Idle Rambling -- March 10, 2019

From Williston Development:

I spotted this over at Williston Development. I grew up in Williston but I no longer recognize the maps.

We lived on 17th Street on the edge of town. My friends and I walked one block to an open field and spent many, many Saturdays digging a huge hole that we knew would take us to China. We never even got as deep as the Bakken, despite all our digging.

But I digress. As noted, we lived on the corner of 17th Street and 8th Avenue (north/west?) and just a block from the edge of town. It was before Gloria Dei church, and before the multi-unit housing that went up in that field.

Now, look at this: 58th Street, north of Williston, on/near the Can-Am Highway -- which by the way, I did not recognize -- never called it that. It was the "Million Dollar Way" and the source of the name for the blog. US Highway 2 & 85 north of Williston.

58th Street and one can tell from the map that the city extends well north of this.

Hitch-hiking over the years (including two times cross country) always started / ended at the bowling alley / car dealership / El Rancho / Sinclair gas station intersection on the "Million Dollar Way."

Volney Lanes? El Rancho/Ardean Aafedt? Reep Motor, Chevy dealership (see first note; early post had it wrong). My dad bought me my second car at that dealership -- a brand-new 1973 (?) Chevy Nova. He also bought me my first "car" -- a 1947 (?) Willys jeep. The 1945 Willys Jeep was the world's first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car.

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Hitch-Hiking

My most memorable hitch-hiking trips:

Los Angeles, left on an early Friday afternoon, and arrived, Sioux Falls, SD, about midnight, Saturday. Straight through. The second to last ride was in a Corvette, from mid-Wyoming to western South Dakota. Made incredible time. Last ride: pick-up truck, western South Dakota. Driver had been drinking, but by the time we got to Sioux Falls he was sober, but the first hour or so was a bit dicey, but again we made great time. Passing the occasional car on the interstate on the right side, on the shoulder, seemed to move us along quite quickly.

Williston, ND, to NYC: on my way for a summer I spent hitch-hiking through Europe for a summer. The highlight of that trip, walking through Harrisburg, PA, at night. I got dropped off on the west side of Harrisburg when it was still light; I walked through the city. I got to the east side when the sun was coming up. 

I can't even begin to count the number of times I hitch-hiked in my late teens; I tried it (hitch-hiking) again a few years ago (2013). Pretty much impossible these days to hitch-hike. Trucking regulations have changed -- that is probably the biggest difference. And it seems, drivers are less willing to pick up hitch-hikers.

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Notes To The Granddaughters

I tell the oldest granddaughter to never complain about or be fearful of work. Work and play hard; work and play til you get exhausted. Go to bed exhausted. Never worry about not being able to sleep. You will sleep when you have to. Never pass up an opportunity to try something new. Don't assume you will never see a certain person again. It is amazing how often paths cross and even more interesting how often one thinks of people you've met throughout life. Treasure each one of your classmates, elementary, middle, high school, college. Never quit reading. Always count your blessings. When things get tough/bad, just tell yourself, "this, too, will end."

I remember years ago running into a childhood friend who was several years younger than I. Perhaps I was in middle school when he was in elementary school. He says the one thing he remembers most about me: I was always saying, "this, too, will end." He says that mantra (?) more than any other, got him through some tough times in life.

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Summer of '42, Michel Legrand</center>
This song becomes even more poignant when one recalls world event in 1942, and especially while reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes, c. 1986.

Two comments from the YouTube link regarding this song:

You should read the book, it is hilarious, from chapter 8 on. OMG, laugh-out-load funny.

Hermie was a real character, and this was his biography, all the things said and done were all real. He said the book started out as a tribute to his mother and his best friend, Oscy, aka Oscar, who was killed during the Korean war as a medic on Hermie's 24th birthday, after that he never celebrated his birthday again.

The book and movie evolved from a tribute to Oscar and their friendship to a love story and coming of age.

Hermie originally sold the screenplay as a screenplay, then after they filmed the movie, the producers asked him if he could write a book.

Hermie finished the book in two weeks, and the book became an instant best seller. Also, the producers of the movie weren't sure if it would be a hit, and offered Hermie a percentage instead of a salary. Hermie accepted and the movie became the sleeper hit of 1973. He said the movie and book made him so much money he never had to work again just from the residuals.

Jennifer O'Neil when she acted in this film this was the exact age of Dorothy character was in real life when Hermie met her. Dorothy was a 20-21 newlywed bride. Jennifer O'Neil bought the rights to the book, in hopes of making a sequel but obviously that never happened as Mrs. O'Neil is in her Seventies now.

When the movie came out in 1973, about twelve women wrote to Hermie claiming to be Dorothy. One of them was the real Dorothy, Hermie could tell because of the hand writing and the contents of the letter. This was in 1973, and the movie took place in 1942, so the real Dorothy who was then 20, would have been in her 50's. The letter suggested they let things lie, because Dorothy remarried and was happy and was a Grandmother. So neither of them revisited the past. The whole movie was real, the only thing made up was the Packet Island, which was supposed to be Nantucket Island off of Massachusetts. But the movie was filmed in California up North of San Francisco, off of Mendocino. It's funny because it was filmed on the west coast they had to film the sunset as a sunrise where Dorothy says to Hermie as she's finishing writing her letter to her husband. What a beautiful morning!, was actually a sunset.

The second comment, I could have written:

My favorite movie theme.   I could easily identify because when I saw the film, I was in my teens, one year older than central character Hermie.   That was 43 years ago.   Forty-three years have come and gone, and no movie or theme ever affected me so poignantly.   Today this song still  brings me to tears.

Summer of '42 is one of my "top ten" movies. I have only seen it once. I cannot watch it a second time. Anyone who has had their own "summer of '42" would understand. I have had more than my share of such "summers."