Today is the most significant date in the history of mankind—man landed and walked on the moon. My God! Right now I’m watching them! At 4:17:42 EDT, Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin became a part of history. I’m seeing history. Of all the thousands of years man has existed, it was right now that this happened. Men have been dreaming of the moon all those years, & it’s now, when I’m 17 years old, I Elinor Nauen am alive—imagine what will be going on when I’m old. It’s familiar, because it’s basic to science fiction that the moon is a space station but this is real. To me it’s incredible, but Varda & kids her age (7) will grow up with this, take it for granted. I now feel old. Oh God. Men are on the moon. Men are on the moon.
This is an unedited snippet of my diary from 1969. Apparently I was too exalted about the existence of me to note that I was at an American Legion baseball game & hadn’t watched at all, at least not till I got home. My real memory is watching the game in the 3rd base bleachers & looking up at the moon, trying to imagine that we were here & they were there. And trying to see the little specks of astronauts actually there. I had never been in an airplane at that point in my life so I had no idea of distance or perspective.
This is an unedited snippet of my diary from 1969. Apparently I was too exalted about the existence of me to note that I was at an American Legion baseball game & hadn’t watched at all, at least not till I got home. My real memory is watching the game in the 3rd base bleachers & looking up at the moon, trying to imagine that we were here & they were there. And trying to see the little specks of astronauts actually there. I had never been in an airplane at that point in my life so I had no idea of distance or perspective.