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John Jackson

Tim - apologies for using such a technical term, but that’s the word Trump himself used.  And if it’s good enough for a former President, by God, it’s good enough for me.

John Maxwell

James Hamilton, M. D.

It's Getting Close to That Time of Year Again

The aspen changing of the leaves is starting but "peak" change in my favorite areas is still about 2 weeks away. 

I don't know if my body will be able to climb, crawl and approach the best places that I have accessed in past Septembers, but I hope I can get out there to capture some good photos somewhere safely without needing those Search and Rescue units! 

Of course, weather is always a factor so if the snows begin that may also negate an expedition by downing the leaves too soon or blocking the trails into the forests.

Time will tell...

Near Kenosha Pass, September 22, 2017

Near Cripple Creek, September 30, 2016

Jim

Joseph D. McCarthy

Truly Jim, God rested after making Colorado.  Terrific pictures.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Joe McC.,

Thanks, Joe.

As for God's handiwork, the late Merle Haggard would agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-IY9V10tLY

Jim

James Hamilton, M. D.

Follow-up to My Post  #14394

When I wrote about being older and less nimble in that prior post, I was reminded of one of the few pictures of myself that was taken "out in the field" by one of my best photo buddies when we were in the mountains. His name was Charlie Hall and was one of the old doctors who worked in our clinic at the old Ft. Carson Army Hospital. Charlie was a retired GP from a small farming community in Iowa who moved to Colorado Springs and did a few years as a civilian at Carson before hanging up the stethescope. Like me, he was a photo buff and loved to go off-road into the mountains. It was he who introduced me to "4-Wheelin'".

Georgia Pass, October 1983

Ahhhh, to be young, fearless and flexible again!

Jim

Joseph Gentilini

Thanks for the picture, Jim - beautiful - and for the story.  Joe

David Mitchell

Jim,

I guess the opposite of "High Country" must be "Low Country". Having lived in both, I still miss the dry climate of the High Country. But sitting on the dock, watching for dolphins with a slight breeze and a break in the heat is hard to beat.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

​​​​​​Beautiful shot of the red hour, late sunset over - I presume - the May river. 

Yes, beauty can be found at any altitude and you certainly live within footsteps of God's artistry. And you don't have to deal with dirt trails and 4-wheel drive roads to capture such scenes. And you can sip a little wine or beverage of choice as you enjoy the view!

But the humidity...!!!

Jim

Timothy Lavelle

!!FLASH NEWS....FLASH NEWS...FLASH NEWS!!

I believe that I have invented the very best holiday to ever be invented.  Just try to imagine how excited you will be when you first hear "Happy Elevensy" from family and in-the-know friends.

Elevensy Day celebrants get special presents. Stuff like Super Bowl tickets or that never attended fab honeymoon, or that all guys trip to NYC to see first run plays. 

Birthdays come yearly. Christmas comes yearly. Anniversaries are numbered, again, by the year. 

Ellevensy Day first occurs when you turn.....good guess class!...11!

Then, you wait until the two numbers of your age are the same...22...33...44...55...an on. So that every eleven(sy) years you get to have a super special "Ellevensy Day Birthday". 

BONUS: in 2025 many of us will enjoy our seventh "Elevensy Day" as we turn 77. I'd like the Super Bowl Tickets please. 

UPDATE:

A call this morning from Mike Perry. CEO of Hallmark. They want to call it "Double Dig-It Day" and their offer is unbelievable. Keep the super bowl tickets. I'm going to Mars!

OKAY...OKAY...PRETTY SURE THIS IS THE LAST UPDATE B4 XMAS...

In a huge let-down, I have to announce "The whole deal is off."

The CEO of Hallmark got together with E-Entertainment to advertise the "latest birthday bash" but the joint group had some stipulations. The requirement was that I buy two pillows from some guy, then I had to listen to John Cougar Meloncamp for eight hours straight. 

Please believe that I did not let you down...for a trip to Mars I decided that I would buy and listen as required. 

But when they then returned and said "Last requirement, you have to vote for Trump" the whole flippin' thing went to crap. 

Enjoy your "Elevensy Day" next year privately, with a smug smile as we all celebrate under the guidance of our first female "Guider-in-Chief".

David Mitchell

And here all along, I thought most Haitians prefered fish. Silly me.

Joseph D. McCarthy

Two elderly ladies, Dolly and Ruby, were talking about their grandchildren.  Dolly said, "Each year I send each of my grandchildren a card with a generous cheque inside.  I never hear from them...never receive a thank you message."

Ruby replies, "I too send my grandchildren a very generous cheque.  I hear from them within a week after they receive it.  In fact, they each pay me a personal visit."

"Wow!  How come?"  remarked Dolly.

"Very simple solution....I don't sign the cheque."

Michael McLeod

That must be an imported joke, Joe, given its spelling of "check."

It intrigued me enough that I did a little research, word-usage nerd that I am. It seems that "check" replaced the french-influenced "cheque" in this country in the late 1800s. The Brits still say cheque, but we say check 'cause it's catchy and we're cheeky. 

PS:

Great shot, doc. Just gorgeous.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Do You Remember These?

For some strange reason an occasional remembrance will pop into my sleepy mind of things that have nothing to do with anything.

Tonight's special is a blast from the past that I would wager we all have experienced: Elevator Operators.

When was the last time any of us "Boomers" stepped into an elevator and told the uniformed attendant "3rd floor please"?

When we moved to Colorado Springs in 1976, there were still some old time merchandise stores in the downtown area that were similar to the old Lazarus of the 1950's in Columbus.

Hibbards was such a store with the old oak tables filled with sweaters and slacks, neatly folded, and not stuffed together on plastic hangers on racks. 

It was quite a pleasant experience to step into the elevator and be greeted by the uniformed operator who asked to which floor you wished to be delivered or ask that person which floor had men's ties.

Hibbards is long gone now, as are the old iron clad elevator gates and their operators. 

And, I might add, so are those memorable experiences we all recall of "going downtown".

Jim

David Mitchell

Jim,

I don't recall elevator operators at the downtown Lazarus store. I do however remember the escalators which carried us from floor to floor. I used to love to ride those - especially to the 6th floor toy department.

But I do have a lot of experience with elvator operators in the old Beggs Building at the southeast corner of State and High. My Dad had his office on the 6th floor of that building for many years.

The bulding had 2 elevators and both had operators - Roy and Mary - who wore fancy uniforms of brown with gold trim on the seems and edges and brass buttons. They also wore military style hats with bills and white clotton gloves.

We were in and out of that building so many times over the years they called us all by name. Dad's office was on the corner of the building overlooking the Statehouse and I could sit at dad's desk and look out across the Statehouse lawn at the old men sitting on the benches - feeding the pidgeons with snack crumbs.

As I looked across that corner I was looking right at the windmill that rotated on top of the sign for Mills Cafetereria. We ate there as a family quite often because Dad held late hours once or twice a week to serve a lot of working poeple who could not come in during the day.

Mills brings back so many memories. We would walk over and through the revolving doors to one of the service lines. As a child I always ordered the fish and some of the women servers already had the fish plate up on the tray counter before I asked for it. We always ate upstaris so we climbed that big split stairway where you looked at that huge mural of historic Ohio scenes with the banks of the Ohio River as a backdrop. I don't think I ever got tired looking at that huge mural.

Dad would often greet or be greeted by people he knew (some were his patients) and one sticks out in particular. As we approached the door one evening, Mayor Sensenbrenner - in his trademark straw "boater" hat was just beginning to pull the regular door open when he saw us. He pulled the door open for my Mom to enter, topped his hat and said "evening Mrs. Mitchell." Yes, we ate there a lot.

And one final memory: one more that one occaision we would see Gov. Frank Lausche, sitting with his tray near the door on the first floor with a copy of the Dispatch spead open over his dinner. He had no body guard, no secretary, nobody with him. But he would sit there conversing with other dinners sitting near him.

Joseph Gentilini

WOW! Jim H and Dave M bring back some wonderful memories.  I remember Lazarus and the escalators which I loved to ride and I remember the elevators.  The reason I remember the elevators is because I am claustraphobic and hated them, scared that they would never open. My mom liked them because they were efficient (I'm guessing on that). Even today, if I am on an escalator and it's opening is just a few seconds late, I can feel my heart getting anxious. 

I also remember Mills cafeteria as my mom and take me there when we went downtown as a treat. Can't remember what I liked there, but I can still remember going through the line and being able to pick what I wanted.

Thanks for the memories.

Joe

Joseph Gentilini

I meant that if I am on an elevator (not an escalator) and it doesn't open almost immediately, I can feel my anxiety rising.  

David Mitchell

While we are talking about Lazarus I just had another memory. 

My Mom would take me with her on shopping trips to Lazarus about two or three times a year.  It was a long day and we would go into one of the dinning rooms for lunch. I seem to recall two or three dinning rooms - the names escape me but they were popular enough that you had to wait in line to be seated. As you sat there eating, a series of female models would stroll though the dinning room showing various suits and dresses. they wre all mature women but quite pretty, and as they strolled around through the dinning room they always semed to come by Mom and I and stop and smile at me as they twirled around. It always made me blush with embarrassment.  

Mom always made it worth while for me by taking me up to that 6th floor toy department at the end of the day. Then as I got older I realized there was also a fine coin and stamp collectors section on that 6th floor.

It doesn't get much better than that.

(hard to imagine of a world without Lazarus)

David Mitchell

speaking of no Lazarus- last time I was in the "big C", there were two very tall (like 12 or 15 stories) new condo or apartment buildings going up on the site of the Kingsdale Lazarus (not the whole shopping center - just that end where Lazarus had been). 

Tell me it ain't so!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

The Buckeye Room was on the first floor. The Chintz Room on the fifth floor had the models and was where the lines were separated into "Ones", "Twos" and "Three or More". I think the third restaurant was the Colonial Room.

Jim

Michael McLeod

Lol yep Lazarus and a bus ride downtown was quite the adventure thanks for bringing back that memory.

I was going through some papers and bills and such and on the back of one sheet I had written:

"You can stimulate your brain to grow new cells."

Maybe that was just wishful thinking but sure am feeling like I could use a few more these days.

LOL. Poking around on line now and discovered a new word: "neurogenesis." 

Feel smarter already. I had nowhere to go but up.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL.,

There is still a lot to be learned about the human brain and it's development.

After birth there still remains neural stem cells that can differentiate into more specific brain function cells, but I don't know if new stem cells can be formed. That would be like a nebula spitting out new stars but, who knows, that may someday be discovered.

My knowledge of such neurogenesis is very limited but I always understood that learning itself is more of a process in which existing neurons create new neuronal/ neurochemical connections with other existing neural cells. Perhaps that is just old theory but it has been around for some time and the neurochemical transfers have been the basis for many medications used in the treatment of various psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Perhaps one of the new frontiers in neuroscience and treatment will involve some form of manipulation or activation of our neural stem cells 🧠!

Jim

Joseph D. McCarthy

To answer your question, YES Dave they are putting up multi-story "apartment buildings" at Kingsdale where the former Lazarus store was located.  It is my understanding that at least part of the units will be for senior citizens, and maybe some for low income.  My wife and I have been watching the progress on the site since (I believe) 2021.  One of our go to (when we are in a hurry or can't decide where else to go) dining places is the cafeteria right next door.

David Mitchell

Jim,

You nailed it!

Chinz, Buckeye, and Colonial rooms.

Why couldn't I remember those ?

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

You could not remember them because your neurochemical brain connections are getting older! 

See my Post above #14413

Jim