"Oceans Dinosaur"
(I'll Be Right Back)
Here is another Installment of "Tales of The Tide"
(I'll Be Right Back)
Here is another Installment of "Tales of The Tide"
To Recap How I met My Dear departed Friend "Ocean Waters"
In 1977(ish) My Friend Steve and I were hired to Build a stage for the first annual Russian River Country Music Festival and to work Beach Security on Johnson's Beach at Night. This is Where My First Encounter with "Ocean" Occurred.
On the first night I stationed myself at the N.W Entrance to make sure no one climbed over the small gate there. It was a dark moonless night and we were underneath the cover of large trees so there wasn't even any star light, so as you might imagine it was quite dark. As I stood there making small talk with some of the locals that had sorta camped out in line to get the best places on the beach for the concert I reached into my pocket for something and out dropped a hit of purple micro dot acid that I had gotten from one of the locals the day before. As you can imagine it was going to be impossible to find in the dark. I was just about to give up looking for it when a voice came out of the darkness and exclaimed "FOUND IT". I looked up to see this short Hippie looking guy with shoulder length hair wearing a flat brimmed cowboy type hat with a feather in the band. He started to hand me the hit of acid and I just told him, Man you found it so you keep it, my treat. I would not Know his name or see him again till years later when we would meet in Fairfield and discover in conversation that we had met before on that dark moonless night more than 4 years earlier and more than 100 miles away.
Jump ahead now to 1981 or 82 not sure which as in those days My Drug Use was at a Peak. We were (as usual) having a few people over the apt to "Party" My Friend Jim D Brought with him His Friend Ocean Waters and as I mentioned above we Discovered that we Had met a few years earlier in Guernville Ca.
One of the First things I discovered About "Ocean" was that he was Very Intelligent. He didn't have much formal schooling but he was an avid Reader of just about anything in print. He was also The perfect Homeless person and by that I mean he was good at it and preferred it to Living in a traditional apt or house or what have you. He was also sort of a Hippie Dippie Junk man. "Ocean was the owner of a 1954 International which had previously been a California dept of Forestry Truck with a camouflage paint Job. It was Equipped with Full Length side tool compartments as well as what was probably one of the first mobile Phones Mounted on the Dashboard (not working of Course) Well aboard this truck was just about "some of everything" or so it seemed. Countless were the times when in the coarse of an evening someone would be in need of something like the most obscure kind of nut or bolt or thingamajig or doohickey you could Possibly imagine for their "Tweaker Project" At some point some one would exclaim "If I only had....." Then from across the room you would here the words "I'll be Right Back" "Ocean" would then proceed to his "Mobile Junk Yard" and shortly thereafter return with just the right part to complete what ever was being built or repaired.
One night we were sitting in the Living room of Mine and Debbie's apt discussing having a yard sale because we had TONS of stuff to get rid of because we were planning on Moving. At some point the subject of advertising the Yard sale came up and I said that it was too bad we did not have a printing press to print up flyers to distribute about town. Suddenly from the other side of the room came that Familiar (you guessed it ) "I'll be Right Back" It was of course "Ocean" As he left the apt heading for his truck which we all referred to as "The Dinosaur" We looked at one another and I could tell we were all thinking, Naw, Can't be. Well we were wrong. Ocean soon returned carrying an old (but working Mimeograph Ink Drum printer along with about 200 sheets of paper, Ink and the The Carbon paper need for the template. My Artist Friend Mark drew up a fantastic poster style flyer onto the Carbon sheet and we proceeded to run off 200 flyers.
There were many occasions We would here those words "I'll be Right Back" The night we were watching a really good Movie on TV and the Tv went out, "Ocean" again, to the Dinosaur and back with a TV set It was a small portable B&W but at least we could finish watching the movie. On another Occasion My Nephew Eddie mentioned that he Had wanted to go snow skiing on the up coming week end but one of his skis was broken, (You Guessed it)
"BE RIGHT BACK" "Ocean" comes back with a set of snow skis AND the wax needed to prepare them. It really was kinda eerie at times, Like he was the All powerful "Wizard of ODD" because just about anything one would possibly need seemed to be tucked away somewhere aboard "The Dinosaur"
In 1977(ish) My Friend Steve and I were hired to Build a stage for the first annual Russian River Country Music Festival and to work Beach Security on Johnson's Beach at Night. This is Where My First Encounter with "Ocean" Occurred.
On the first night I stationed myself at the N.W Entrance to make sure no one climbed over the small gate there. It was a dark moonless night and we were underneath the cover of large trees so there wasn't even any star light, so as you might imagine it was quite dark. As I stood there making small talk with some of the locals that had sorta camped out in line to get the best places on the beach for the concert I reached into my pocket for something and out dropped a hit of purple micro dot acid that I had gotten from one of the locals the day before. As you can imagine it was going to be impossible to find in the dark. I was just about to give up looking for it when a voice came out of the darkness and exclaimed "FOUND IT". I looked up to see this short Hippie looking guy with shoulder length hair wearing a flat brimmed cowboy type hat with a feather in the band. He started to hand me the hit of acid and I just told him, Man you found it so you keep it, my treat. I would not Know his name or see him again till years later when we would meet in Fairfield and discover in conversation that we had met before on that dark moonless night more than 4 years earlier and more than 100 miles away.
Jump ahead now to 1981 or 82 not sure which as in those days My Drug Use was at a Peak. We were (as usual) having a few people over the apt to "Party" My Friend Jim D Brought with him His Friend Ocean Waters and as I mentioned above we Discovered that we Had met a few years earlier in Guernville Ca.
One of the First things I discovered About "Ocean" was that he was Very Intelligent. He didn't have much formal schooling but he was an avid Reader of just about anything in print. He was also The perfect Homeless person and by that I mean he was good at it and preferred it to Living in a traditional apt or house or what have you. He was also sort of a Hippie Dippie Junk man. "Ocean was the owner of a 1954 International which had previously been a California dept of Forestry Truck with a camouflage paint Job. It was Equipped with Full Length side tool compartments as well as what was probably one of the first mobile Phones Mounted on the Dashboard (not working of Course) Well aboard this truck was just about "some of everything" or so it seemed. Countless were the times when in the coarse of an evening someone would be in need of something like the most obscure kind of nut or bolt or thingamajig or doohickey you could Possibly imagine for their "Tweaker Project" At some point some one would exclaim "If I only had....." Then from across the room you would here the words "I'll be Right Back" "Ocean" would then proceed to his "Mobile Junk Yard" and shortly thereafter return with just the right part to complete what ever was being built or repaired.
One night we were sitting in the Living room of Mine and Debbie's apt discussing having a yard sale because we had TONS of stuff to get rid of because we were planning on Moving. At some point the subject of advertising the Yard sale came up and I said that it was too bad we did not have a printing press to print up flyers to distribute about town. Suddenly from the other side of the room came that Familiar (you guessed it ) "I'll be Right Back" It was of course "Ocean" As he left the apt heading for his truck which we all referred to as "The Dinosaur" We looked at one another and I could tell we were all thinking, Naw, Can't be. Well we were wrong. Ocean soon returned carrying an old (but working Mimeograph Ink Drum printer along with about 200 sheets of paper, Ink and the The Carbon paper need for the template. My Artist Friend Mark drew up a fantastic poster style flyer onto the Carbon sheet and we proceeded to run off 200 flyers.
There were many occasions We would here those words "I'll be Right Back" The night we were watching a really good Movie on TV and the Tv went out, "Ocean" again, to the Dinosaur and back with a TV set It was a small portable B&W but at least we could finish watching the movie. On another Occasion My Nephew Eddie mentioned that he Had wanted to go snow skiing on the up coming week end but one of his skis was broken, (You Guessed it)
"BE RIGHT BACK" "Ocean" comes back with a set of snow skis AND the wax needed to prepare them. It really was kinda eerie at times, Like he was the All powerful "Wizard of ODD" because just about anything one would possibly need seemed to be tucked away somewhere aboard "The Dinosaur"
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