A Long Surprising Day | Life in 1972 - 03

Grady in 1970 at age 15

Saturday, June 17, 1972 - Page 169

LOCATION: Oxnard & Newport Beach, California

(9:00 PM 6/18/1972)

It is now 9:12, Sunday nite. Larry, Dad, & Grampa Bill just left. S'long.

Saturday was a day of great variety. I wonder if I can remember most of it. Nope, not now. I'm going to go eat something, now that everyone's gone, then I'll get back. ---

11:39 P.M. -- Forget it ---

ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND WE SPIN -- WITH FEET OF LEAD AND WINGS OF TIN

[This is a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle"]

On that ominous note, I shall commence -- It is now 10:47:17 A.M., Tuesday, June 20, 72 -- I'd procrastinate longer, but if I didn't do this I'd have to clean up my room.

Chuck Lyda, age 17, at the Havasupai reservation in the Grand Canyon, 1970

An Epic Battle Between Brothers (just horsing around...)

Something I forgot to mention on Friday's entry, in the motel before dinner at about 5:30 we were waiting for Jerry to call Chunk (he never did), and Chunk was reading "The New Centurions." I was somewhat intoxicated, and I'd just won back my dollar, and one more from Chunk. Rick mentioned that Chunk's eyes were bloodshot, so I went to take a look, but he shut his eyes -- I tryed to pry them open and he brought his arms against me, so I tried to hold down his arms so I could open his eyes.

A monumental wrestling match ensued, with me attempting to look at his eyes, and him trying to prevent it. This endeavor eventually disintegrated into an all-out brawl -- We fell from the bed to the floor, and from the floor I flipped him to a desk, we tumbled in between the beds -- We used pressure points, throat squeezing, chin twisting, scissor holds, and many other techniques. But the bout remained a draw throughout.

I had a significant advantage, wearing only my cut-offs so I was too slippery to hold -- But I sought a greater advantage cause the match was getting a little old and I feared the management may appear -- So I drew the knife he had on his belt, ending the contest. I released the weapon, and he got me in a hold in which he could break my neck or arm, so we both won. I acquired several scratches on my person, notably a finger-nail size scratch on the bridge of my nose where a scab remained for 3 days. I also got a bit of a bloody nose. But considering Chunk's size, I did fairly well breaking-even as I did. I never did find out if his eyes were bloodshot, though.

I'll get to the events of Saturday next, but it is now 11:12:50, and I'm going to get the mail.

Grady riding horsebackward into Havasupai. These photos were taken by Wendy (Carpenter) Wallace

(11:36:16 AM 6/20/1972)

Nothing came in the mail except a F.M. [Franklin Mint] Album for Mom's U.N. First Day medals.

I Am Kicked Off The Crew On The Final Day Of The Job

SAT: Okay -- We got up at 5:30 A.M. when the desk called -- then we got up again when the desk called at 5:45 A.M., and we staggered to breakfast. We loaded our stuff into the truck and drove to the apts by 7:00. Frank appeared and we got to work. Jerry showed up shortly with his buddy, Wiley.

Wiley was there Thursday when we got our checks -- he looks just like Jerry -- dark short hair, enormous beer belly with a stretch shirt that occasionally revealed his flabby naval. Amiable but occasionally gross (e.g., "I'm a Mormon -- Can't drink or smoke -- chuckle -- Just allowed to eat pussy." Yuck). They arrived at about 8:30, and we all got to work grading -- Frank, Chunk, Wiley, and Jerry graded swiftly, Rick raked it over, I shoveled the residue into a wheelbarrow and dumped it.

The Nemesis -- Mr. Brown -- appeared at about 10:00 A.M to wag his finger at Jerry. After a half hour the eventual outcome was this: Rick and I, being non-Union "maintenance men" couldn't work -- So Jerry decided to quit for the day. He and Wiley left. Rick and I watered the plants, Chunk & Frank graded, and we finally left by a quarter to one. Rick and me were through with Oxnard -- Only Union men could work it from then on. We could get back working on Thursday when they start working in Riverside (until the Union catches them). But that's the last I'm gonna do. I'll be going to S.D. [South Dakota] on the 28. As we were finishing up, Fernando dropped by, having seen us as he was passing.

Back Home To Find Unexpected Visitors

Anyway, Frank dropped us off in N.B. [Newport Beach], and Mom wasn't home. She showed up by about 3 or 4, with Grandpa Bill. She'd got him for Father's Day. We decided to go to a movie -- Stadium 2: "Little Big Man" - "Big Jake" & "A Man Called Horse."

But Mom got a call that shattered the movie idea. Jim Weidner -- Mom's sister's son -- my cousin that is -- had arrived. We hadn't expected him. Mom picked him up on a highway someplace. He was with a friend -- Tim Hast from Puerto Rico. They had taken a bus from San Francisco -- that's where Jim lives -- to Tijuana, then they hitch-hiked to here. Jim is taller than me, wears square wire-framed glasses, and has long hair so he looks a lot like Shepard Salusky [a school-mate at Harbor High], only not as dumpy looking.

We were surprised at each other's appearance cause we hadn't seen each other in at least five years. Tim Hast looks like a young Kent McCord (of "Adam 12"). His father is a Baptist minister in Puerto Rico. When Jim lived there with his parents (his dad worked there), he met Jim at school. Tim was born in Oklahoma, but is a citizen of P.R.

We all talked a lot, and Chunk came over to talk with them. Eventually, me, Chunk, Jim & Tim went off in Chunk's truck to drive around Newport Beach to show them the place. I rode in the back, and they were in the cab. We drove to Balboa Island, where we picked up three hitch-hikers from Buena Park -- two guys, and a cute gal who were staying in Newport for the Summer in a $90 a month abode on B-Street. We dropped them off, and picked up two young guys from Placentia. The place is already full of tourists, and school has just been out a couple of days.

After all that we drove to Chunk's place at 8:00 and watched "All in the Family" -- the one I'd seen before with Sammy Davis Jr. in it. [Here's a FunFact from 2015: According to the show's creators, the character of Eric Cartman in the animated comedy "South Park" was intended to be the childhood version of famous bigot Archie Bunker from "All in the Family."]

We left for Coco's at a quarter to 9:00 cause Winnie was gonna get off work. We had to wait awhile for a table (it was Saturday nite, remember), then we all had hot fudge sundaes. We left at around ten, driving Winnie home.

We stayed there a while, then we all (me, Chunk, Winnie, Jim, and Tim) drove to Balboa Island, and Chunk dropped us off at the Fun Zone with blankets and a sleeping bag. We took the Ferry @ 10¢ apiece to Balboa (so we must've been on Lido Island before, right? -- We've been here three or four years and I still don't know the place). Then we walked home from the Ferry, about 2 miles I guess.

2009 photo of the Balboa Island Ferry Terminal, Newport Beach

I had trouble navigating because I still don't have my glasses. We got back to "Eye Sore Park" at midnight. Me, Jim, and Tim slept out on the porch in sleeping bags, because Grandpa Bill [a successful impressionist artist] was on the fold-out couch bed. The nite was fairly warm so I slept pretty well. That takes care of Saturday, one of the longest days I've had for quite a while...

It's 12:47:47 P.M. [Tuesday, 6/20/1972] now. I'll get around to Sun, Mon, & Tues when I get around to it.

For more like this, go to  Top 20 Entries from 1972
ALSO, see Life in 1972:
Whitewater April - 01, Races May - 02, 18th Birthday July - 04