April 16, 1997
What sounded like a sonic boom woke me at 0545. I laid in my warm, soft cocoon listening to peals of deep throated thunder rolling through the near and distant sky. It felt good to listen, swallowed in the early morning darkness, and lazily watch for a flicker of blue-white light within our shelter. I finally decided to roll out of bed and at least start coffee. The others would be up soon as several claps were right overhead and had, no doubt, awakened them too. After loading the pot with water and a packet of grounds, I turned down the narrow, dark hallway to the head.
I entered the head and leaned to the right. The small bathroom immediately lit with a blinding panorama of persistently flashing, multicolored stars. The toilet is directly to the right of the doorway as is the light switch. Directly above the toilet an oak cabinet juts out a foot from the wall that hides itself quite well in the shadows. I had swung my head smack into the corner of this wooden menace and danced about the darkness until both the pain and stars subsided. Later, Bill confessed doing the same as me last night.
Around 0630, Bill and Higbee pushed open the front door I had left ajar for them. They had been rattled inside the fiberglass camper and lured by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Ray popped out of his sound proofed booth of a bedroom, eyeballed the three of us sipping at our cups, then leapt toward the open doorway of the head. "Thump!" Ray had entered the dark bathroom. Before long, we were having a disjointed discussion regarding the end of the world: we had run out of toilet tissue. Higbee settled the discourse by retrieving a partially used roll from the camper. Bill felt better, then dropped back into a blue mood having looked outside seeing a gentle patter of falling rain. "YOW!" We ran outside to snap the side curtains on Oscar to keep the rain from wetting the interior of his tiny cab.
Once back inside, Bill was worried about the rain. "Oh..." He moaned. "This is the end of our good weather." The rest of us goaded Bill, feigning wails and sobs to augment his present pessimistic view of the world. Bill smiled, looked at his feet, and shook his head.
Ray began breakfast. He used what little mixed veggies we had left over from last night in a combination with freshly nuked bacon. Scrambled eggs and toast with a can of V-8 juice rounded out the meal. Higbee pulled a half-full, gallon container of milk from the refrigerator and set it on the table. This milk is on the edge of turning. By this afternoon we should have buttermilk if not consumed now.
After breakfast, Bill, Ray, and I cleared the table then washed the dishes. Higbee left for the Shopette to return the video. He was back with another movie just as we finished the kitchen detail. "Hey!" He said. "Look here! "Higbee held up "The Ghost in the Darkness." We straightened the living room and settled in to watch the video. All through the film, Bill would rise, walk to the door standing slightly ajar, or peek out the window between the Venetian blinds. The earlier sprinkles had stopped and blue patches were appearing through holes in the cloud cover overhead. He wouldn't say a word. He'd just shake his head as if he had seen doom personified lurking outside our threshold and then sit back down to watch the movie. Bill loves to worry, and now he had a focus, the weather.
After the video, Higbee took off to have pictures developed, while I called the media contacts: Linda M. of "The Daily Oklahoman" (passed off to Chip); Dave K. of KOCO-TV, channel 5; and JohnM. of KWTV-TV, channel 9. Chip said he couldn't see an angle but would talk with other editors regarding our trip. He took our number in the event there would be an interest. Dave said he just didn't think he could work us in. His camera crews were really busy. And John M. was busy with breaking news too, yet took our number and promised to call back later.
Higbee returned with his undeveloped film in hand. The film clerk in the store told him they had a machine break down yesterday that put them really behind. She said he could pick up the pictures tomorrow at the earliest. Higbee declined her offer, as we shove off for Tulsa tomorrow. Called Heather to give her a SitRep (situation report) and let her know we would be back on the net at 1700 and again at 0700 tomorrow morning before leaving. Oscar needs some maintenance too. His chains need more of that Brody Open Gear Lubricant. I'm a believer in that stuff... works great. And it sticks to everything. I adjusted Oscar's chains and lubed them as Ray trotted off for a jog. Ray is constantly asking the rest of us to go jogging with him. A jog would kill any of the rest of us, me with a leg that can't feel the ground, Bill that calls golf strenuous, and Higbee that gets winded climbing the steps into the camper... yeah, Ray.
It wasn't too long before Mr. Jog Fest returned; 26 minutes. He said he was going past the base range when he saw a big Bravo (red) flag. A Bravo flag means the range is active and they are shooting real bullets. Ray made an abrupt about face and pranced back to the room. He cooled down, then heated soup and offered it with crackers for us old men.
I had cooled down too, laying on the damp pavement under our little buddy for half an hour pulling the maintenance. I decided to go ahead and load Oscar into the Chase Truck to take over to Bill's in-laws. We had to load him anyway; better now than later, or in the morning.
We all ate, showered, and washed every piece of clothing not washed yesterday. We were ready for the barbeque and, for that matter, anything else... except jogging. I drove down to the gas station on base to fuel ($ .99 a gallon). Two attractive and outgoing gals behind the counter, Joan M. and Rhonda S., asked about Oscar in the back of the Chase Truck. I told them our story, gave them brochures, and pointed out the website address. I almost made it to the truck when Mary C., sitting in a car in the next gas lane, kept looking over her shoulder at Oscar. I gave her a brochure and turned to open the door of the Chase Truck. Damon W. approached and asked about Oscar. He too was presented with a brochure. I excused myself explaining that others would surely be standing on one foot then another waiting for a ride to dinner.
Back to the room at the transient quarters, our billet, and picked up the crew.We arrived at Bill's in-laws, Able and Vera (Vida) A., ready to chow down. Their daughter, Cecilia and her husband, Paul A. were there to meet us and have dinner too. What a great meal, steamed brisket, baked potatoes, salad, and then apple pie and vanilla ice cream. We topped it all off with a cup of hot, black coffee.
A friend of the family, Peg H., stopped in with two very active rug rats, Bryan and Sara. Peg's husband, Rick, had stayed home being too shy to come over. Before leaving, we had parted with three shot glasses. Peg had to grovel for hers due to her husband's reluctance to come over. We returned to the base and racked out... busy day ahead of us tomorrow.