Spending Time in 1969 Part Two

 Frankly my experiment in going back to a moment in  history , namely 1969 has lost it's luster. A year that had 2 great highs  so to speak. Our first moon landing in July 1969 and a different kind of high Woodstock the next month. But in my 15 plus interviews and various travels in my hometown and other places I think I solved my original question.. How did that era seemingly end , culturally , politically etc so quickly. It really did by the way. August of 69 looked much different from August 70. So, quickly let me give you my $00.50 opinion. It fell apart from it's own rather heavy weight. The upheaval of the 60's simply wore people out. I remember New Years Eve in 1970 when we stumbled out of the 60's.  When we left that decade we left a time when many thought changed the world for the better. Well , we may have spoken of Peace & Love but in my opinion we are more divided than ever. Case in point......when coming up from Charlotte , North Carolina I passed through an open carry state. After I got gas I stood in line at the convenience store  behind a man who was big , had body odor , scruffy beard and was caring his pistol on his hip. Not much of a desire for peace and love there. Trust me you could tell  without much esp. So as I enter News Years Eve Night.........let me say I do miss that younger Hudson Hawk , you know the one with the longer hair and is not so wore down by recent illness and  cynicism. So off we all go to a new year.

Spending Time in 1969 Probably Part One

 As I wrote a few months ago , I am exploring the year 1969.  As of this writing  that was 45 yrs ago.  I am sort of exploring some issues of how the 60's ended.. But let me write down some initial observations. I have done over 15 interviews , grew my hair longer , drove a rented VW aircooled , spend a fair amount of time in my hometown. My hair drove my wife crazy ,  so I have now cut it.  But this is kind of a few things I noticed. I took roads that existed in 1969, trust me it took longer to get places. Many of the interstates were not completed , the 9J overhaul had just begun. Driving down Albany's Central Avenue is a chore compared to zipping down an express lane. But you see all the old business districts that no longer are vibrant. In my hometown area of Castleton NY is all most dead. I would not be surprised to see tumble weeds blow down Main Street. Houses boarded up , business mostly gone. We have become used to our quick communication society , cell phones , the Web , a wide variety of Apps.  Living in 1969 was  very different. I stopped and used a pay phone to call my wife.  A throw back moment , not convenient. But , I enjoyed the lack of interruption. Oh.....no cable news....for a few days watched the NBC Nightly News and read the Times Union newspaper. You had to spend more time being an informed  citizen. I could not manage the diet well.......we were not a society that ate all that well. It was beginning to happen , but we were still a drinking , smoking , high fat society for the general population. Nobody had heard of non smokers rights. However , I think the one revelation I had was that P.J. O'Rourke was right. He once said in one of his books that there is a limited amount of types of people in the world and you met all of them in High School. Rooting around in the past and being in the present , interviewing people about the end of the sixties , it struck me , that the same personality types keep coming up. I graduated High School with everyone of them.....really. From the crazy liberal to the crazy conservative and the middle of the road guy.  The English major type to the carpenter. The back slapper to the shy guy to the lady's man. They all wandered   the corridors of Maple Hill High School.  So.....that is what my first impressions have been. Still working on it as 45 yrs ago winds down.

Citizens Band Radio License Discovered

While preparing to throw out another box of stuff from my mothers old home { she save damned near everything} I discovered something from my early youth. My FCC Citizens Band License. Yes , you used to have to have one to operate a higher wattage transciever.  I am talking late 60's. My call sign was KBU 5271. Back then it was known as the poor man's ham radio. So with a used set , and a ground plane antenna bought in Connecticut I began broadcasting out of 110 Scott Avenue in Castleton , NY 12033. Talked all over the Capital Region. If atmospheric conditions were right sometimes much farther. To be honest , my set had been modified so I was broadcasting above the legal limit of 5 watts. Probably around 7 to 8 watts. It filled my time in the summer of 69 but my senior year kept me quite busy and I spent less time with my hobby. My last really solid memory was on my Christmas vacation of 1969. We were  having a snow storm in the region. I was up late around 1:00 am . Tuned around  , called out to a couple of people with no result. Suddenly I heard a distant voice with an unusual accent. I answered and we began to communicate. Low and behold he was a ham radio operator in Johannesburg , South Africa. I was flabbergasted. I was getting my signal all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Trust me , most of the time back then you got around 50-55 miles on an average broadcast. The atmosphere must have somehow been in near perfection. We talked for about 10 minutes when our voices began to fade. He got my address and sent me what was called a QSL card which was a verification notice. The card was in the box as well.  So , there is a memory from way back , it is interesting to see how finding a piece of paper can trigger a vivid memory that you have not thought about for close to 45 yrs. 10/7.

Retro in Time-Going Back to 1969/1970

  I realize this will sound ...well...weird. One of my most fascinating points of history is appx July 1969 to about July 1970. I believe this was a major change point in time. The transition from the turbulent 60's to a different time which I believe leads in a meandering way to our dysfunctional  present political and social state. So what am I planning. Well......I am sure you know of  reactors who dress up in say Civil War garb and  refight various battles etc. Well I plan to in a way go back to that 1969 era to see if I can understand it better and see if I can recharge my history muse {if I can find her}. How do I plan to do this , well I will borrow a 68 VW beetle to drive for a couple of days. I have purchased a Schick adjustable razor circa 1970's from ebay. I plan to drive roads and highways only available that year. So I am planning this out. So one more reason why. I am now so far a cancer survivor. Finished up radiation in July for throat cancer. This September shortly after Labor Day the class of 2015 will enter Maple Hill High School for their senior year. Just as I did in 1969 some 45yrs ago. When one has cancer I have begun to realize that life is short or atleast shorter than I may hope. So who knows if I will make a 50th anniversary. So better now to try my experiment rather than later......don't worry I will write a blog about some of my impressions. So if you live in the Schodack NY area especially , and you knew me back then say hello , I would love to talk with you on that era. I may even be wearing a tie dyed T shirt. I told you it was going to sound odd.

Early Automobile Map Discovered

 A few years ago I purchased a book at a Garage Sale. Richard Carvel by Winston Churchill. Inside this musty old book I discovered an early road map of  Rensselaer County and Columbia County in upstate New York. It was only a partial part of the total map. I surmise this map is circa 1920's. What I have been wondering about off & on for a couple of years is why certain parts of the map are circled in pencil. All circles are next to a body of water. Along the Hudson River and  three streams are high lited. One spot which is located in the now Schodack State Park has the notation" easy turn off." One spot along the Moorenden Kill stream has the same notation. I think after some research and visiting some of the sights I may have an idea what this map was used for. Obviously, for navigation , route 9J was once a major road to NYC area. I believe the notations show places where one could pull off into the water and cool off ones tires. You see back in those days tires were rubber based , it would be several years before they would not be made of pure rubber. Ford Motor Company  had their own rubber plantation in South America. Rubber was an important product in those days. The biggest problem with pure rubber tires is they could heat up to be as hot as the roadway and in some cases burst. From late spring to early fall . this was a problem. By driving your car into a stream or river could cool your tires off and give you prolonged tire life. This map , probably used as a book mark is rapidly deteriorating. Once exposed to air it has greatly faded. Time for it to fade into history.

That First Sound of Spring on the First Warm Friday

 This has been a tough winter.....one of the harshest in several years. Grounds keepers in places like Detroit are having a difficult time getting fields ready for opening of baseball with deep permafrost. So people seem left to wait for their spring experience to happen. I discussed  this experience at a dinner party. It of course differs between people , for some the first sighting of a Robin. Others it is opening day of baseball season or the first early barbeque. Mine is perhaps more esoteric. It is the first reasonably warm day after spring arrives on a Friday afternoon. High School gets out or classes are done at a local college , in my case Union. People may leave work early. There is a sudden increase in traffic speed. The local pulse seems to quicken. Then off in the distance one hears tires burn a little rubber. I have heard this happen from Lake Placid NY to Atlantic Beach NY to Washington DC. I first noticed it in my hometown of Schodack NY. Probably because I was doing it myself with a couple of friends. That first warm Friday afternoon.....the weekend ahead....Spring in the air finally. You want to go out and just drive a little extra , take the long way back home , take that tight turn a little faster. Trust me , it's a collective thing that really happens. I trust you all hear it soon. At the dinner party a few people especially the guys showed a certain recognition. It's coming..... be listening

Namath Till Now

As I write I am in the middle of moving back to the Albany New York area.....you never know how much you got till you move. Luckily , I can move up slowly over a three month time frame so it has not been so hectic and stress inducing. But I am taking some time to answer a question recently asked of me at a House Party we gave on January 1st of this year. Why in hell am I a Jets fan. This was asked  by an obnoxious Cowboys fan that populate the Globe. OK....but a fair question. The decisions of youth can sometimes haunt  one throughout life and this is a small example I presume. So here is the answer......Joe Namath. It was 1965 and I was sort of a Giants fan. I watched YA Tittle in the early sixties. The great 50's 60's Giants quarterback. But 1964 season and you can look it up was a disaster. Tittle who was in the NFL championship game the year before was old suddenly and the team had dissolved. He was in his late thirties and retired after 64 to his Insurance and Financial Services Company. That Giant era was over. I lost interest in the game and did other things in my early teen years like become involved in The Beatles era. I however did watch one college game , The Orange Bowl with a talented wise ass quarterback named Joe Namath. He won and there was something about him. The Jets signed him for 1965. The old AFL seemed a proper fit for the brash kid from Bama. Suddenly he was all the news....he was introduced  at the old Toots Shores in NYC and for you trivia fans received his physical in Toots Shores bathroom. REALLY! The next couple of his days were consumed by his one of many knee surgeries. Suddenly the poor brother of the Giants was news. Back in those days the Jets  did not even get that much television coverage , often one had to listen to them on the radio and they played often on Saturday night to not compete with the Giants on Sunday.  All of a sudden , the station in Schenectady WRGB was going to broadcast  their games. People were interested in a team that played then in the old Polo Grounds along with the then lowly METS. They had a new home at Shea Stadium and they had Namath. I a burgeoning 60's wise-ass took to this new guy and the fast paced AFL. Broadway Joe and the sixties were a great fit. It seemed the right fit for me as I progressed through  my teen and early twenties. Oh and Joe leading them to their to the only Superbowl appearance and actually won was an addition narcotic to keep me a fan. The following years have not all ways been kind to a fan of this team. Sometimes damn painful. But I have stuck with them. In retrospect , I think it some of it has been loyalty, But maybe it is youthful hope and ambition that I once felt still flickers within me and stays this course to remind me of the bashful and brashful kid. I watch on waiting for a spark of youthful magic. I suppose we all do in one way or another.