April 19, 2004

• Tis the Season -

  
  

  To go outside!  I can't believe that it was less than a week ago (last Tuesday?!?) that we had four inches of snow on the ground.  Over the weekend we had highs right at 80 degrees.  Yesterday, Tucker never put on a shirt all day long.  On Saturday, I took the kids to Spring Mill for hiking.  It's a fabulous park with hiking trails, riding stables, swimming pool, movie stars ... no wait, back up.  There were no movie stars, but there is a memorial to a hero in the park. 

  
  

  Do you remember Gus Grissom?  If you were too young (like me) to remember him at the time he made that first flight into space - do you remember him from the movie The Right Stuff?  Gus Grissom was the first man in suborbital flight and it was when they were in the process of recovering the Mercury Module (Liberty Bell 7) that the hatch was blown and the module sank to the bottom of the Atlantic.  After that incident, rumors swirled that he had panicked and blown the hatch.  The modules were redesigned and he was chosen to command the first manned Gemini flight.  On March 23, 1965 in a flight lasting 4 hours 54 minutes and he circled the earth three times.  As someone who recently flew hours and hours and hours and didn't get even a fourth of the way around the earth, I'm impressed all over again with how fast those rockets go.  For his Gemini flight he named his modle "Molly Brown" after the heroine of the popular Broadway show The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  NASA was not amused and ended the practice of allowing astronauts to name their ships. 

  
  

  In 1966 Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were designated by NASA as the crew for the long-anticipated Apollo I moon flight.  On the afternoon of January 27, 1967 the astronauts were inside the Apollo spacecraft ad Cape Kennedy continuiing countdown tests when a fire broke out.  Because the hatch had been redesigned to prevent accidental opening upon landing, there was no way for the men inside to escape.  All three were dead within minutes. 

  
  

  In 1999 the Mercury module was recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic where it had rested for 35 years.  After it was examined by a team of engineers, they concluded that Grissom had been telling the truth, the hatch was blown due to a design flaw.  But vindication was bittersweet to Grissom's family and friends who know that had NASA not ordered the change, the men who died in the Apollo I tragedy would have had at least the hope of escapte.

  
  

  The Memorial at Spring Mill includes the Gemini module in which he orbited the earth, the flight suit he wore on the mission and other Grissom memorabilia and NASA photos.  The boys were fascinated by the story of a real hero.  A man who knew the risks but took the chance anyway and paved a path to the future that we have all benefitted from.

  
  

  In addition to the Grissom memorial - yes there is more - the park includes a village preserved from the turn of the last century which contains buildings from as far back as 1807.  In the center of the village stands a grist mill which still grinds corn into meal every hour on the hour by the working of the water wheel that turns in a picturesque stream.  We came home with a bag of freshly ground meal to make corn bread so the boys could taste something of the pioneer experience.

  
  

  And that was only Saturday.  Yesterday, I wanted to get started on lawn work.  So I got out the tractor, and stripped down to my bathing suit (see yard work is really just an excuse to work on my tan  ) Three hours later, Tim drove up.  He had called and got the report from Michael - Mom is out mowing - AGAIN!  So he brought eggs and milk (Michael also ratted me out on not staying ahead of the grocery shopping) and he did the weedeating.  Wow.  That was wonderful.  I actually quit work about the time he got here, because it being my first time out this year, my sunscreen was overtaxed and I knew I was getting a bit pink.  But hey!  I have tan lines.  Okay, okay, I have reddish pink lines - but they will BE tan lines.  Soon.

  
  

  Because it is the season to be outside. 

  • 5:33 pm
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