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James Hamilton, M. D.

Changing the Color and Tone Changes the Mood

After viewing the photos that Larry posted, my scrambled thoughts brought up a verse from one of the late Jimmy Buffett's songs that went "Changes in latitude, changes in attitude, nothing remains quite the same...".

I have never travelled widely but from what I have seen in pictures of Germany and many places in Europe, some buildings and landmarks do remain the same and are nicely maintained.

In Colorado the history is much shorter than across the ocean but one can seek out interesting structures that have withstood time and inclement weather which can give a glimpse of the history of this state and the people who occupied them or worked with them. 

The six photos below are of two such places, the first three from the Tarryall / Kenosha mountain area and the second three from the Cripple Creek / Victor gold mining region. I photographed these several years ago and recently re-processed the original color images to include a black and white view and a sepia view. B&W photos tend to emphasize shapes and details of the main object more than color, sky and background. Sepia tone always reminds me of an old "tin-type" picture which would have been standard in the era when these strucures were built.

Old Log Cabin in The Tarryall / Kenosha Region

Mining Sluice near Victor, Colorado

Hope you all have a great 2024!

Larry, love those wine barrel shots 🍷!

Jim

Mark Schweickart

Ah, Jan. 6, what a day! Not only is it Storm the Capitol Day, but on a happier note it is also The Twelfth Day of Christmas, or the Feast of the Epiphany, or as my Mother liked to call it for some reason, "Little Christmas" (although I don't remember ever getting any additional presents that day, not even little ones).

Nowadays, for me, it has become the day I begin lobbying the wife that we need to take down the tree and the exterior lights on the house, a suggestion that invariably gets a lot of pushback. She loves her Christmas season. 

It is also a day that reminds me of sitting behind Crick Schultheis in homeroom because we were seated alphabetically, Schw... following Schu..., and more importantly because he and I shared birthdays this week, his being today, the 6th. (Mary Margaret, am I remembering that correctly? I am pretty sure that's right.)

So today, let me offer a tip of the hat to a great guy -- gone, but not forgotten. Happy Birthday Crick!

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

And a very happy early birthday to you, Mark!  What a wonderful surprise to log onto the forum today and read your remembrance of Crick. I will forever cherish the thoughtful and caring message you left on the Caringbridge website after his death, which our family used as part of his funeral Mass program. Every year I post a personal remembrance of him on FB ro keep his memory alive especially for his grandkids, a few who have only limited memory of him as well as for those extended family members who came into the family after his passing. This particular video was first published 10 years ago. Thank you again, Mark.

Mark Schweickart

MM -- You're welcome. The memory of his birthday just popped into my brain this morning when I saw the date, and I thought I would share it. 

Michael McLeod

I hate to criticize your photography Jim but surely you could have found a prettier house to photograph. That place looks like crap. A little landscaping would work wonders, not to mention: when was the last time the owner painted it? If I'm on the neighborhood council I am all over that dump.

And on a more sober note: I second mm's thank you, Marq, for the touching reminder. 

David Mitchell

Did someone call "adult swim"? 

Joseph D. McCarthy

Thank goodness I saved a couple of the old (Dec. 5th & 6th) Email notifications to the Forum; since I either haven't paid my dues - OR I have been removed from the notifcation list.  I wonder if some of those who never make a peep had the same trouble.

But anyways, I received an Email from, I think a friend, and I am going to pass along part of it.  So there.

A SIGN IN A SHOE REPAIR STORE:  We will heel you.  We will save your sole. We will even dye for you.

A SIGN ON A BLIND AND CURTAIN TRUCK:  Blind man driving.

SIGN OVER A GYNECOLOGIST'S OFFICE:  Dr. Jones, at your cervix.

SIGN IN A PODITRIST'S OFFICE:  Time wounds all heels.

SIGN ON A SEPTIC TRUCK:  Yesterday' Meals on Wheels.

AT AN OPTOMETRIST'S OFFICE:  If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place.

ON A PLUMBER'S TRUCK:  We repair what your husband fixed.

AT A TIRE SHOP:  Invite us to your next blowout.

ON AN ELECTRICIAN'S TRUCK:  Let us remove your shorts.

IN A NON-SMOKING AREA:  If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and will take appropriate action.

ON A MATERNITY ROOM DOOR:  Push.  Push.  Push.

AT A CAR DEALERSHIP:  The best way to get back on your feet - miss a car payment.

IN A VETERINARIAN'S WAITING ROOM:  Be back in 5 minutes.  Sit!   Stay!

AT THE ELECTRIC  COMPANY:  We would be delighted if you send in your payment on time.  However, if you don't, YOU will be de-lighted.

IN THE FRONT YARD OF A FUNERAL HOME:  Drrive carefully.  We'll wait.

AND THE BEST ONE FOR LAST.  SIGN ON THE BACK OF ANOTHER SEPTIC TANK TRUCK:  Caution - this truck is full of Political Promises.

Good Night

David Mitchell

Joe,

Wow man! I think you've hit a new low.

If you stooped any lower I'd accuse you of being stoopid.

Those are all classics - can't decide which one I loved the most.

Joseph D. McCarthy

Dave it' so nice to tell that your healing is going better than expected.  One can tell by your condescending tone, and your praise for simply paqssing something along.

All aside, I hope your getting much better.  Next time you leave church services concentrate on driving, not on "who has the best oysters."

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL.,

Yeah Mike, that old cabin would not stand up to a home owners association rules, but at least it is still standing.

How about a whole town in various stages of collapse, like Ashcroft  was when I photographed it in 2008? I understand the whole ghost town was purchased a few years later and some "improvements" were made - and now it is no longer free to walk through it. Too much commercialization of these old ghost towns!

Jim

David Mitchell

Thanks Joe,

I am still being held against my will and being fed sometning akin to recycled chemical waste.

But my escape date is set for Monday! 

I never thougth I'd be shopping for a "walker" at this tender age. I ordered a model with larger wheels so I can negotiate a front yard and drive way with no smooth paved surfaces in sight. This should be fun to watch.

(Joe,  Since my accident we have had another accident at the exact same parking lot exit at church services. No joke here) 

Michael McLeod

In all seriousness there's a nagging sense in which those old cabins in Jim's photos are more solid and better made than the cheaply constructed homes going up these days. Looking at them triggered something in me that makes me want to honor and salute people who lived in a world that was, in a way, a lot more real and honorable than our own - and the honest workmanship crafted by their hands. I live in a single story, three bedroom brick home that was built in 1959. The subdivision is filled with beautiful homes that have weathered the years in style and are better built than many a pop-up subdivision I see around a booming Central Florida that will most definitely not look as good in their old age as my home and the homes around me do. Anyway I'm putting a mini bathroom with a shower to accomodate a guest-bedroom situation and the difference between the quality and the cost and the materials I'm looking at as opposed to what's in the original bathroom - one that is better than a half century old and looks as good as new and is enough to make me call the whole thing off. I feel like it's an insult to the house. 

On the other hand the home is worth three times what I paid for it - that's how crazy the house market is down here - and I'm not complaining about that. 

David Mitchell

Please Read This

Over the past ten weeks I have experienced an incredible outpouring of prayers, good will, and visitors (wiith gift packages from Burger King, egg rolls (from Mary Ann (Nolan) Thomas), and Chick Filet, (not to mention bags of powdered doughnuts and pretzels). And I have also received assistance with house cleaning, mail, and even depositing checks in my local bank account. Lots of church friends, members of my Stephen Ministry team, work buddies, and a small, very tight-knit neigborhood. And my kids have flown down - Megan, 3 times from Cincinnati.

Just weeks before my accident we hired a new secretary/dispatcher where I drive for Camelot Limo in Bluffton SC. I'd guess, she's about late 30s - very sweet and well suited for the job. I only knew her for about 2 weeks before my absence.

Last week, her husband, who works for a towing company, was hooking up a car along a highway near here at nigtht, when he was hit and killed by a hit-and-run driver.

***BUT GET THIS; They have 5 kids - 2 or 3 of them (not sure which?) "inherited" from Samantha's sister, who died of an illness !!!

I know this is a reach for this unrelated group, but if you feell like helping, there is a gofundme page for her husband at "gofundme Erik Alberston pk".

I'm asking you all to think it over.  

And bless you all for your kind support.

David Mitchell

Thank those of you for the quick response to my "gofundme" appeal. 

Remember, those little $20 donations help too.

Just an interesting note: our boss and a couple of our drivers went to the funeral yesterday. There are a number of towing companies in our area. They texted me that there were so many tow trucks in the funeral parade that they could not get into the parking lot at the funeral home. 

David Mitchell

Need a little lift?

google the People Magazine article "6 Homeless Sisters"

Wow!

Janie Albright (Blank)

!Hola! I am now in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for my winter sojourn or maybe siesta is a better word. 

I have heard from a couple of you and saw on the forum that there have been a few problems with email notifications to this forum. I contacted our website and they said there had been a problem with AT&T and that is now supposed to be fixed. 
 

Wanted to mention to all of you that there is never a day without a post and you can just Log in to the website Watterson1966.org and the forum is on the top left. I guess that's a little more work than clicking from an email but still easily accessible.  
 

For those of you in cold weather regions stay warm.  Forecast looks terribly cold and windy weather there. Here is my view this morning  

 Janie

James Hamilton, M. D.

Janie,

Looks great down there in the tropics! Sand, sun and palm trees seem idyllic. 

Awoke to 5 degrees this morning here in Colorado and then the snow started to fall. Tonight the wind chill is predicted to be down to 10 below zero.

You sure that you don't miss the winter weather?? 😥

Jim

Michael McLeod

That's just lovely, Janie.

I need to post a picture of my back yard but I'm primitive when it comes to that sort of thing.

I've spent a lot of time landscaping around the pool and it's my haven.

Central Florida does have cold weather but it very rarely freezes so it's green out there all year round - though too cold for a swim. I like the balance, though. I much prefer some seasonal change, some sense of fall and winter, as opposed to being further south in the peninsula when all you have is hot hot hot.. 

We have a wonderful, live oak shaded, combination outdoor bar and cabaret style movie house just a few miles from where I live and there's a film festival every year - just so much fun. Writing up a story about it now. There's also a lovely liberal arts college, Rollins College, where I teach a personal essay class every semester. 

Both the film festival and the college are in a community called Winter Park. It's just north of Orlando. The area seems to get more and more crowded as the years go by, and I understand why.

David Mitchell

I am a long time fan of NFL football, and I can imagine how complicated it is to schedule and (sometimes) re-schedule football games - especially playoff games.

But I think it is the height of irresponsibility for the NFL to NOT to move the time and day for this upcoming game beteen Kansas City and Miami. The temperatures are expected to reach -23 degrees WITH high winds driving the effects much lower. Two teams standing on the sidelines for a majority of the game, and 76,000 fans standing still in the stadium in these conditions is utterly ridiculous! 

Michael McLeod

ok speaking of frigid football now that I'm seeing news about the cold snap up there I feel guilty about bragging on my swell florida home. 

seriously. I probably should have thought twice about posting that in the winter time. Now that I'm semi retired it's more or less my hobby, tinkering with the yard and all, watching cardinals swoop down to munch on my bird feeder. have no idea whether they've migrated down here from up north...I have a very pragmatic girlfriend whose back yard is totally devoted to growing beans and whatnot...she insists when she retires she's going to subsist mainly on what she grows. she's a brilliant, dedicated montessori public school teacher and has quite a store of horror stories about how lousy public education is down here. The guv is not a popular guy for his part in that - but that's another story.

David Mitchell

Mike,

Maybe not worse than public education here in South Cackalatchie.

Meanwhile as we endure another day down in the chilly mid-fifties I have had a unique problem trying to raise tomatoes in my yard, I either have too much shade from multiple old giant Live Oaks, or too much sun. I have to battle a short growing season between these two extremes. The problem with the full sun area is that as the blooming tomatos reach near maturity, they boil inside their own skins. I'm lucky to get 6 tomatoes off of each plant - instead of maybe 20+ back in my old house in Columbus.

John Maxwell

Michael McLeod

Dave: Have a little respect. Live oaks are so damn gorgeous. Send one down here to me. Wish I had one. Lots in my neighborhood but I want one for myself. 

David Mitchell

Jack,

Though I appreciate your offer almost as much as I have learned to appreciate my last package of  "Prevail" Per-Fit diapers, I'm afraid that particular Seal Team won't be necessary.

At approximately high noon tomorrow (yes, we thought we would fool them in broad daylight), Seal Team 4.725 (who goes by the secret code name of my next door neighbor, John), will pull up to the circular driveway of this grand ediface (where even now the racoons can be heard running across the flat roofs) and pause just long enough for me to make a speedy - er, well, a rather slow trip (wirh a walker) to carry my belongings to his Toyota SUV and speed away towad my home in Bluffton, at break neck speeds of over 50 MPH.

In order to expedite my escape, I will (reluctantly) leave behind my mechanical hospital bed, my oxygen machine, my wheel chair, and last but not least, my "bed bottle" (use your own imagination).  

But golly man, thanks for the offer.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Dave......happy to know they are finally releasing you....as Dorothy said, "there's no place like home"!