Final Approach: The Eagle Has Landed

Star Date: July 26th 1969.


"The Eagle has landed"

 Man had stepped foot on the moon for the first time in history...I know a bunch of rats will be sorely disappointed, but as it turns out, the moon is not made of green cheese after-all.

I have to admit, however, that I was a little disappointed that we did not discovered a colony of Martins hiding behind some pile of moon rocks. The discovery of Martins would have helped to explain some of the outlandish stories of alien abductions on those dark, two-lane highways in the middle of the desert with the lone couple in their rusty old Chevy pickup truck.


BUT... it also was a bit of a comfort to believe that my rescuers at the infamous "Salton Sea Tragedy" (Post 5/13-27/2013) had not been aliens, but angels instead. From time to time I had wondered if I had been subjected to one of those crazy abduction events in my bizarre desert incident and had been given a mind-wipe before being returned to earth at Gene's Diner at the Salton Sea Marina. (An Alien abduction would account for an inexplicable lapse in time and also for the superhuman strength, I experienced that was way beyond my mere 90 pound frame, to fight off trained wrestlers who were 100 pounds heaver than myself and also the ability to fend off five or six members of the hippie Wolf Pack at one time - who just so happened to be at home in Venice waiting for my return ).

Anyway, Armstrong and his crew had plunged into the Pacific and returned safely to earth 2 days ago as President Kennedy had pledged 8 years earlier!  And, just as they had returned home from outer-space... Troop 32 was about to make the final descent back into Venice in our inglorious spaceship otherwise known as the Scout Truck which we affectionately called, "The Beast."  i.e. The converted moving-truck turned mobile-cage-fighting-on-wheels.  

 As we farted and fought, pee'd out the back and "BA'ed" grandmas all the way home from the Boy Scout Jamboree, I imagined how dull the ride must have been for the pathetic"normal" kids like Bill Gates who had to travel in those luxury buses and couldn't help but thinking about how much fun they were missing out on.

We arrived at our Scout House at the intersection of West Washington Boulevard and Washington Way and disembarked looking like a band of rag-tag, war-torn refugees to the horror of awaiting parents! 

  

I put my backpack on and trekked the few blocks home, wondering what was in store for me when I got there.  Oops... Wait, that's not my house... 

                                                              This is..... 

A lot of scary stuff was going on at this time. Charles Manson and his crew had set up shop not far away in Malibu and were in the middle of a killing spree that included actress Sharon Tate as well as the gruesome murders of the LaBiancas. 

Meanwhile, a deranged fan of our neighbors, the Lennon Sisters, by the name of Chet Young had made threats against the Mr. Lennon, and also against President Johnson, for keeping him away from Peggy Lennon (who he believed to be his wife).  

Not only were things tense in the world, but it seemed to be touching-down right in our city... right across the street...right on Harding Avenue and right in my backyard where the Vietnam War, draft-dodging hippies were hiding out next to the "Mexican Tomato Plants" under tyrannical scrutiny of the dreaded Veloci-Rooster.  

Next time: Another escapee that terrorizes our neighborhood.