July 11, 2023

“Look. Look up there! Look up there at the moon. There’s someone up there, right now…walking on the moon. Can you see him?’

The brilliant orb shone in a gum tar black sky…down onto the small patch of warm cement in front of our home. I danced and hopped in bare feet; avoiding small pebbles and late night bugs. Up and down. Back and forth. Left foot, right foot. Dad held baby brother up on his shoulder, pointing his fat little chin up, upwards toward the sky while he wobbled and nodded, cooing as the moon glinted off his wide open eyes.

Something was different. Late at night; after 10pm, even later. We had already been in bed and now we were gathered outside. I wore a pinafore top; red with white polka dots and yellow straps. The short ruffled pajama pantaloons matched in bright yellow. I pulled on my braids and stared curiously at the darkened yard. Barefoot at night on cooling cement; in pajamas. Peculiar.

‘There’s a man up there, right now…walking around!’ Dad and Mom tried valiantly to describe the marvelous absurdity of the historical moment. ‘Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon’. I stared up into the darkness until dizzy; my head tipped way back. The moon lady combed out her hair, spreading silver tresses over the cooling land below; or was it the smiling man in the moon laughing at us or was it all just made out of green cheese anyway?

I skipped and stubbed my toes on the dark roughened cement. Baby brother began fussing and wobbling some more. It was later and later and the tired fireflies dotted the front lawn. I squinted and thought I could finally see the man walking on the moonscape and the American flag. ‘I see him, I see him!’ We all laughed and I said it again. ‘He’s walking around up there. I do see him, I do!’

The bugs circled ferociously, seeking thin ankle skin and bare arms and chubby pink baby flesh. The wind settled and it was time to go in. Dad stated quietly, ‘It will be on television. We can watch tomorrow. CBS and Cronkite…’ his voice drifted off. We stepped back into the porch, trooping off to bed. The moon watched silently and silver; resting over the land, the night, the earth…