Dad was s big name at North American Aviation, then Rockwell/Rocketdyne. He actually touched things that went in orbit in the space program. I have a ring the factory made for important people at Rocketdyne. It was made from a crazy, missile nose cone titanium alloy. Like tungsten carbide, it took diamonds to cut it. It had been tempered in the hellfire of reentry and was light yet incredibly string. We lived in places like Simi Valley, Canoga Park and then up in the Thousand Oaks area. Mom shopped at the then amazing Topanga Plaza. We went ice skating indoors. We’d go up Mt Baldy in the morning to play in the snow, then in the late afternoon, we swam and surfed at the public beaches. It was the days of Wolfman Jack, Dragnet and Adam-12. It was also the days of the Watts riots, but as my heritage is divided between Caucasian and Native American, neither side had an issue with me. Mexican, Black and White kids got on amazingly well in school. Drugs were just beginning to be a problem. Living was large and life was good. We were solidly ahead of the Russkies in the space race. American technocracy led the world. We were winning battles in Vietnam (only to be betrayed by politicians later). Overall, it was a magical time.