209. Apollo 50th anniversary

Week 209  7/20/19

We have been anticipating this day for a long time - the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon. The moon landing was today and the first walk on the 21st, which was my 16th birthday that year. Of course we watched on TV, our first color model and purchased for the occasion, although all the video seemed to be in shades of gray. Dad was the project manager for Apollo at the MIT Instrumentation Lab (later Draper Laboratories and then just Draper). This meant his team was in charge of the guidance, navigation and control systems for the command module and the lunar module, including the software and hardware.

There were many celebrations going on in Boston, Cambridge and elsewhere, but we decided to go to two that I was able to get us in as special guests.


First the MIT Museum. We called my brother Pete who lives nearby and he joined us at the museum, then we had lunch together in Central Square at the Middle East. For some reason I forgot to take his picture.

They were able to get a lunar sample on loan. It was guarded.

This is a demo of an actual original Apollo guidance computer and software. A man near Houston found the computer in some salvage junk and contacted NASA. Some engineers were able to get it working again with lots of time and even more innovation.

The other event we attended was a private Draper celebration. They spared no expense on 60s furnishings, authentic food, character actors, games and amusements, technology to make old radios and TVs show Apollo footage, many actual magazines and newspapers from July 1969 (where did they get these?!).

This room was supposed to represent Woodstock which took place in the same summer. I get the idea but it seems to be an idealized view of the concept or mood -- or maybe the view of someone who was tripping and wasn't really there. No mud. Swings? I guess those were for photo ops.

Flowered headbands were given to anyone who wanted one, also granny glasses, peace medallions etc.

Paul points to where he was sitting at Woodstock on a huge mural. It was about 30 feet long.

There was a huge battleship game and a huge Light Bright board.

Astronaut character - he had bubbles ejecting from his pack. I didn't get a photo of the character "hippie."

This is a cake.

I ran into several friends of my dad and was able to talk with them quite a bit.

I don't know what these guys were doing, but they were in costume with the white shirts, skinny ties and pocket protectors.

In the middle is Margaret Hamilton who was the main programmer in charge of the team who developed the Apollo software. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. The two women with flowers are programmers, I believe, and the woman with glasses on her head is the granddaughter of Doctor Charles Stark Draper. I have been writing to her and she gave me this photo.

The huge moon was lit up at the end of the evening.

208. Happy 40th Anniversary

Week 208  7/7/19

Our 40th anniversary. What should we do? How about a canoe trip?

I'll have to ask Paul where we went because I can't remember the name of this river right now. We enjoyed the paddle and gorgeous scenery. The weather was perfect. Oddly, we didn't see many animals. Usually there are herons or other water birds and turtles sunning on rocks, but not at this spot on this day.

We continued until we got to a branch. The choices were either paddling against very strong current and shallow waters or else this beaver dam. 

So we decided to eat lunch instead. We found a nice high spot where we could view the river. This being July, of course the meal included blueberries.

And here we are on a day with similar weather, exactly 40 years ago.

207. Cambridge

Week 207  7/2/219

The Draper Lab's exhibit on Apollo memorabilia opened recently and we were anxious to see it. We showed up in the morning and were told to come back after lunch - not open yet.

So we had a chance to look around MIT a bit.

Stata Center

Paul liked these benches where we ate our lunch. He might try to make something similar for our yard

This building on Albany Street is in the location of my Draper Lab department where I worked summers and January term while in college and later for a year after graduation.

We eventually got back to Draper. The exhibit was very well done with lots of artistic and nostalgic touches from the 60s, interesting technical information and media.

Who's that guy standing on the table toasting the splashdown?

206. Hometown fun - Summer Little League

Week 206  6/26/19

This is fun. A summer night eating burgers and watching kids play baseball at the same park where Julia and Ben used to play.

205. Massachusetts Walking Tour

Week 205  6/20/19

A group of musicians, mostly teachers, spend the summer touring the state on foot (and one year by canoe), as the Massachusetts Walking Tour, carrying their instruments and camping gear and performing in the evenings as they go. They always invite local musicians to perform also.

204. Convergence

Week 204  6/8/19

Most years, a group of my friends from college days gets together somewhere in the US. We are from Seattle, Austin, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts and we have met several places from coast to coast. (We may do a destination trip soon, though!)

This time we met at Sherry's house in Dorset, Vermont. The weather was perfect.

Here are the four Wellesley alums in the group. We went to an open house at an Orthodox monastery in Cambridge New York. The monks train German shepherds and the nuns make cheesecake.

A walk in Merck Forest

Most of us also went on a canoeing and kayaking trip on the Battenkill River but no photos of that.

We ate out at some nice places.

Several of us stayed at this Inn in Dorset. (Not Paul and me.)

 This was spectacular ice cream at Wilson Dairy, complete with farm scenery and the scent of cows.

Sherry is a playwright and this is her desk, overlooking her beautiful gardens and swimming pool.

Paul and I took a side trip to the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester. My grandfather, Edward Griffith was involved in the founding of this place which is less than 1/4 mile from where he lived with my grandmother Emma.  This was a special exhibit of futuristic fashion.

This fountain sits at the base of the driveway at the house where my grandparents lived. It brings back memories for everyone in my family.