1950s: New directions
With Michael and Carl now both of school age, Thomas thinks it's about time the boys learn to ride. With Anna as help, they set out to mentor the children as they sit up for the first time. The old mare Misty is perfect for the job, but Stormcloud is also very kind with the children and help his young rider in any way he can.
After a few attempts, with Michael getting off at first chance, it's time to ride outside the paddock. Thomas takes Gale and lead the way while Anna stays back and chats away with Betty and help her take care of Susan.
Thomas sometimes rides first, but often circle around to keep an eye on his boys. Michael, especially is struggling, finding the entire thing rather unsettling and scary. Carl, on the other hand, while much younger than his brother, loves every moment on the horse. He even asks if he can go faster. On their way home, Thomas lets him trott a little bit, while Michael walks back into the paddock and gets off Stormcloud as fast as he humanly can.
While Thomas is out riding with the kids, Anna gets a phone call from her nephew, sharing the news of Frank's death. "He died in his sleep," John, Frank's eldest son, tells Anna. "The doctor says it was peaceful."
"The funeral?" Anna asks, only to learn that it already took place. "It was a small affair, just us kids. He's buried next to mum if you want to visit."
For Anna it's a hard blow. Not only to learn that her elder brother is dead, but to learn that there won't be a funeral to attend at all. She speaks to her other sisters, and they feel the same way, but it's only Anna who makes the decision to return home to visit their brother's grave.
With that decided, and as soon as Thomas and Betty are safely returned home, Anna makes the trip to Louisiana and Willow Creek once more. She visits her brother's grave, as well everyone else's. They are all here. Her father, her mother, her sister and both her brothers, even her nephew. Anna tells them goodbye, apologizing to her mother for this being the last time she visits her. "There is nothing left for me here," she says. "So this will be my last visit."
As she walks away, Anna strolls through Willow Creek one last time, enjoying the nature and reflecting on the beauty of what was once her home town. She can sometimes miss the greenery and the blue waters, but it's no longer home. It was a long time since it was, and with both Ida and Frank gone there are only nephews and nieces here that she long since lost touch with. Home is, after all, never about the place, but about the people and the people she cares about are no longer here.
For Arthur, work has never been more hectic, or more thrilling. As someone who loves learning new things, the new direction they're taking is thrilling. They are still working with aircraft, but now the aircraft their testing, especially the X-15, is meant to test spaceflight conditions. They are actively talking about putting a man in space at some point!
The study of jet engines have turned to studies about rocket propulsion, high altitude life support and re-entry physics. What are the zero gravity effects? How do you calculate spacecrafts aerodynamics? So much new knowledge! So many new safety protocols, as testing this kind of flight brings with it a lot larger risks. Their effort is rewarded when the US launches Explorer 1, their first satellite, in January of 1958. By fall, NACA is changing names to NASA and the new direction is complete.
At home, Arthur is feeling the need to check up on Claudia, Kirk's widow, more often. She isn't handling her loss very well. In stead of burying him, Claudia keeps Kirk's ashes at home, mourning his loss with such intensity it's hard for Arthur to know how to deal with it. Yet he tries, because he can see that the entire family is struggling.
So he listens, he supports, and he tries to make Claudia see what she does have, her two beautiful twin girls, but her depression is too great and her sadness too acute for her to be the mother she wants to be, and that the girls need. Sometimes, she ends up just sitting, with one of the girls in her arms, unable to move at all.
And so Arthur feels compelled to step up. Not that he has any idea of what he is doing. His mother would, his sisters perhaps, well Grace at least, and Thomas most certainly would by now, but he himself is stumbling. But he tries his best, to comfort, to feed and put the girls to bed, until Claudia is strong enough again.
In the weekends, he makes sure to get the family out of the house, away from Kirk's ever looming shadow. He doesn't take them to the park in town, that's where Kirk died, after all, but together they drive to Oasis springs, where the children can crawl around and play in the sand box for a few hours before it's time to return home.
As they return home, and Claudia is feeling more like herself again, she offers to cook for him as thank you. While she does, he fixes little things around the house that are broken, things Kirk would have fixed had he been around to do it.
And when he sees the state of her fence, he offers to fix that too. "Arthur, you're doing too much already," Claudia says, but Arthur insists.
"You can't let the girls out in the yard with your fence like this!" And he goes about fixing it.
And when he's done, and there is wood over, he buys some more and makes a fence around his own house as well. It's nicer after all, and he's quite happy with the result.
With summer at an end, it's time for Carl to start school! Michael can't wait to return. The friends, the school work - he thrives in the environment, but Betty is more worried about her youngest. He's so active. Will he be able to sit still all day long like he's supposed to? She hopes so, and is so happy when he returns home with a smile on his face after his first day, asking if he can feel the baby.
Betty, herself is getting big, and is more than ready for this pregnancy to be over. She loves her days as a mother to only one little girl, as she has so much time to spend with Susan, teaching her in a way she never had time for with Carl, but her back is aching and she's ready for this to be over.
She's also restless, constantly tired but unable to sit inactive, the house has never been so clean.
And then finally it's time! She can feel the familiar back pain, the cramps and she knows it's time to get to the hospital. She bites down, making sure the kids are fed and off to school, tells Thomas to call his mother, and once Josephine is there to take care of Susan, she asks Thomas to take her to the hospital.
They had hoped for another girl, so much so that that's all they had planned for, which of course means that it's another little boy that is put in her arms. They name him Steven, after her father, but with a more modern spelling, and bring him home to meet the family.
Grandma Josephine is delighted to have another grandson, and look at him with pride. But Susan isn't impressed by her baby brother at all. "I wanted a girl baby!" she wails, stomping her little feet. "I don’t wanna share my room with a boy! Not fair!"
Carl is far more exited about the new baby, and the fact that it's a boy. "A boy! Cool! I can't wait to play with him!"
"He will need to be a bit older first," Betty says with a laugh.
Michael on the other hand, just scoffs. He didn't want another sibling at all and couldn't care less one way or another. "Like he'll ever be old enough to do something fun," he scoffs. "I thought things were good as they were. I don't see why we weren't enough."
After a few attempts, with Michael getting off at first chance, it's time to ride outside the paddock. Thomas takes Gale and lead the way while Anna stays back and chats away with Betty and help her take care of Susan.
Thomas sometimes rides first, but often circle around to keep an eye on his boys. Michael, especially is struggling, finding the entire thing rather unsettling and scary. Carl, on the other hand, while much younger than his brother, loves every moment on the horse. He even asks if he can go faster. On their way home, Thomas lets him trott a little bit, while Michael walks back into the paddock and gets off Stormcloud as fast as he humanly can.
While Thomas is out riding with the kids, Anna gets a phone call from her nephew, sharing the news of Frank's death. "He died in his sleep," John, Frank's eldest son, tells Anna. "The doctor says it was peaceful."
"The funeral?" Anna asks, only to learn that it already took place. "It was a small affair, just us kids. He's buried next to mum if you want to visit."
For Anna it's a hard blow. Not only to learn that her elder brother is dead, but to learn that there won't be a funeral to attend at all. She speaks to her other sisters, and they feel the same way, but it's only Anna who makes the decision to return home to visit their brother's grave.
With that decided, and as soon as Thomas and Betty are safely returned home, Anna makes the trip to Louisiana and Willow Creek once more. She visits her brother's grave, as well everyone else's. They are all here. Her father, her mother, her sister and both her brothers, even her nephew. Anna tells them goodbye, apologizing to her mother for this being the last time she visits her. "There is nothing left for me here," she says. "So this will be my last visit."
As she walks away, Anna strolls through Willow Creek one last time, enjoying the nature and reflecting on the beauty of what was once her home town. She can sometimes miss the greenery and the blue waters, but it's no longer home. It was a long time since it was, and with both Ida and Frank gone there are only nephews and nieces here that she long since lost touch with. Home is, after all, never about the place, but about the people and the people she cares about are no longer here.
For Arthur, work has never been more hectic, or more thrilling. As someone who loves learning new things, the new direction they're taking is thrilling. They are still working with aircraft, but now the aircraft their testing, especially the X-15, is meant to test spaceflight conditions. They are actively talking about putting a man in space at some point!
The study of jet engines have turned to studies about rocket propulsion, high altitude life support and re-entry physics. What are the zero gravity effects? How do you calculate spacecrafts aerodynamics? So much new knowledge! So many new safety protocols, as testing this kind of flight brings with it a lot larger risks. Their effort is rewarded when the US launches Explorer 1, their first satellite, in January of 1958. By fall, NACA is changing names to NASA and the new direction is complete.
At home, Arthur is feeling the need to check up on Claudia, Kirk's widow, more often. She isn't handling her loss very well. In stead of burying him, Claudia keeps Kirk's ashes at home, mourning his loss with such intensity it's hard for Arthur to know how to deal with it. Yet he tries, because he can see that the entire family is struggling.
So he listens, he supports, and he tries to make Claudia see what she does have, her two beautiful twin girls, but her depression is too great and her sadness too acute for her to be the mother she wants to be, and that the girls need. Sometimes, she ends up just sitting, with one of the girls in her arms, unable to move at all.
And so Arthur feels compelled to step up. Not that he has any idea of what he is doing. His mother would, his sisters perhaps, well Grace at least, and Thomas most certainly would by now, but he himself is stumbling. But he tries his best, to comfort, to feed and put the girls to bed, until Claudia is strong enough again.
In the weekends, he makes sure to get the family out of the house, away from Kirk's ever looming shadow. He doesn't take them to the park in town, that's where Kirk died, after all, but together they drive to Oasis springs, where the children can crawl around and play in the sand box for a few hours before it's time to return home.
As they return home, and Claudia is feeling more like herself again, she offers to cook for him as thank you. While she does, he fixes little things around the house that are broken, things Kirk would have fixed had he been around to do it.
And when he sees the state of her fence, he offers to fix that too. "Arthur, you're doing too much already," Claudia says, but Arthur insists.
"You can't let the girls out in the yard with your fence like this!" And he goes about fixing it.
And when he's done, and there is wood over, he buys some more and makes a fence around his own house as well. It's nicer after all, and he's quite happy with the result.
With summer at an end, it's time for Carl to start school! Michael can't wait to return. The friends, the school work - he thrives in the environment, but Betty is more worried about her youngest. He's so active. Will he be able to sit still all day long like he's supposed to? She hopes so, and is so happy when he returns home with a smile on his face after his first day, asking if he can feel the baby.
Betty, herself is getting big, and is more than ready for this pregnancy to be over. She loves her days as a mother to only one little girl, as she has so much time to spend with Susan, teaching her in a way she never had time for with Carl, but her back is aching and she's ready for this to be over.
She's also restless, constantly tired but unable to sit inactive, the house has never been so clean.
And then finally it's time! She can feel the familiar back pain, the cramps and she knows it's time to get to the hospital. She bites down, making sure the kids are fed and off to school, tells Thomas to call his mother, and once Josephine is there to take care of Susan, she asks Thomas to take her to the hospital.
They had hoped for another girl, so much so that that's all they had planned for, which of course means that it's another little boy that is put in her arms. They name him Steven, after her father, but with a more modern spelling, and bring him home to meet the family.
Grandma Josephine is delighted to have another grandson, and look at him with pride. But Susan isn't impressed by her baby brother at all. "I wanted a girl baby!" she wails, stomping her little feet. "I don’t wanna share my room with a boy! Not fair!"
Carl is far more exited about the new baby, and the fact that it's a boy. "A boy! Cool! I can't wait to play with him!"
"He will need to be a bit older first," Betty says with a laugh.
Michael on the other hand, just scoffs. He didn't want another sibling at all and couldn't care less one way or another. "Like he'll ever be old enough to do something fun," he scoffs. "I thought things were good as they were. I don't see why we weren't enough."
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