(Dick and I attended the Dance at St. Pauls Church in south Manitowoc. We met Lovey Barbier and Karen Reibetanz. After the dance the girls agreed to hang out with us for the evening. We left Manitowoc and went to Two Rivers for fish at the M&M Restaurant. We are now leaving the M&M. It's still early (10:20PM) The girls have agreed to stay with us . . on the condition that we get them home by midnight. We decided to go to Neshotah park and walk the beach. . . It's getting dark)
(Driving out of the parking lot of the M&M Restaurant) Lovey -"Boy Karen, I'm glad we split that fish dinner! That was a lot of food!" Karen - "Maybe we'll get to do it again. Look . . we're passing the Two Rivers Bandstand on the left. I think the Comets are playing there next week Friday!" Dick - "Karen, would you like to go with me?" Karen - "Sure! I'd love to!" Me - "Lovey, would you like to go?" Lovey - "Sorry, I can't, I'll be out of town next week on vacation with the family." Karen - "Look, there's the Custard Stand. Lot's of people there tonight!" Me - "I always get vanilla cones . . . easier to get out of your clothes! Dick - I think we drive straight until the dead end and then turn right following the beach right? " Me - "Right. The Neshotah Pavilion will be on the right side of the road. Oh! there it is." Karen - "I've been here lots of times and I can tell you, it's a great summer place! The Pavillon serves hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pop! My favorite is the cheese curds made fresh every day. They're terrific!" Lovey - "Cheese curds are my favorite too! I remember standing in the cold lake water eating those hot cheese curds . . . YUM!" Me - "I can't wait till they start serving beer! Hey Dick, keep going straight until the last parking area on the left. There it is. Pull in and park over there facing the lake. Did you bring your portable radio?" Dick - "It's in the trunk. I'll get it." Me - "OK why don't we all go barefoot on the beach!" Lovey - "Wow! It must have been really hot today, the sand is still super warm." Dick - Hey Harv! THIS . . . my friend . . . is a great little radio. It has terrific sound! I've been able to get Milwaukee stations from here." (Dick is now tuning the radio) "Well this is new! Ever heard of WTLZ Radio?? It's super clear reception! I wonder where it's coming from. Hey! this is a great song!" Me - "Lovey!, do you want to dance?" Lovey - "OK!"
(Driving out of the parking lot of the M&M Restaurant) Lovey -"Boy Karen, I'm glad we split that fish dinner! That was a lot of food!" Karen - "Maybe we'll get to do it again. Look . . we're passing the Two Rivers Bandstand on the left. I think the Comets are playing there next week Friday!" Dick - "Karen, would you like to go with me?" Karen - "Sure! I'd love to!" Me - "Lovey, would you like to go?" Lovey - "Sorry, I can't, I'll be out of town next week on vacation with the family." Karen - "Look, there's the Custard Stand. Lot's of people there tonight!" Me - "I always get vanilla cones . . . easier to get out of your clothes! Dick - I think we drive straight until the dead end and then turn right following the beach right? " Me - "Right. The Neshotah Pavilion will be on the right side of the road. Oh! there it is." Karen - "I've been here lots of times and I can tell you, it's a great summer place! The Pavillon serves hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pop! My favorite is the cheese curds made fresh every day. They're terrific!" Lovey - "Cheese curds are my favorite too! I remember standing in the cold lake water eating those hot cheese curds . . . YUM!" Me - "I can't wait till they start serving beer! Hey Dick, keep going straight until the last parking area on the left. There it is. Pull in and park over there facing the lake. Did you bring your portable radio?" Dick - "It's in the trunk. I'll get it." Me - "OK why don't we all go barefoot on the beach!" Lovey - "Wow! It must have been really hot today, the sand is still super warm." Dick - Hey Harv! THIS . . . my friend . . . is a great little radio. It has terrific sound! I've been able to get Milwaukee stations from here." (Dick is now tuning the radio) "Well this is new! Ever heard of WTLZ Radio?? It's super clear reception! I wonder where it's coming from. Hey! this is a great song!" Me - "Lovey!, do you want to dance?" Lovey - "OK!"
Karen - "It would appear that dancing in the sand is not as easy as it looks in the movies!" Dick - "Hey Karen! . . I only fell one time!" Me - "Dick, your problem is that Karen is dancing "fast" and you're
dancing "half fast"! Lovey - "should we build a bonfire?" Me - "It would be fun but I don't think there's enough time. Why don't we just walk the beach to the pier?" Lovey - "OK. Guys! don't forget to bring the radio!" Dick - "Karen, Check out the moon's reflection in the water! It's like a perfect golden walkway pointing directly from the other side of the lake us to, and it keeps following us!" Karen - "Let's see if we can "run" on it!" (Karen runs to the water splashing till she's just over ankle deep) HOLY CRAP! this water isFREEZING COLD!!!" Dick - "I guess that rules out swimming in the buff??" Karen - Well, I don't know about you, but "I" look pretty good in the buff! What I am curious about is how you will look when I push you off that pier with all your clothes on!" Dick - "Oh My that would be tragic!" Karen - "Or it might be . . . - Oh listen to this song - Tragedy! It's a great song! Hey Dick, let's try dancing on the sand closer to the water. It's a harder surface and It'll be easier for you. Maybe you won't fall down as much! . . Oh! . . and do try to keep up! (We all dance)
dancing "half fast"! Lovey - "should we build a bonfire?" Me - "It would be fun but I don't think there's enough time. Why don't we just walk the beach to the pier?" Lovey - "OK. Guys! don't forget to bring the radio!" Dick - "Karen, Check out the moon's reflection in the water! It's like a perfect golden walkway pointing directly from the other side of the lake us to, and it keeps following us!" Karen - "Let's see if we can "run" on it!" (Karen runs to the water splashing till she's just over ankle deep) HOLY CRAP! this water isFREEZING COLD!!!" Dick - "I guess that rules out swimming in the buff??" Karen - Well, I don't know about you, but "I" look pretty good in the buff! What I am curious about is how you will look when I push you off that pier with all your clothes on!" Dick - "Oh My that would be tragic!" Karen - "Or it might be . . . - Oh listen to this song - Tragedy! It's a great song! Hey Dick, let's try dancing on the sand closer to the water. It's a harder surface and It'll be easier for you. Maybe you won't fall down as much! . . Oh! . . and do try to keep up! (We all dance)
Me - "Well here's the pier. Didn't really use up much time. How about we walk out to the Lighthouse? It's really neat out there." (Everyone agrees.) Dick - "This walking on the pier stuff is kind of cool. I've never done this before. Of course I've never lived in Manitowoc before either." Karen - "You know what's really a fun thing to do? You get halfway to the Lighthouse and then you jump off the pier with all your clothes on and swim back to the shore!!" Dick - "Still a little miffed at my "buff" comment huh? Sorry!" Karen "Just kidding! " Lovey - "Look you can see the lights in Manitowoc, and I think you can see the lights in Sheboygan too!" Me - "Cool! I guess it's because Two Rivers is stuck so far out into the lake." Karen - "There's the turn on the pier - we have to be careful. It's not easy negotiating around that steel gantry." Lovey - "falling off here would be a real problem. It's a long way back to the beach." Dick - "Oh I don't know . . ask Karen! She's probably been tossed in here plenty of times." Karen - "Keep it up Dick'o and YOU will see just how cold this water is!". Me - "Let's walk around to the other side of the lighthouse so we can sit on the lakeside. Really a neat view from there." Lovey - "Look! back on the beach! Someone is building a bonfire!" Dick - "Maybe they can stay out till 1:00AM! I'm really loving this lighthouse! I wonder how many shipwrecks it's helped avoid? Too bad it's not foggy. We could hear how this little puppy sounds!" Everyone - "WHAT? DICK! ARE YOU CRAZY???" Karen - "One blast from this lighthouse and we would tossed right off the pier. It's about as loud as anything I have ever heard! You can hear it from miles away!" Karen - "Ever hear that song "Sea Cruise?" It has a horn that . . . What the heck! Turn that up!"
(And now we are all sitting on the lake side of the Lighthouse looking out on the perfectly still water of Lake Michigan. The moon is full and polishing the water, no wind, very comfortable temperature (unusual for where we're sitting). Everyone is taking in the scene. We see two Car Ferry's out on the horizon, one heading into Manitowoc and the other having just left.)
Me - "Really nice out here tonight. So calm and clear. Make's you think you could solve all the problems in the universe!" Lovey - "Strange, but I've been thinking about a book I recently read. The Search for Bridey Murphy - have you ever read it?" Me - "I did. It's about a guy who becomes infatuated with hypnotism. He hypnotizes his wife and takes her ever further back into her childhood until she starts talking with an Irish brogue. She is no longer herself but now is a person living in Ireland in the 18th century!" Lovey - "Right! It appears she may have been reincarnated from a previous life! What do you guys think? Do you believe in reincarnation?" Karen - "I don't know about reincarnation but I can tell you I've had a creepy feeling all night that something is wrong. Like we're being watched. Like we are actors in somebody's play!" Lovey - "What makes you think that?" Karen - "Well have you noticed that all night the songs on the radio are playing right into what we happen to be doing? Remember when we were talking about Torr's garage and Harv said "things just happen that way" Johnny Cash sang "I guess things happen that way" Then on Lake DriveLovey mentioned "Old Cape cod" and then that song just happened to play? How about just before, when we parked at the beach, I mentioned that this was a great Summer Place and guess what is on the radio? Same thing just happened with the songs Tragedy and Sea Cruise! I feel like this whole thing since we met you guys is being choreographed!" Dick "What? how is that possible?" Lovey - "I don't know but stranger things have happened. Look at Bridey Murphy!" Me - "Well if that is happening, and there are eyes in the sky watching us. Who would be interested in us??? And who the heck would be doing the writing??" Karen - "For all I know it could be one of us. You know from sometime in the future looking back . . . planning this whole evening!" Lovey "Which of us do you suspect." Dick -"Well Karen is the one with the literary talent to do this. It's probably her!" Karen. (at the top of her lungs) "S H I T!!!!!" Dick - "Karen, how long have you had Turrets?" Karen - "No Dick! I'm just proving I am not the one doing this. I would never write a script that had me saying that!" Dick - "Man! This is really weirding me out! Talk about 40 miles of bad road! Look! those guys on the beach are waving their arms at us. They're saying something . . . I think it's "We love the Music! . . . turn it up!" Lovey "What the heck! How can they hear our little radio? Say Dick, what station did you say that was?" Dick - WTLZ! Frankly I've never heard of it before."
(And with that, we start our trek back to the beach . . . in a single line . . . all, moving carefully, clapping our hands and dancing to the music)
Me - "Really nice out here tonight. So calm and clear. Make's you think you could solve all the problems in the universe!" Lovey - "Strange, but I've been thinking about a book I recently read. The Search for Bridey Murphy - have you ever read it?" Me - "I did. It's about a guy who becomes infatuated with hypnotism. He hypnotizes his wife and takes her ever further back into her childhood until she starts talking with an Irish brogue. She is no longer herself but now is a person living in Ireland in the 18th century!" Lovey - "Right! It appears she may have been reincarnated from a previous life! What do you guys think? Do you believe in reincarnation?" Karen - "I don't know about reincarnation but I can tell you I've had a creepy feeling all night that something is wrong. Like we're being watched. Like we are actors in somebody's play!" Lovey - "What makes you think that?" Karen - "Well have you noticed that all night the songs on the radio are playing right into what we happen to be doing? Remember when we were talking about Torr's garage and Harv said "things just happen that way" Johnny Cash sang "I guess things happen that way" Then on Lake DriveLovey mentioned "Old Cape cod" and then that song just happened to play? How about just before, when we parked at the beach, I mentioned that this was a great Summer Place and guess what is on the radio? Same thing just happened with the songs Tragedy and Sea Cruise! I feel like this whole thing since we met you guys is being choreographed!" Dick "What? how is that possible?" Lovey - "I don't know but stranger things have happened. Look at Bridey Murphy!" Me - "Well if that is happening, and there are eyes in the sky watching us. Who would be interested in us??? And who the heck would be doing the writing??" Karen - "For all I know it could be one of us. You know from sometime in the future looking back . . . planning this whole evening!" Lovey "Which of us do you suspect." Dick -"Well Karen is the one with the literary talent to do this. It's probably her!" Karen. (at the top of her lungs) "S H I T!!!!!" Dick - "Karen, how long have you had Turrets?" Karen - "No Dick! I'm just proving I am not the one doing this. I would never write a script that had me saying that!" Dick - "Man! This is really weirding me out! Talk about 40 miles of bad road! Look! those guys on the beach are waving their arms at us. They're saying something . . . I think it's "We love the Music! . . . turn it up!" Lovey "What the heck! How can they hear our little radio? Say Dick, what station did you say that was?" Dick - WTLZ! Frankly I've never heard of it before."
(And with that, we start our trek back to the beach . . . in a single line . . . all, moving carefully, clapping our hands and dancing to the music)
(To be Continued)
Till Next Week
Harv
Till Next Week
Harv