The Moon - Cow Conundrum
Posted at 5:30 AM on July 20, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(19 Comments)
Today is the 40th Anniversary of the first time humans set foot on the moon. It seems like everyone has been asked to comment on the significance of the event. Almost everyone, at any rate. Some people's memories are still a little too hot to handle. Here's a recollection from former Morning Show chief correspondent and now independent journalist and muckraker, Bud Buck:
I was but a wee tyke in late July of 1969, but I mark it as the beginning of my career in journalism. I couldn't have been more than 4 years old. My parents carefully explained that there were men up there, and that they flew in a space ship. My mother said they had landed on the surface that very afternoon, and before the day was out, they would be walking around on that glowing orb in the night sky. It was, she said "absolutely historic" and she claimed we would all remember this day "for as long as we lived". Something didn't add up.As any good reporter would, I tested their story against what I knew. I had heard in nursery rhymes (ready to me by these very same people) that a mere cow had already jumped all the way over the moon! Why the excitment? So when my father claimed the moon's surface was covered with dust, I added "And cowpies".
Their laughter still echoes in my ears.
"No," they assured me, "there are no cowpies on the moon." But I had seen cows on my uncle's farm and I knew they couldn't go more than a few feet without flopping out a disgusting mass of smelly goo. For a cow to jump over the moon without leaving something behind was, to my mind, unimaginable. My only thought at the moment: "Why are these people lying to me?"
I pressed for answers and their amusement faded. They became testy, and before long, it was "time for bed". Hmmm. Convenient. I fought, but ultimately I was forced to end the interview and don my jammies. By the time I woke up the next morning, it seemed the entire world had swallowed this story, whole.
But either the events of "Hey Diddle Diddle" were vastly exaggerated, or the so-called "acheivements" of these "astronauts" were a cruel fantasy. Which?
I'm still trying to work that one out. People are reluctant to talk.
Neil Armstrong himself has refused my repeated requests for an interview to explore the inconsistencies in this story as they pertain to facts established in ancient folklore like "Hey Diddle Diddle". And yet everyone goes along accepting the "official" version of events.That's why I remain a committed journalist to this very day.
And to think it all started 40 years ago.
No dobut the moon landing was a significant event for everyone alive at the time. Even if it didn't give you your life's calling as it did for Bud Buck, do you remember what you were doing 40 years ago today?
Comments (19)
Oh, Dale, that's funny. It's nice to start off Monday with a laugh.
I will always remember being in our backyard on the night of July 20th, and looking up at the moon with my dad and thinking about the men who were, amazingly, up there.
Thanks for the comment, Kris.
I have very sketchy memories of the day.
I do recall wanting to be outside, even though all the action was inside, in front of the TV.
Maybe I wanted to see the moon with my own eyes. Does anyone recall what sort of moon we had that night? Full? Quarter? A sliver?
oh, how great, Bud! you must have been a very smart kiddo to connect those two so swiftly. you were asking the right questions. thanks for sharing your story with us!
we have other questions here on our farm... we believe that Hey Diddle Diddle was wrested (by the bovine PR folks - early on) from the real jumper over the moon - a goat. it could be proven - no mushy, ploppy pies up there - it's a cover up! they saw nice, round pellets scattered generously over the surface.
I don't remember where I was when the moon landing occured and I don't usually remember much about what I was doing when other things like this happened. I guess I am a little too out in space myself to remember things like this.
A scientist who studied round worms has a problem similar the problem Bud Buck has about cowpies on the moon. This scientist was sure they would find round worms on the moon. Many round worms are very tiny and if you look for them they are found in large numbers all over the earth. He thought that they must be on the moon.
Good Morning! I don't remember what sort of moon we had that night, but I recall that my family was invited to the neighbors to watch the TV transmission because they had a color set and we didn't. What a surprise to see things on the moon were all in the gray-scale!
I was inspired enough to write a short poem, asking the man in the moon if he was going to return the visit.
Thanks for the wonderful lunar-tunes, Dale and Mike!
Dale, your blog entry assumes the readers are old enough to remember 40 years back! ;-) Well, I do fit the demographic, but I don't really have clear memories of that day... only a hazy recollection of watching the news of it on my grandmother's television.
I see the anniversary wasn't significant enough to get a Google graphic. Oh well. Perhaps in 10 years. :D
Happy Monday!
I, my siblings, Mom, Dad, Grandmother were all glued to the tv set, practically all day,. What would happen next? Would peril overtake them? It was way to stressful to last awake until dark, I'm sure I was in bed by then and hae no moon phase recollections.
That Bud was sure on the ball at such a young age! Keep digging Bud!
A good moon song you could play, Dale, is Rooty Toot Toot for ther Moon by Greg Brown.
I just have to mention one other thing I've been pondering this weekend. Just when the youth of today are being so dismissive of our generations, along come repeats of Kronkites moon reports to make me so treasure my memories of my parents and their generation, what heroes they were, what an impact they made!
Go ahead and roll your eyes at us youth, you'll thank us one day...
Lovely tunes, Dale.
A friend and I were traveling through Maine on a motorcycle, it was raining that day and we were holed up in a tent until we ventured out to get food...we must have learned of the event then...or later when we got back to home.
I missed lots of historic events 40 hears agowhen I was traveling about avoiding responsibility.
Morning, Dale and RH.
Could you please play "Cajun Moon" by JJ Cale - in the third hour? Thanks!
I remember arranging my infant twin sisters in front of the TV so they wouldn't miss the historic moment...Tehy don't remember but we do have pictures to prove they watched.
I am always impressed with how much the astronauts talk about the beauty of earth from space. Dale, could we add "Blue Boat Home" to the mix, please?
Good Morning Dale,
Jim Reeves has a whole record "Moonlight & Roses". I remember being on the bus in high school with "It's a new moon over my shoulder" stuck in my head and thinking I must be the only high schooler that even knows this song!
Kathy
just thought of a good "moon song"... old devil moon. :D
40 years ago I was a mere toddler, and have no recollection of the moon landing (heck, I have no memory of me at that age - let alone anything else that might have been happening then...). I do remember watching one of the Apollo mission broadcasts a few years later on our black and white TV. I kinda got that this was a big deal, and especially so since one of Mom's classmates was on the moon (Harrison Schmitt). I do remember thinking it was kinda cool - but probably more because my church musician Mom had gone to school with an astronaut.
I remember being in the family car - listening to it on the radio. We were on our way to Washington D.C. I remember being mad that we weren't watching it on TV. (Since then, I've come to appreciate radio much more.) And the last few years I've wondered if we really did land on the moon, or if it was an elaborate hoax staged by the government. It still seems impossible!
Good Morning- Evidently Bud Buck and I are the same age, but his memory is much more vivid than mine. I just recall Mom standing us in front of the old B&W console tv in the living room and watching a bit of the walking about... I guess I was still more impressed with Mr Rogers at that age for it to mean too much. :+)
Good morning all,
Armstrong stepped onto the surface just before 10 p.m. Central time, according to Wikipedia. I looked up moon phases for July 1969, 1st quarter was on July 23, so would have been up in the west that night.
Unfortunately I don't specifically recall watching the event live, although I can't imagine we didn't. I was not quite 8 years old then. But as many children of the 60s, science and space caught my imagination. I was fascinated by the stars, satellites and the space race.
Elinor, I was surprised too that Google didn't commemorate today.
It seemed to me Google had done a moon landing logo sometime recently - found the most recent was in 2005. With all the talk of the 40th anniversary, and the tie-in with Walter Cronkite's recent passing, I'm still surprised it didn't get done this year. Here's a link to the 2005 logos:
I do look forward to Google's special logos though. The most recent one I really liked was for Nicola Tesla's birthday.
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