Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I am writing from home once again, although I am back at Pearl's starting tomorrow morning. I didn't do much today. Slept in, then worked on my new Todd Rundgren chords (lots of minor 7ths, not too hard), and I am getting better at tucking my bad finger behind the neck for most chords and then bringing it back out when necessary. It's more of a challenge to play now, but I am having fun learning Beatles songs, and now Todd too, and singing has had a lot to do with it, learning to sing and play at the same time, and overall doing both has improved my musical ability a fair amount. When you sing and play, you really begin to understand the song structures and how the vocal melody fits in harmonically and rhythmically. So that's all I did this morning, then later I went to Marie Callender's to get a cherry pie for Pearl's birthday party. Do you guys have Marie Callender's up there? If you do, you know they have great pies of all kinds. :)
Pearl's actual birthday was last Wednesday but we celebrated it today. She is 92. My sister Vickie came over with her husband Nico and we all went over to Pearl's and had a nice time. Pearl's daughter was there too, of course, which is why I am at home, but yeah, it was a good party, and Nico and I even managed to sneak in part of the Rams/Broncos game....... :)
I hope your day was good. I didn't see any new posts, but I'm sure you are busy with your Dreamhouse footage. Post if you have the time, and if you want to...... :)
Well, in getting back to my story of "The Ex-Neighbors", though I know I kind of poured my heart out in last night's blog, I did so only to demonstrate my state of mind at the time it was happening. That's what one must do when writing; not only tell a story but bring it to life, and that is what I was trying to do, to set the scene. And on that day, it was a very, very intense scene.
But now, what I want to do - and this will take a few days, as have my descriptions of other events - is to focus not on all the violence and turmoil, but on the logistics. The "how" and "why" mostly (because we already know the "who, what and where"). So I will temporarily dispense with the aggressor Ray Tippo, whom I described last night as charging across the street at us, Dad, Mom & me, as we exited 9032 Rathburn Avenue on our way (I think but am in no way certain) to the Devonshire Division LAPD Police Station.
I will dispense for now with Ray Tippo's actions by saying that when he ran across the street, he did so to attack not me, but my Dad, who was 69 years old at the time. Dad was robust for his age, but was never a "physical" person, and not many folks keep in great shape at that age. So Dad was entering an elderly phase. And Ray Tippo ran across the street - again, out of the freakin' blue - and charged up to my Dad and pushed him down, two hands to the chest like some junior high school bully. Ray Tippo was a big man, about 6' 3" and I would guess 225, and on top of that, he was a Major League A-Hole who abused his wife, which I may have mentioned way, way back.
Ray Tippo was a bad guy. He was also a college professor at CSUN (shades of Jared Rappaport), in Ray's case, in the English department.
Finally, Ray Tippo was the father of my 12 year old little girlfriend in 1972, when I was also twelve. Their family had moved in to the house directly across the street from our's on Rathburn, in 1972. And that Summer I had a twelve year old "relationship" with Ray's daughter, which consisted mostly of sitting on swing sets together and such things as that.
But the thing is, Ray Tippo and his family moved away from their Rathburn Avenue house in 1976 or so. Certainly no later than that year. The last time I saw his daughter was in 1977, at a concert.
And I had not seen her Dad, Ray, since sometime before they moved. The truth is that he was a scary guy. Kids instinctively know who is a Scary Adult. And kids avoid those adults. I never saw Ray much anyway, because I only knew his daughter for two years, really, and he was probably at work - teaching at CSUN - a lot of that time.
But you knew he was scary just by looking at him : big as a linebacker, small & round impenetrable black sunglasses, and a Macho Black Mustache. He never said hello if he passed you, and he looked as if he would just as soon kick your ass instead. He had aggressive body language, and a kid - especially me - could tell on instinct that he was a man to avoid at all costs.
But the thing is, Ray and his family moved away in 1976 or thereabouts, and I hadn't seen him since.
I would have had no reason to see him, as I had never known him, and in the two years I knew his daughter I may have said "hi" to him once or twice. That's it.
So by September 1989, I had not seen nor thought about Ray Tippo for 12 to 13 years, which is a very long time to a young person.
But now, on that afternoon that I described in last night's blog, somewhere in the middle of the 12 Day Experience, here came Ray Tippo, charging out of a clear blue sky from across the street toward the front lawn of 9032 - our house.
And he stopped in front of my Dad - not me, who the focus had been on the entire time - and he berated my Dad for a few seconds and then pushed him down in the previously described fashion. For the record, Ray was about 53 at the time, 16 years younger than Dad, and much bigger.
But the point - and the Question of the Evening - is : why in the world was Ray Tippo there? What was he doing there? He'd moved away 13 years earlier. How in God's name could he have been connected to what was going on during that time, during the 12 Days Events?
And above all - the only apparent connection between Ray Tippo and my family had been between me and his daughter, also thirteen years prior, when we were each 12 years old! As far as I knew, then or now, Ray Tippo and my Dad had never even met.......
But their encounter said otherwise.
What could Ray Tippo have been so angry about - enraged, actually - concerning my Dad? And during a Nightmare Series Of Events lasting 12 Days that would seem to be light years away from anything having to do with him?
These are questions I have been pondering for years.
One question I have not been pondering is whether Ray Tippo was actually there, and whether the event happened as described. It did happen, as described, and I haven't even fully described it yet. Remember, the event is called "The Attack Of The Ex-Neighbors" (plural), and Ray was only one of those neighbors, though he was the first on the scene.
But he was Really There, and what I have described Actually Happened, as I have described it.
Why he was there, and why he attacked my Dad (instead of me, though he would have had no reason to attack me either) is anybody's guess. I will keep working on it, even though I don't have much to work with. ////
That's all for tonight, SB. I will see you in the morn and then again after church. Post if you can.... :)
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo :):)
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