The Year.......

"The older I get, the better I was"
 
A few things that happened the year I was born:

Brazil Beats Czechoslovakia in the World Cup
The Beverly Hillbillies and the Lucy Show began 
Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Moore and Ralph Macchio, amongst others, were born
Gas was 25 cents/gallon
Morning sickness drug thalidomide found to cause birth defects
Phil Knight develops the first Nike running shoe
USS Arizona Memorial Dedication
The Rolling Stones adopt their band name
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned
Danial Inouye elected to the US senate
John Barns elected as Governor of Hawaii
The first Taco Bell opened
Goldfish Crackers go on sale
Jack O'Neil trademarks the term "Surf Shop" (but never enforced it)

The Surfboard Chair

He went to Hawaii for a break from the wretched northern winter.

His girlfriend at the time backed out of the trip: a break-up, so his roommate was glad to go instead.

He took a surf lesson and was entranced by the whole experience: Floating in the Pacific, undulating waves rocking him as he sat on his longboard. He never really caught a wave, but the experience was breathing in him. He wanted to bring something back with him to keep the fire alive, but a proper surfboard would have no purpose in the land-locked never-lands of Fargo

When he finally bought the chair, shaped from an old fiberglass longboard, cut into 3 sections and shaped into an Adirondack-like chair, he could not believe he bought such a great piece of furniture. It was impressive. It was different from all of the other chairs he had seen in North Dakota. He half thought it would unfold itself and reform into its former longboard shape. His friend said, 'that'll look great on your porch!" It was an impressive work of art and functionality

It was packed up and crated back to Fargo. It was too big to fit in the jeep.  In those days,  he could fit everything he owned into his Wrangler, but the surfboard chair changed all of that.

After he married, a year or so later, nothing would fit in the jeep.  He got a bigger car, a new job, children. The surfboard chair moved with him from house to house, state to state. All that moving around took its toll on the surfboard chair. It looked worn: the paint chipped, the point of the nose broke off. It went into the attic of the new house.

Just before the divorce became final, when he was moving to an apartment, his wife said "take this goddamned chair". He put the longboard chair on the porch before he unpacked anything else.

It seemed impressive, almost too big for his apartment. But, it looked good. He could not believe he bought such a great piece of furniture