1960s: Abby ages up and Arthur finds a home
As the months speed by, Barbara spends a lot of her time at home or in her community, fixing her house, tending to Abby and socialising with the neighbors. Lisa and Kurt next door, has had a baby boy, Zion, and with the two children so close in age, Lisa and Barbs find themselves spending a lot of time together - in one house or the other while tending to the kids, or just talking as they sleep in their cribs or on the carpet of whatever room they are in.
Barbara has finished the mural in her living room, but as of yet she doesn't have many furniture to speak of. What she does have is a thick carpet in fantastic colors and some pillows and a chair. For her, furniture doesn't feel like the most important thing anyway. As long as her studio is functioning, and her jewelry making station is in order, the only thing she really needs is a record player where The Byrds, Dylan, Rolling Stones and The Byrds mix with the jazz she used to listen to at Fort Robles on the turntable.
But as much as Barbara loves her new pad, she isn't the type who spends all her time at home. Luckily, in this area, many kids love to babysit Abby, so Barbs can have some time with her friends too. And as a new year is starting, they have a lot to talk about. The government has decided to make bubble blowing illegal, and none of the people around Celebration square is having it.
"It's an attack on our freedom!"
"They're so square! What's their problem?"
"They're just trying to close our minds, man! Make us slaves like everyone else."
As they move from the bar to the bubble room, an idea is starting to take place. A protest of sorts.
"Not one of those street things," Barbs complain. "They're so drab!"
"No, something different. With music, and freedom."
"Yeah! Let's show people what freedom looks like."
It's a late night when Barbara returns home, wakes the baby sitter, and slips into bed.
As tired as Barbara is, she still needs to make a living, so the next day (not morning, she's definitely sleeping in) she heads down to the park with Barbara. At first they play in the grass, but as Abby falls asleep on a blanket in the grass, Barbara sets up shop and start selling her art. She cleans out in no time. This way of making money fits her personality. No strings, no shop, no hours, just freedom.
She takes the time to paint some more before returning home with Abby. Nearby, she watches as some men gather round a bonfire, tossing in paper slips.
"Hey! What are you burning?"
"Draft orders! I'm not going to fight some poor peasants in some country I hadn't even heard of a few years ago. What did they ever do to me?"
As Abby's birthday rolls around, Barbara is so involved in her community, she finds it easiest to just stay local. Together with her friends, they share a cake in the park, and Abby gets some newly thrifted clothes for her birthday.
Meanwhile, in Strangerville, where the Beatles or Beach Boys were more likely to be heard from the turntable than Dylan or Rolling stones, Arthur is wearing himself thin. With Luna 9 landing on the moon in February, the Soviets has once more beaten the US in an important step in the space race. For Arthur the result is longer hours, more days of work, including late nights and sometimes weekends, as NASA tries to catch up, and pass, the Soviets.
"We need to be the first to set foot on the moon!" Bikle tells them constantly, pushing them to do another flight test, another simulation or yet another calculation.
The hard work bears results, as they launch Gemini 8 in March, and performs the first-ever docking of two spacecraft in orbit. No longer a part of mission control or tracking the craft, Edwards still listen in as their engineering is being tested for real this time. Arthur thinks his heart is going to stop as Gemini 8 spins out of control right after docking! Luckily, Armstrong is a good pilot, and manages to gain control.
At home, however, Audie is feeling the strain of being left alone so much. At times she thinks she's still a single mother, but now with three children instead of two. It's a good thing Beth and Cathy are starting to be old enough that they can help some around the house. Not too much, they're not even ten yet, but they can entertain their sister, or put away their toys on their own.
For Arthur, as proud as he is of his work, it's still hard to be away from his family so much. He often comes home after Cindy is put to bed, and sometimes after Beth and Cathy's bedtime too. Those nights all he kan do is tuck his children in and wish time didn't move as fast as it did.
By easter, however, Arthur has something as rare as a day off, and he uses it by treating the entire family to a trip to the park in Oasis Springs. All day, the kids play in the pool and on the playground and Arthur and Audie gets some long awaited adult time together. A time when neither is exhausted and tired but when they can actually talk to each other about the family and future.
Before they leave for home, they make one final stop. Thomas has told his brother about a house for sale on his street. Completely newly build, as modern as can be, and while Arthur isn't sure they can afford a house like that, it can't hurt to look - right? They do need a bigger place after all.
But of course they don't just look, they fall in love with it. The generous hallway, the sunken living room, the stone and wood accents... Claudia is already imagining herself in the kitchen, using a dishwasher instead of wasting time by washing them by hand. The girls even pick out their room. Even as Arthur start worrying about finances, he realises that there is no turning back from this. The house is perfect.
Later, after they're back home and the girls are tucked in for the night, Arthur and Audie sit down to talk about the house.
"It's perfect."
"It's a longer commute. You'll be gone even more."
"I will, but you'll have my mum around to help, and Betty and Grace. I'd say Hazel but I don't think she's the helping kind."
"Can we afford it?"
That is the trick question isn't it. What they have is standard government housing, what they are looking at is a new-build in a very popular town. But how could Arthur deny Audie the house of her dreams, in a community much more developed than Strangerville? "I'll find the money," he says. "We're moving."
Barbara has finished the mural in her living room, but as of yet she doesn't have many furniture to speak of. What she does have is a thick carpet in fantastic colors and some pillows and a chair. For her, furniture doesn't feel like the most important thing anyway. As long as her studio is functioning, and her jewelry making station is in order, the only thing she really needs is a record player where The Byrds, Dylan, Rolling Stones and The Byrds mix with the jazz she used to listen to at Fort Robles on the turntable.
But as much as Barbara loves her new pad, she isn't the type who spends all her time at home. Luckily, in this area, many kids love to babysit Abby, so Barbs can have some time with her friends too. And as a new year is starting, they have a lot to talk about. The government has decided to make bubble blowing illegal, and none of the people around Celebration square is having it.
"It's an attack on our freedom!"
"They're so square! What's their problem?"
"They're just trying to close our minds, man! Make us slaves like everyone else."
As they move from the bar to the bubble room, an idea is starting to take place. A protest of sorts.
"Not one of those street things," Barbs complain. "They're so drab!"
"No, something different. With music, and freedom."
"Yeah! Let's show people what freedom looks like."
It's a late night when Barbara returns home, wakes the baby sitter, and slips into bed.
As tired as Barbara is, she still needs to make a living, so the next day (not morning, she's definitely sleeping in) she heads down to the park with Barbara. At first they play in the grass, but as Abby falls asleep on a blanket in the grass, Barbara sets up shop and start selling her art. She cleans out in no time. This way of making money fits her personality. No strings, no shop, no hours, just freedom.
She takes the time to paint some more before returning home with Abby. Nearby, she watches as some men gather round a bonfire, tossing in paper slips.
"Hey! What are you burning?"
"Draft orders! I'm not going to fight some poor peasants in some country I hadn't even heard of a few years ago. What did they ever do to me?"
As Abby's birthday rolls around, Barbara is so involved in her community, she finds it easiest to just stay local. Together with her friends, they share a cake in the park, and Abby gets some newly thrifted clothes for her birthday.
Meanwhile, in Strangerville, where the Beatles or Beach Boys were more likely to be heard from the turntable than Dylan or Rolling stones, Arthur is wearing himself thin. With Luna 9 landing on the moon in February, the Soviets has once more beaten the US in an important step in the space race. For Arthur the result is longer hours, more days of work, including late nights and sometimes weekends, as NASA tries to catch up, and pass, the Soviets.
"We need to be the first to set foot on the moon!" Bikle tells them constantly, pushing them to do another flight test, another simulation or yet another calculation.
The hard work bears results, as they launch Gemini 8 in March, and performs the first-ever docking of two spacecraft in orbit. No longer a part of mission control or tracking the craft, Edwards still listen in as their engineering is being tested for real this time. Arthur thinks his heart is going to stop as Gemini 8 spins out of control right after docking! Luckily, Armstrong is a good pilot, and manages to gain control.
At home, however, Audie is feeling the strain of being left alone so much. At times she thinks she's still a single mother, but now with three children instead of two. It's a good thing Beth and Cathy are starting to be old enough that they can help some around the house. Not too much, they're not even ten yet, but they can entertain their sister, or put away their toys on their own.
For Arthur, as proud as he is of his work, it's still hard to be away from his family so much. He often comes home after Cindy is put to bed, and sometimes after Beth and Cathy's bedtime too. Those nights all he kan do is tuck his children in and wish time didn't move as fast as it did.
By easter, however, Arthur has something as rare as a day off, and he uses it by treating the entire family to a trip to the park in Oasis Springs. All day, the kids play in the pool and on the playground and Arthur and Audie gets some long awaited adult time together. A time when neither is exhausted and tired but when they can actually talk to each other about the family and future.
Before they leave for home, they make one final stop. Thomas has told his brother about a house for sale on his street. Completely newly build, as modern as can be, and while Arthur isn't sure they can afford a house like that, it can't hurt to look - right? They do need a bigger place after all.
But of course they don't just look, they fall in love with it. The generous hallway, the sunken living room, the stone and wood accents... Claudia is already imagining herself in the kitchen, using a dishwasher instead of wasting time by washing them by hand. The girls even pick out their room. Even as Arthur start worrying about finances, he realises that there is no turning back from this. The house is perfect.
Later, after they're back home and the girls are tucked in for the night, Arthur and Audie sit down to talk about the house.
"It's perfect."
"It's a longer commute. You'll be gone even more."
"I will, but you'll have my mum around to help, and Betty and Grace. I'd say Hazel but I don't think she's the helping kind."
"Can we afford it?"
That is the trick question isn't it. What they have is standard government housing, what they are looking at is a new-build in a very popular town. But how could Arthur deny Audie the house of her dreams, in a community much more developed than Strangerville? "I'll find the money," he says. "We're moving."
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