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Molly the rat died in early spring, just about the time the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor nearly melted down and ruined the only planet known to support life.  Marty had seen the movie China Syndrome about a week before,…

Marty immersed himself immodestly in art, and especially cartooning.  He was hooked on visual interpretation of the world.  He shuttled the Apollo to different branches of the Marin County Library to check out every cartoon book he could find.  With…

January was even more squishy and miserable than usual in that deep redwood canyon.  The White tribe glumly referred to their little hamlet as “Soggynitas,” because the quagmire in the driveway wasn’t going to dry out till June.  Their spirits…

Marge encouraged them to have a big party at the end of the year, and so the inaugural Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Bash at the Rusty Bucket Ranch was hastily planned, brought to you by a large keg of Miller…

Right after Thanksgiving, the news was all about the shooting of Harvey Milk, a gay San Francisco supervisor.  He was killed by some dweeb named Dan White, a severely disturbed colleague.  Marty had never heard of Milk before he died,…

The first rains of November released the scintillating scent of wet redwood needles.  Once again the dust was rinsed off all the trees around the driveway, and everything smelled spicy and fresh.  The cinnamon duff covered their little cabin as…

The lifestyle in “mellow” Marin was typical of the liberal times: it was okay to indulge in anything you wanted at any time, as long as you didn’t hassle anybody.  The wealthy county where Marty lived was becoming a national…

Marty began to notice a trend in his love life.  Great amounts of energy were being expended in the buildup to an emotional climax that never came, leaving him burnt out like a wasted flare.  To say he felt lonely…

Hooray!  Dale finally called Marty to say he was finished repairing the Apollo’s engine, and declared the operation to be a success.  The patient not only survived, but was better than ever!  “Hear that?” he yelled into the phone, over…

The Apollo was never the same after the long drive to Trinity.  Its frame and body had been built for work on a farm, not interstellar travel.  The metal was old and tired, and rust had been working on it…

Late summer was a time for swimming holes, and the Inkwells was becoming more popular than ever.  There were lots of young people mixing in with the usual crowd of hippies from the China House; sunning themselves on rocks and…

The summer progressed long and shaggy like Marty’s hair, now that his new starship provided a wider range of activities.  He and Mike often drove into Fairfax in the Stanger, the Apollo, or the entire star fleet, depending on the…

A crick in his back woke up Marty before dawn.  He had slid off the aluminum lawn chair sometime during the night, and crashed in the redwood needles.  His arms and legs were numb with cold.  There was barely enough…

To prepare for the big kegger party, they moved a lot of stuff out of the house and into the shed, and took down anything that could get broken.  Marty covered the family heirloom couch with plastic, but it looked…

Marty was looking forward to his first summer vacation as the pilot of a truly interstellar vehicle.  That old, cracked VW bus had been more like a cheap satellite.  Now, he felt like he had 20,000 tons of rocket power…

At the time of her birthday in May, Julie moved back to the Rusty Bucket Ranch with her dogs.  She didn’t want to talk about what happened between her and Ron, but it was clear there had been a major…