Author: Mark

A year after Kim and I got married Kim brought a dog home, and we named him Murry! Murry was half Dachshund and half Beagle, with the appearance of a large deli roll of meat. When he got excited one ear would stick straight up, the other ear, the bottom half stuck up, but the top half drooped over. I thought he looked like a “Bat” so I called him my “Batdog” That dog went everywhere with us, and believe me he was one spoiled little wiener! Any time I would sit down Murry would be in my lap before my bottom ever touched the cushion! One day he was with Kim and I out at her parents’ house. Kim’s dad Joe had dug a ditch up the hill for an underground power line for the Granny House he was building. The ditch went through a very large patch of Poison Oak. I wasn’t able to help Joe in that section, because all I had to do was look at Poison Oak and my whole body would swell up. So while Joe worked this section of the ditch Murry kept him company, observing from the top of the dirt pile next to the ditch. He stumbled on some loose dirt and rolled right off the edge into the ditch!

Before Joe was able to lift him out, Murry had walked around in the ditch through all the Poison Oak roots where the sap was dripping. During our ride home Kim noticed Murry was breaking out with a rash all over his body. After we got home, that poor dog was looking like a Geographical Relief Map! Kim rushed him to the Veterinary Hospital, where the Vet gave him a shot. The Vet said Murry’s case was pretty severe, that most dogs don’t get poison oak as bad as Murry had. The following days proved to be the most miserable for Murry, but with all things, it finally passed. Whenever we would go over to Kim’s parents’ house; we always made sure Murry didn’t go anywhere near the Poison Oak! He was such a great family dog, and because he was so loved by our family, I believe that is why he lived 17 and a half years! Whenever Joe comes to visit or we go visit them in California, he always brings up the story of a giant Bologna that rolled into the ditch he was working in! I sure miss that old “Batdog”

It was the end of the summer in 1973, Scott DeAngelo and I were really excited because we were going to our first Rock Concert! We caught a ride with Dan Gillming and Sue White. The four of us got into Dan’s Rambler and took off for the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium! As we walked into the Auditorium, we looked around and we seemed to be the only Caucasian people in the building! We found our seats which were, Section 203 Row F, which was in the balcony in the very back, and Row F was the last row in the balcony. Tower of Power was the warm up band. I remember the warm up band being really hot, (but after all these years I am embarrassed to say, I could not remember who the warm up act was till I talked to Sue last week). The Auditorium was about two-thirds of the way full, and everybody was smoking marijuana. 15 minutes after Tower of Power finished playing, the place was packed, and we were still the only Caucasian people in the building. As we were waiting for the next band we had some educational moments.

We were overwhelmed by the culture of this hip crowd, especially their fashion. I don’t remember the women so much, but the men were dressed in very bright colors, fur coats and cloth hats. We saw a bright pink overcoat, leopard spotted overcoats and lots of jewelry. It was a little intimidating even going to the bathroom. Everyone was in a really good mood though, and I do not remember feeling hassled at all. Maybe that was because of all the marijuana being passed around. People kept passing us joints and we would just pass them down the line. I remember looking out from our seats which were pretty “High” up and just seeing a haze of smoke in the auditorium. The time had passed when the second band was supposed to start, and the crowd started to get a little impatient. After 45 more minutes the crowd started to get a little loud and more impatient. We didn’t know what to think; was the band going to show up? I had the feeling that if someone came out to the stage and announced that the band wasn’t going to show up, that we would have a riot on your hands!

At the 60 minute mark, the lights went out and everyone got up and started clapping as Sly and the Family Stone came out onto the stage! They started with “Thank You” which really got the crowd going, and you could tell everyone had forgotten about the late start! I remember them playing “M Lady”, “Sing a Simple Song” “You Can Make It If You Try” but I was so impressed when they played “Everyday People” and “Stand”. They played those songs with so much power, the energy level was way off the charts! Both songs sounded so much better than the record! I looked around and everyone was movin’ and really groovin’ to the music! Dan had his elbows on his knees, his head was being held up by his hands, and his whole body was bouncing up and down! Then they played the three songs I came to hear! They did a funky version of “Dance to the Music” then they played a long version of “Music Lover” and then right into our Woodstock favorite “I Want to Take You Higher”. Even with no encore, and starting 60 minutes late, I will never forget how much fun my first concert was!

We took vacations to Fort Bragg each year and the highlight of our stay was when I would start a water fight with all the kids!  I believe it was the summer of 1988, The Cummins’ and five other families set camp up at MacKerricher State Park. I came down with the flu the day before we left, so the parents of the kids had to tell them all that Mark was off-limits and not to get him wet. This really bummed the kids out because I was always the person they loved to douse with water balloons! There were so many times during the day that I would hear one of the parents say “don’t you dare, he’s still sick”. I believe this was even harder on me because I loved throwing that first balloon.  The kids always had water balloons stashed everywhere so I always made sure I had a good stash hiding someplace. We were there for five days, and I was still sick. The kids were all moping around the camp site, but the rule was still in place “do not get Mark wet!”

On the sixth day we had packed everything up and were all ready to leave. I was still sick, but all the kids had such a pathetic look on their faces, so I got a balloon out of my stash and put it in my pocket, then I walked over to where the kids were standing, pulled the balloon out of my pocket and smashed it over Tyler Drake’s head! Within seconds there were balloons flying in all directions, and I was soaked to the bone. I ran for my stash, and on the way some of the fathers started handing me balloons. My buddy Jeff started helping me lob the balloons at the kids, but the kids had way too much ammunition, and me and Jeff, the older guys, kept getting wetter and wetter. All the while Karen Scott was videotaping the water fight.  It shows me hiding behind my truck trying to catch my breath and coughing up a lung. I would load up with balloons, then run back in the line of fire and try to get one of the kids wet. The kids got the best of Jeff and me, but the two of us still got in some pretty good shots. We then had to bring out the white flag!

On our way out of the park we decided to stop by the Glass Beach where the water fight continued. The boys were at the top of the cliff above the beach lobbing balloons down, getting everyone wet! Just as I ran out of balloons, Jim Drake invented a reloading method that proved to be quite ingenious! He filled a coke bottle up with ocean water, put the balloon over the bottle, turned it upside down and filled the balloons. However it was a very slow process, so the kids got bored and came down to the beach. Colby Drake tried to hit me with a balloon, he missed and it hit the ground, splashing all over my daughter Sarah’s back as she sat stirring through the glass pebbles. “I’m going to kill you Colby” she screamed as she ran after him! Later the boys and I were standing on a big rock on the edge of the ocean when a little guy threw a balloon right at me. As it made contact it careened off me and broke on Tyler Drake! Even thou I was sick, this is still one of my favorite camping moments!

My parents had a 1966 Pontiac GTO, and oh how I loved that car! I could not wait to get my learners permit so I could start driving that car! It had a 389 engine, 4 speed manual transmission, and gold color with white bucket seats! I used to sit in the driver’s seat, hold the gear shift and stare at the wooden dash. I loved every inch of that car, and I was counting the days till I could drive it! I remember being with my sister Val one evening. She scared me when she got it up to 110 MPH on the Golden Center Freeway! My Uncle Al and Aunt Betty lived down the street from us, and my Uncle Al always knew who was driving that car when it came by his house. He said he didn’t even have to look out the window; he knew who was driving by the sound of the car. When the engine RPM’s where high, and the car flew past his house, he knew it was Stan driving. When the RPM’s were a little slower but it still made the house rumble, it was Val driving. When the sound of the car didn’t shake their house, he knew it was my mom driving. When the car came by and it sounded like the engine was going to die, it was my dad driving.

As time went on the car started to overheat, and began to spend more time at Arch’s Automotive than our driveway. They seemed to get the problem fixed, but it cost my parents a lot of money, and then it would happen all over again. I remember riding with my mom to the grocery store in the GTO. I used to tell her how much I loved that car, and how I couldn’t wait to start driving it when I got my learners permit. About a week before I was to get my learners permit, I came home from school and there was a green and white Chevy Malibu sitting in the GTO’s place. I went into the house and asked who’s car that was, and my mom and dad said that was our new car! They had sold the GTO! Then they went to Colfax and bought the Malibu. Let’s just say Mark was very upset! The Malibu was a beautiful car, but it was no GTO!