No I haven't turned eighty!
In my last post I told how a colleague old 55 years ago contacted me. The contact was a surprise and she went through a few major parts of her life. Sadly she had lost here husband. She listed her three sons.
I made a short reply and told her I had a daughter and son who are 46 and 48. I also added, "I have a wife who's eighty!" When I wrote that it suddenly hit me. Well I didn't know what to think or should I be more honest and say that I tried to deny or ignore this milestone.
We noted the Micro Manager's eightieth birth date very quietly. The Micro Manager had been fretting over the number for some time. Me? Well, whatever happens , happens.
However,the other day when I jokingly referred to my wife's age, it hit me. Wow, this is getting old. I have an eighty year old wife.
As with most things that hit me , I soon forget. But then I suddenly realized
that I've become very elderly. I can think of the elderly people from the time when I was a boy. Eighty year olds seemed like another species. I wonder if they thought like I do that being eighty ain't bad. I still think of myself as a younger person even thought the number says something else. Eighty year olds to a young boy looked as if they constantly sat in a chair. I seem to keep moving all day. Or do others see me differently?
Realistically I know I'm elderly. I don't dwell on it. I keep going and try to be active in life. Yesterday I lead my bird Saturday morning watching group.
Last week somebody got a photo of me that I was unaware of. I like the photo.
The other day I got a Face book message from my neighbor down the street. It said to go to Messenger to read the message.
I had never used messenger. I don't know what messenger is. I was surprised to see it listed on the left side of my Face Book page.
So as told I went to messenger. I found the message but what else I found blew my mind. I found messages that I'd never seen before. Some of them were four years old. However, most of the messages I had seen and read.
Now one message really caught my attention. The message was from 2014. It was from a young woman I'd taught with in a small town. We both left this small town in 1963 . Yes, 1963 . 55 years ago. So some how she had tracked me down and left a message. She must have wondered what is wrong with this guy that I didn't reply
So I sent a message to her. I just wanted to see if she was still here. Five minutes later she had answered me. Then I had to tell her the story of why I hadn't answered her message.
Now this is where the tune up comes in. What is messenger? How do I use messenger? What other programs should I be aware of?
I'm going to have to confer with some young friends to get tuned up on some of the things I should be using.
There are some interesting blog locations. People can post cloud photos in one area. Skies! Signs. the list goes on.
I've never participated in one of these locations. I haven't stopped to find out how they work.
I do have a sign I like. I'm not sure how old this sign is but it was here in 1969 when I moved here.
Alpha is a plant that produces condensed milk.
I once wrote about a friend who accidentally put a $1000.00 bill in a trash barrel while she was cleaning up her Dad's house. I thought of that today when I threw something out that cost me $1000.00 and it was never used.
In the late 70's I bought a piece of recreational property. The plan was to build a summer residence and we could spend our summers at the lake.
Things had moved along by the early 80's and we were ready to build a chalet type cabin. Now during the previous 5 years the whole project grew. We were avid do it yourselfers. We had put in a water and sewer system. The lot was completely forested and we had cleared what we wanted . Other improvements had been made. A small garage was built to store a holiday trailer and then pull the trailer out in the summer and use the garage for a kitchen living room. This plan worked well and we had lots of fun. During this time my kids were 6 - 13 years old.
I was ready to put up the building. I had plan made up. This cost me $990.00. At about the same time the realization came upon us that this project was becoming too big for us and the Micro Manager wanted a time out.
Well, the time out lasted a long while . We never did build. We did have a lot of fun spending time at the lake.The kids had experiences they'd never have had if they'd just stayed in town. Time went on. Time went on for a long time and the cabin never got built.
So today was the day that we looked at the plans we had made up and decided that they would have to go in recycle. We sold the property in 2014.
So the complete plan package was torn up and put in recycle.
It's one of those goals that was never completed but I'm not unhappy about how things turned out.
In the days of railroads everything came and went on the railroad so the railway went through the center of town. It was handy for passengers to catch a train or get off. Freight was loaded and unloaded. Towns grew up around the railroad.
Slowly the moving of freight changed. Roads were improved and so trucks began hauling freight. Trucking was more flexible as the truck could pick up and unload closer to the source of the freight.
So there came a time when rail roads were taken out of the downtown or in our case the railroad was taken right out of town. I wonder if any freight is received or sent out of our town. The grain terminals are about 20 km away.
So since the movement of freight changed the railroads had to change. Railroads became a nuisance in town because of all the crossings. The large amount of land railways had became a valuable asset for other development.
Railroads were torn up and the land set up for redevelopment. This process was costly even though the land was valuable.
This is where my bridge comes into the story. If the railway didn't have to take a bridge out it saved them money. So find a use for the bridge in the community and sell it for a dollar and the railway is free of a costly asset.
Now people have a bridge . This bridge was refurbished for lots of money and incorporated into the large trail system we have.
This bridge give an excellent connection to both sides of the city. The morning I took this photo many people were riding or walking to work.
When I took the photos I could imagine that huge steamer slowly crossing the bridge. How many trains have crossed that bridge? How many times have I crossed the bridge?
The Red Deer River has it's source in the Rocky Mountains not far from the city. There is a major dam about 30 km upstream from the city. This dam controls the river's flow very effectively so that flooding and problems with low winter flow can be avoided.
Now I like the river and have photographed in other areas.
The other morning I had some time and took photos of an area that at I rarely visit. The area is where the river flows through the downtown. This area has been altered by development of the city core. Bridges have been built and abandoned. A large water intake and treatment plant are on the bank.
However , it's still an attractive part of the river.
Let's take a look.
I've been driving by this mural for a few you. Of course , I say to myself ,"I want to stop here someday."
Well, early Tuesday morning was the day. The Micro Manager had a lab appointment nearby so I took the camera and went for a walk.
The mural is large. You can see how far back I had to be to get the whole mural. However, when I zoomed in on some of the faces they were spectacular.
I don't know what the mural was about so I've just given myself some homework.
