people they turned to the government to do it. The same is true of many religions as well.

It seems that us humans have a knack for challenges that have a concrete solution but no knack at all for those things that seem to separate us here on earth. We always try to find the solution in forcing others to bend to our way of thinking. Apparently nothing has changed in those 48 years. But for one brief night everyone in the world seemed to marvel at our ability to overcome all adversity when we work together as a team.

    John Stewart - Armstrong Lyrics

    Black boy in Chicago
    Playing in the street
    Not near enough to wear
    Not near enough to eat
    Don't you know he saw it
    On a July afternoon
    He saw a man named Armstrong
    Walk upon the moon

    Young girl in Calcutta
    Barely eight years old
    The flies that swarm the market place
    Will see she don't get old
    Don't you know she heard it
    On that July afternoon
    She heard a man named Armstrong
    Had walked upon the moon
    She heard a man named Armstrong
    Had walked upon the moon

    The rivers are getting dirty
    The wind is getting bad
    War and hate are killing off
    The only earth we have
    But the world all stopped to watch it
    On that July afternoon
    To watch a man named Armstrong
    Walk upon the moon
    To watch a man named Armstrong
    Walk upon the moon
    To watch a man named Armstrong
    Walk upon the moon

    And I wonder if a long time ago
    Somewhere in the universe
    They watched a man named Adam
    Walk upon the earth

    Songwriters: STEWART, JOHN C.


   I remember walking out into the front yard of my parents home and looking up at the Moon. Just to imagine that some 250,000 miles away a man was walking on the surface of the moon gave me some comfort. I had spent a many night 10,000 miles away looking up at the moon thinking that someone was watching the same moon back home. Of course that was not true since Georgia and Vietnam are on opposite sides of the world, but dreams don't need reality to be true. It was not a full moon on July 20, 1969, so I doubt that I was looking at the landing spot. I'm not sure I want to contemplate the difference in Waxing and Waning

   What most people do not realize is that the moon phases are the same from anywhere on earth. If you can see the moon at all you are seeing the same phase as anyone else on earth who can see the moon. Phases of the moon. It may be inverted based on your relationship to the equator.

    I can't say that I put on my big boy pants then but it did reinforce what I had been taught most of my life. You have the ability to change the course of your life just by making a decision to do so and hitching up to the load. Check you compass and start pulling and you will get there. All it takes is one step at a time.