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In the Beginning.......

CloudDancer

Registered User
L. Ronstadt - J. Ingram Duet
This "Chronicle" (sort of) ORIGINALLY started out as a simple reply to

Flying Miss Daisy's post on the "I'm From the F.A.A....." thread :-?

Said he'd tried to make use of my prolonged "hold" on the story to see if there was any knowledge of "the man under the sack' to be found in Texas. :peeper

What with Texas bein' so BIG :wink: , durn NEAR HALF the size of God's Country (Alaska) I though maybe Ah'd throw 'im a bone and give him a HINT in case he finds hisself in the Lone Star State agin' with nuthin' to do but try to sniff out my originals. :Galien:

Ergo......this turned into today's literary efforts. Which has plumb wore me out again. :boohoo So...as soon as I get done laundering the strawberry jam outta' my sheets :wink: .....I believe I will call a cab and go practice my OTHER favorite pasttime :drinking: ....again :drinking: :drinking: ....some more..... :drinking: ENJOY!! :up

*************************

Flying Miss Daisy - :howdy

Yes indeed. You ALL have been VERY patient and good-humored :Gcalm: about my "dry spells" (WRITING dry spells...that is).

I don't know WHY they occur as they do, but as I warned Steve when he set up this forum, my "creativity" comes in "spurts" :pty: . The stories were written in true life long ago....the problem for me; is in finding the right "word smithing" to relate them in a way that will HOPEfully make you LAUGH :D ....which is the main IDEA and my motivation for the "Chronicles".

Ever so often it just seems to take me a while to find the right....
SOMETHING...whatEVER it is.

As to your "research" trip to Texas....I am curious....where you able to find any traces of the young "CloudDancer"??

I will give you a hint for next time you are in the Lone Star State.

The genesis of the "Chronicles", a "intervention of Fate", stroke of Luck, Karma.....or what have you was a chance meeting of a teen-aged "CloudDancer" with "Dan Gunderson" of Kotzebue.

This chance meeting occurred when Dan, tired of dining at the airport café at Meacham :( , rented a car and got on the nearest freeway determined to find a different restaurant to dine at. He was in FTW at Meacham to earn his ATP having come all the way from OTZ lured by the old Ed Boardman's ad in Flying magazine. 8)

After over a week in the airport motel and terminal coffee shop he was restless and bored. :roll: He found the nearest freeway (remember...this was 1973) and proceeded to timidly (being a little SHORT of "freeway" experience" in OTZ) enter the traffic which he found to be VERY intense and MUCH to his dislike. :crazyeyes:

He THEREfore determined that the would EXIT the madness at the FIRST sign of a decent restaurant.

It so happened that, at that very moment, young CloudDancer was sitting in a restaurant of a well-known national chain having a last cup of Joe :morning: before a fourth and FINAL visit to the army recruiter’s office where he was to sign enlistment papers in the next couple of hours.

This particular restaurant had played an EXTREMELY significant role in young CloudDancer’s life since it opened in early 1970. CloudDancer had wiled away hundreds of hour as a “customer” swilling iced tea after Civil Air Patrol meetings, search and rescue missions, and weekend bivouacs where we honed our skills. Hours spent antagonizing the poor waitresses as I and my fellow Kay-dets (including HvyJet :up who was usually by my side) discussed our dreams of future flying fame and glory and just talked airplanes in general.

Indeed it was in this SAME building in which a young CloudDancer bussed tables, swept floors and washed dishes :cluck for many months to earn the dollars and pennies which were poured into my first flight ratings.

Why, one :x-mas: Eve, when ALL the waitresses except ONE failed to show up for work, it was our young protagonist who, on his night OFF, went home; donned clean black pants and a white shirt and returned to the restaurant to don a waitress apron.

The customers :D and enjoyed the spectacle of our bewildered :Gwhoa: young airman-to-be giving his all for the cause. :tup: Their patience was remarkable as was their generosity. My $57.50 in tip money for a four-and-a-half hour “shift” (until the 10P.M. girls came in) bought another four hours of dual for my commercial.

But of course we’re talking about meeting “Dan Gundersen”, the SECOND most life-impacting significant event associated with that dining establishment.

The manager of this place owned a Cessna 172 and he an I would quite often spend some of his slow time in flying discussions and we were doing so this day. You see, I had decided to enlist for the V.A. benefits as I saw no other way to effectively achieve my career goals in a timely fashion. However...enlisting in the ARMY was a BIG step that I must admit I was torn about (given the time-frame in our country’s history).

Into this moment, having spotted the large sign visible from the freeway blundered “Dan Gunderson”. :Gcloppy:

As I had cup after cup of coffee :morning: and chatted about flying Cessna 172's with *****, the manager “Dan Gunderson” sat a few feet away and 90 degrees facing us at the other counter and listened intently (and noticeably) :Ghuh: but remained completely silent as the thirty minutes passed in which he consumed his meal.

Then standing next to me only a couple of feet away as he paid his bill at the register, I could FEEL his stare :Gpurplex: as I KNEW he was taking glances at me. And after he walked out, ***** and I watched him climb into his brand new Yellow, brown, and cream Plymouth Omega (a rental) and watched him drive away. We BOTH thought the guy was a LITTLE ....WEIRD :Gupsidown: ya’ know?? I mean, he was REALLY paying attention to our conversation ya’ KNOW?? Weird..huh. Oh well. He’s gone.

While I decide to have a SEVENTH and FINAL cup of coffee :morning: (procrastinating) and talk my decision over with ***** one last time; unbeknownst to me, “Dan Gunderson” has gone down the street and, spotting a Dairy Queen sign, gives in to his ice cream craving. :Gbun:

And, as he sits inside the DQ methodically destroying a banana split with extra whipped cream and nuts he is mulling not only HIS future, but the future of his family’s flying service back home in Kotzebue. :Gworry:

He and brother “Rod” have been mulling over the idea in recent weeks of hiring a pilot as they quite often lose trips for lack of help, and had just yesterday decided over the phone that “Dan” should look for a “suitable candidate” while down south. This, despite the fact that the FIRST and only OTHER pilot they had hired just the previous week was from Texas and had just quit with no notice in a dispute :agrue: over “maintenance procedures” (see “If You EVER Do THAT Again”).

“Dan” was truly at a LOSS as to how to hire someone and WHAT he was looking for. :Gwhoa:

He kept thinking back to the kid he had listened to talking in the restaurant. MAYbe he might be okay. MAYbe inexperience was a GOOD thing. We could teach him RIGHT. He didn’t really sound like he was too convinced about that Army thing. But would he want to GO to Alaska.

A hundred different thoughts raced through his mind as the three piles of soft ice cream and their toppings of chocolate, pineapple, and strawberries began to mingle and melt into a cold, sweet soup in the plastic ‘boat” serving dish.

Unable to reach a LOGICAL conclusion “Dan” decided to rely on FATE. :Geureka: As he slurped the last of the ice cream down he made a decision.

He would drive the two blocks back to the dining establishment where he had seen the kid. If the kid was still there....he would talk to him, and if he liked what he heard 8) he would offer him a job. If the kid was gone....well...then, HE must not have been the guy they needed.

Meanwhile (back at the ranch) CloudDancer has had all the coffee he wants at this sitting, knowing full well the last two cups were pure procrastination. Four years as an Army Warrant Officer in return for the V.A. benefits that would pay for all his ratings and college and then.... look OUT :2gunfire: American, Delta, Braniff, TWA, Eastern, PanAm, Western and all...here will come

CLOUDDANCER!! WHO will be the LUCKY airline that GETS him!!

The nagging thought that SOMEhow he MIGHT actually have to spend the whole four years flying them damn fling-wing UH-1's or Chinooks bothered him ONLY a little. :Gwhyme: After all, the recruiting officer had rePEATedly ASSURED him that the TOP TWO PER CENT of each class was guaranteed FIXED WING assignments. And with your fixed wing experience you should be a “shoe-in”.

And of course, our Cloudy, with his VAST experience of all of 243 hours at the time, and the cockiness of youth figures his in the top 2% of all pilots anywhere ANYway 8) ....so...no PROOOOblem...right?!?!

With a sigh of resignation, our fledgling aviator slides his empty cup across the counter, arises from the stool and slides his hand into his pocket fishing for his wallet. ****, the manager, straightens up, unfolds his arms and extends his right hand saying.... “No. This cup is on me, my friend, and best of luck” as a firm handshake is exchanged.

At the swinging glass door CloudDancer stops for a moment and turns around and looks about the restaurant, empty but for a couple of other mid-afternoon coffee drinkers and two waitresses.

***** looks at him, not having moved from the spot where they shook hands. As CloudDancer’s glance comes to ***** he says.... “Boy.....I’ve had a lot of history here...See ya.” and walks out the door.

The parking lot all but empty I walk the twenty or so paces to my car door in deep reflection of my life thus far. My left hand grasps the car door handle to yank upward and release the door and at that exact moment behind me I hear a
HONK!....HONK!....HONK!HONK!HONK!HONK!HONK!HONK!

I stop and look over my right shoulder to see WHAT the hell all the honking is aBOUT!!

I am FLABBERGASTERED :Gpurplex: to the that SAME WEIRD guy from in the restaurant a while ago sitting out in traffic honking his horn...which he STOPS doing when he sees me turn around and look at him!

Wha...the HELL??

He is sitting awaiting the opportunity to make a left turn back into the parking lot where I stand now puzzled as heck and he is holding his left arm out the window, seemingly pointed at ME, palm forward like a traffic cop.

I look curiously around me and, as I knew, I am alone with my car in the parking lot. So across the some twenty-five of thirty yard distance I put the most quizzical look on my face, poke myself in the chest with my right index finger and mouth the word “ME???”

The old guy in the Omega, glancing repeatedly forward looking for a break in the oncoming cars so he can turn in now nods his head rapidly up and down and turns forward again.

Now, I KNOW Momma CloudDancer always told me NOT to talk to strangers....and so far...THIS guy CERTAINLY QUALIFIES. But, I can’t help it (sorry Ma)...I gotta’ get this guy’s story. I lean against my closed car door and fold my arms across my chest.

He pulls in three spots over and gets out and I study him walking around the back of his car toward me. :Ghuh: A good six inches shorter than I and slightly roly-poly I look him down and up.

As my eyes rise to his face again I lean forward off my car as he sticks his hand out in greeting. His eyes dance in amusement at my look of obvious bewilderment, but his goofy grin is almost immediately infectious. :p “Hiya” he says quite calmly. “My name is Dan.”

“Hey Dan. My name is CloudDancer. What can I DO ya’ for?” which gets a chuckle from him.

So HE says...”So. You’re a PILOT, huh?”

And now Chronicle readers, as one of my all TIME favorite story-tellers is wont to say......

“And NOW....you know........ the REST of the story”
(credit: Paul Harvey)

And THAT dear friends.....is how I came to be.....with YOUR support

Your Humble Scribe,

CloudDancer :anon
 
Wow....like...BUMmer flying dudes....and dudettes :(

One hundred thirty-seven reads and NO one has caught it YET. Or (sigh) :oops: I guess like in-laws or :Gfish: on Day 4, maybe I've "overstayed my welcome". :Gparp:

'Course....it wasn't a story with much airyplane stuff in it so maybe alot of folks bailed out early. :Gworm: Couldn't blame THEM for missing it I guess....

I think I must be losing my "touch". :Ggurn: Kinda' like bein' in a landing "slump" where you can't make a DEcent landing for two or three weeks no matter WHAT you try or how hard, straight, or across the wind is or is not blowing. :help

Fortunately it seems (thus far) to ALways come back eventually. :up (The "touch", that is.) :wink:

CD :howdy
 
Cloudy,
I too frequent FTW. Hangar 19N. Now, I didn't arrive in Fort Worth until '77, so I can't quite put a finger on your "Chain Restaurant". The Colonial Restaurant is about mid field on the East side of Main Street. Lots of flying types frequent this place. It was recently remodeled and is quite nice now. The closest DQ is North on Main Street in Saginaw. If a fellow had been at this DQ and was South bound on Main, a left turn would be required to enter Colonial. DQ being one of the more prolific establishments in Tejas, especially in those days, it may have been a different one than I describe.

Some call it Luck, others call it Fate, what ever it is, it is always interesting.

I graduated HS in 1977 in Western Missouri. The economy in our area was very depressed. One of my HS buddies was intent on going to Alaska to work on the pipeline, I considered this too. My family knew some people in the Fort Worth area and arranged for me to meet them. At the ripe old age of not quite 18, I moved to Fort Worth. If I hadn't found the girl of my dreams, which I now have been married to for 26 years, I would not have stayed. My buddy that went to Alaska continued to send messages through family and friends about what a great experience he was having.

I didn't get to make my first trip to Alaska until '87. I went to the Dillingham area. Wow, what a place. My financial planning always involves the next trip to the "Biggest State". I hope to one day have at least a temporary address in Alaska. Until then, I fly everything that I can to gain experience that may one day allow me to draw a small paycheck while enjoying the scenary of Alaska.

Keep the stories coming, they are inspiring to those of us that have seen the "Other side" but can't yet get there on a long term basis.

GDF
 
CD the "touch" will be back, probably when you least expect it. Writers block seems to be worst when you feel like you really have to finish something rather than when you are just having fun with it.
 
Hiya GDF - :howdy

First - Thanks for the reply! :up

Second - CONGRADULATIONS on 26 years of marriage to "the girl of your dreams"...indeed you are a lucky man!! :wink:

Third - One must LEAVE the Meacham area and access one of the two closest freeways, AND drive a distance of MORE than five miles (but LESS than fifteen) to see the exact same restaurant sign that attracted "Dan". :peeper It remains there today.

Fourth - Currently up to 183 "views" and STILL no one has asked the question.... :Gpurplex:

LASTLY - Warmest THANKS GDF :tup: for your kind words about the "Chronicles".....it is TRULY my PRIVELEDGE and PLEASURE!

CloudDancer :anon
 
Thanks for the encouragement Jr.CubBuilder. The date is getting EXTREMELY close when my "publisher of choice" so to speak has said they will render their decision on the "Chronicles".

My stomach is sorta' tied up in knots.

At 1st, it seemed like just friendly encouraging comments from the readership to think about a book. Now it has become something I feel I MUST do. I am TRYing only SOMEwhat successfully to NOT let it become an obsession.

Thousands have tried for decades in some cases to get their books published facing rejection after rejection after rejection.

To date I have had to face only one rejection and one offer to publish out of the threee publishers that have asked to see the entire manuscript.

I am really holding out to see if (hopefully) THIS third publisher will do me the honor.

Anyway with the decision (supposedly) less than a week away I am on pins and needles here. :-? My thought process, or what remains of it is "scattergun" at best.

Not to mention my HANGOVER is KILLING ME!!
:morning: :crazyeyes:

CD :howdy
 
As to the question you're looking for us to find, I make a terrible Columbo.
As to describing the turn of events, I would suggest Providence as an apt term for your imminent arrival North.
Keep up the offerings, the stories may flow a little infrequently but no less in substance! Like JR says, have fun with it!
 
Hiya YellowMaule - :howdy

Great to hear from you!! :p

Columbo....WHAT a guy! Magnum...Mannix....Rockford....(and just for AnnesToy)....NANCY DREW!!! (LOL)...okayOKAY!!....Fletcher

ALL great screen detectives. :up

But who would be....FIRST......and who would be.....SECOND.... :bang

CloudDancer :anon

218 "views" and still I wait for somebody to ask the obvious question. :lol:
 
CD, Sorry to jump in here but you forgot about Steve McGarrett, Danno and the rest of Hawaii Five-O. The evil Wo Fat was always up to no good. Hawaii Five-O gets my vote for #1 :D
 
Al-l-l-lright WideBody!!

Far be it from me ta' :agrue: with any fella' whose got a bigger......
JET :roll: than I do!!

Book 'em Dano!! :drinking:

CD :howdy

263 "views" now. Will ANYone ever be the FIRST to find the OBVIOUS QUESTION?? :eek:
 
Nice try Dennis :up ...but NO CIGAR. :down

278 "views" and counting.

So WHO will be our next contestant on......

What Siding Did CloudDancer Leave His Train of Thought on THIS TIME!!

:x :x :x

CD :howdy
 
Oh my GOSH!! :(

While I am happy to see you play our new game WiFlyer :up .....you are WAY out in the WEEDS! :down :tdown:

Okay. Since I JUST figured out I have to go to work tomorrow again :evil: and I'm not OFF like I thought :oops: (sigh)......I guess I'm gonna' hafta' "aim" you guys a liddle bit better. :roll:

The answer....or in this case the QUESTION should come to mind somewhere between :x-mas: and :Gcloppy:

Good Luck! And the first person with the correct QUESTION will win a FREE autographed black and white cheaply framed 8 x 10 glossy photo of your favorite "sackhead" author posed seductively with a SUPERCUB!! :kiss: Said photos SHOULD be available in early May!!

CloudDancer :anon
 
Skagway Pilot - :howdy

I am sitting here laughing :lol: and enjoying the picture of you in my mind....huddled over a pictoral, magnifying glass in hand. :eek:

But Wait!! there's no PRIZE just for figuring out the restaurant. :oops: One must ask the appropriate question!!

Gee!! I'm havin' LOADS of fun with THIS!! I've almost laughed my hangover away!! :Gupsidown: :p :Gupsidown:

CloudDancer :anon
 
Which Airline - American-Airlines, Delta, Northwest?

I might have to go home early. :drinking:

Dennis
 
What was your FIRST most life-impacting significant event associated with that dining establishment. :lol:

Brad
 
Dum-dat-dat-DAT-DAAAAAH-DAAAAAAH!! :lol: :drinking: :wink: :angel:
(Trumpet Flourish)

And we have a WINNER Ladies and Gentlemen! :tup: :pty: :up

BRAD (a.k.a.) WIDEBODY has asked THE QUESTION!!

Tell 'im what he's won JAY!! :cheers

YAAAAAAHOOOOOO!! :whis: :whis:

CloudDancer :anon
 
OH!! NOW I suppose you want the ANSWER......

Well.....


There once was a SLIGHTly older (19) blonde night-shift girl named GALE

Mammary BLESSED :crazyeyes: with a CUTE heart shaped t :bunny l....


When she whispered to our young CEE-DEE
Have you YET made your first WHOOPEE?? :kiss:


Eyes raised "above" he sighed "Well...HERE's to 15 years good Catholic upbringing...

SHOT TO HAIL!!" :love: :pty:

Cloud :Gupsidown: Dancer
 
Mr. Cloud Dancer,
Your Identfication has been disscussed here with some of the pilots in this area. There are Still some of the Munz pilots and mechanics around here. Some of your stories about some of the "different" folks you met with from Nome had me ask some questions. I really enjoy your tales and don't worry about when you get them finished. I just look forward to reading them when you post. The question I have, Is What would be the
1ST most life impacting significant event associated with that dining establishment??? T.Parsons
 
Yeah, Yeah... :x Heavy on the MISter there T Parsons!! I JOKES!! (as we used to say in the village) :wink:

Hiya T. Parsons - :howdy

While I appreciate the kindness and formality of your address sir, calling me MISTER CloudDancer only confuses me and I start looking around for my long deceased Father from whom (apparently) I inherited my writing genes. Uncannily, the day I left for Alaska in 1973....only intending and telling my parents I was going to go for about four to six months to build a bank account and a little logbook;

Somehow I knew...and HE (Daddy CloudDancer) knew even moreso that I was crossing a threshold into a new world forever. :help

I had taken no more than a dozen steps down the jetway in the brand new DFW terminal with a growing lump in my throat, trying to keep rein on my emotions when I hear my Father's voice from behind me holler
"Hey Son!!"

Stopping, I turn to face him thankful I am far enough down the poorly lighted jetway they can't see the misty eyes :oops: as I croak out loudly "Yeah Dad?" And he responds. "You know. You oughta' keep a diary. Some day you may want to WRITE A BOOK."

Well, I laughed :lol: :lol: and waved and turned away and thought to myself "Yeah...RIGHT". So I GOTTA' think the Old Man is up there enjoying my anxiety as I go through this process.

:OT% :OT% :OT%

Oh YEAH, T. Parsons.....as to your comments.....

Well sir....you know....I was BASED in Nome briefly a couple of times and. of course after OTZ went "DAMP" :evil: this required generally at LEAST a MONTHLY (if not more often) excursion to OME :drinking: from the BARless north country.

Mssrs. Reardon, West, and Szabo (et. al.) long-standing "acqauintances" through my association with "Leroy" were now the new financial beneficiaries of OTZ's ill-played liquor hands. I know I left an impression (generally of my forehead on the bar) along with my hard earned Kobuk Valley $$ in every bar on Front Street :roll: as well as the Polar after starting with a few at the RoadHouse for din-din. :wink:

On more than one occasion I am QUITE sure some of OME'S finest, legendary and long time pilots may well have been seated right besides me....leading me FURTHER aSTRAY!! :cheers

As to the FIRST most IMPORTANT life-changing SIGNIFICANT event to have occurred in that restaurant...the answer is in the post previous to yours T.

A sexually...um....shall we say "free-SPIRITED" :Gflower: waitress who lived in the apartment complex immediately behind came to me at the end of our shift an....um...."made me an OFFER I COULDN'T refuse!!" :eek:

It was the beginning of young CD's MEANINGFUL education. :wink:

She, being devoted to teaching as she was...and I....ever eager to learn more :p therefore quite frequently over the next two weeks found ourselves trying to raise the temperature :Ghothead: in the walk-in COOLER amidst the vegetables (mostly).

My private tutoring (as well as our paychecks) came to a schreeching halt :cry: when a fella' from the State Dept. of Health, conducting what turned out to be a TRULY "surprise" :yikez: inspection along with the harried store manager :Gurgh: ; burst into the walk-in cooler to find young CloudDancer warming his kielbasa on company time :roll: as his teacher, a melon in each hand moaned loudly and :lick: .....well...you get the idea.

This might well account for why so many Kobuk Valley girls (and MAYbe a couple from the Seward Peninsula too) were often puzzled to hear me beg them to try on one of the several waitress uniforms I keep handy for.....Halloween??? :pty:

CloudDancer :anon
 
Me 'n' my Shadow

Me 'n' my shadow got separated today... For the first time in ages, not stuck onto one part of me or another like confetti after the big parade... Not really all that hard, but just a little tricky, strapping myself into the big thing with wings and barreling down a long straight stretch of flatland faster and faster as UP comes the tail :eek: and she LEAPS into the air and all of a sudden, she is UP and THERE'S my poor shadow, running along on the ground below trying to follow me still and here I am, flying around with NO shadow touching ANY part of me anywhere :eek: . Air smooth as glass, river and lakes all sparkly below, far away clouds shaking off colors of the morning sun like water off a dog. Stick and rudder JUST like in dreams and JUST like Wolfgang wrote (well kinda), only this time I am IN the pilot's seat! Whoo-hoo!! With an ace pilot instructing me, in a beautiful 1955 PA-18 SUPERCUB!! Logged my very first "official" hour in the log book this morning :angel:

How 'bout them rites of passage, eh? One moment, all dressed in virginal white, an unwritten page, a story still yet to be told, just ACHING to be touched... One simple entry later... :onfire: Oh Baby! :crazyeyes: I WANT MORE!!

:angel: :angel: :angel:

LuLu
 
Put me in a similar outfit, re-arrange the curves a little :bunny (looking back at the picture, mebbe a little more than a LITTLE!) and I guess you could say there MIGHT be a family resemblance :eek: Don't know fer SURE! :drinking:

:angel:

LUcy!!
 
Hiya Lynne! :howdy

Pickled Tink for you girl!! What a GREAT first flight story. :up It appears there's a writer in your jeans..... :oops: um....GENES TOO!!

The SKY shall become like a new lover :luv2: with whom you will cavort and spend special, sometimes VERY special times. A lover who can elate or FRUStrate you to as great a degree as any human lover ever could.

There will be times when your new love will become a raging and unruly tempest and teach you a lesson if you fail to study, learn and heed it's 'warning signs".

And there will be other priceless stolen moments spent alone in which you can only revel in the depth of your lover's awe inspiring beauty and relax under a calming peaceful spell cast over you.

Happy Flying!!

Anne.....Anne.....Anne....tsk...tsk


Was that the little green JEALOUSY monster I saw?? :wink:

Babe!! You had me at hel....no. Now THAT WOULD be cheesy. :p

Okay you COULDA' had me at the end of "Some Days You get The Bear" :kiss:

CloudDancer :anon
 
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