environment

 

Moron Greenies

 

          Saw a story the other day that the folks of Denver were crying about the Natural gas fired power plants.  They said the natural gas fired plants were polluting their air, nothing specific, just that the power plant was polluting their air.  There were not studies cited and no specific pollutants, they just made the statement that their air was being polluted.  Since they made the statement, they expect people to accept their assumption/opinion as being fact. 

 

          Natural gas fired power plants are probably one of the cleanest sources of energy and possibly a great benefit to the environment.  Outside of carbon dioxide and water vapor, a gas fired plant has almost no emissions or particulates. 

 

          Water vapor is harmless and carbon dioxide is beneficial to plants.  As we need oxygen to breathe, plants need carbon dioxide to breathe.  Plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. 

 

          Talking to a farm manager few years ago, he mentioned that to stimulate plant growth in the greenhouse to would add carbon dioxide.  For the richer the air was in carbon dioxide, faster the plant grew and the healthier it grew. 

 

So one can deduce from a statement like that, that power plants enhance the environment.  For the richer the ambient air is in carbon dioxide, the better the plant growth is.  In support of this, I read about a study done in Europe by various universities, that the world’s vegetation had increased by 17% since the beginning of the industrial age, early 1800;s. 

 

It would appear that the greenhouse gas is actually beneficial to the environment.  Because as the world’s vegetation increased to did its food supply.  With a growing population, the food supply needs to grow along with number of people. 

 

So the question is, is greenhouse gas bad for the environment?  In my opinion, I would say greenhouse gasses are good for us.   For years, pundits have been saying we are going to perish because of the climate changes brought about by greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

With all of the alarmist statements over the past 50 years, the balance of gasses in the atmosphere has hardly varied. 

 

Oh, I was a biology and chemistry major when I started university. So what to do.  Personally not much, just don’t abuse things and have a good stewardship of the earth’s resources. 

Galatea, Colorao

 

Galatea, Colorado

 

Galatea was a Railroad town established by the Missouri Pacific railroad as it built west.  As the railroad moved across southern Colorado, they began naming their stops in alphabetical order.  And the G stop was named Galatea. 

 

Like many of the RR stops, Galatea faded into memory.  A few building still stand on the former town site, along with some trees.   Out along the tracks are a few pieces of concrete where the depot, etc had been. 

 

Couple miles NE is the town cemetery and there are a few headstones among the overgrown weeds. 

 

Galatea is located in a dry harsh area and is not easy to eke out a living.  There are still a few souls that live in the area scratching a living from the dirt.  Yet the dirt blows real easy here and in spots are the drifts of blow dirt.  The rails had been silent for years, with a new owner, the iron wheels clatter over the rails again. 

 

The Missouri Pacific was not the first RR to go through the area.  In the 1870’s, the Kansas Pacific built a branch line through here on their way to Ft Lyon and the Pacific Ocean. 

 

The Arkansas Valley Railroad was short lived.  About ten years later the rails were pulled when the KP went into receivership.  During that time, freight traffic from the Santa Fe Trail was being loaded on the AV RR and going East.  Besides freight trains, there was the daily passenger train, it was a busy RR. 

 

Today there is no indication that another railroad had been the area.  The old right of way has been plowed up for farming.  Further north, towards Kit Carson, portions of the grade can still be seen in the pastures. 

 

Today the silence of Galatea is ruffled by the breezes that flow over the land.  The greeting committee is either the owl or the buzzard. 

Ghost Post Office

 

Damascus, Colorado

 

Damascus, Colorado, was a small Post Office, operated out of a home at the turn of this past century.  The home site was located on the banks of Rush Creek in far south eastern Lincoln County. 

 

Out there in the ranchers pasture, among the trees a few structures can be seen.  Nearby is another ranch house and some barns and out buildings.  According to the old map, a wagon road went through the area, near Damascus.  It is a land of open spaces, Population density is maybe one person per 5 square miles. 

 

It appears the wagon road to Hugo, a railroad town during the 1899’s and 1900’s.  From Hugo, the mail and express was delivered to the ranchers in the area and maybe trading posts.  From Hugo, about 60 miles away, the drayage service would have delivered them mail to Damascus and other PO’s along the route. 

 

When I journeyed looking for Damascus, I had no expectations of what I would find and not much did I find.  I turned south from Boyero, making small dust cloud as I bounced along the dirt road.  About 4very miles or so I would pass a ranch house, otherwise it was open country.  Here an untouched land, much like when the buffalo roamed the prairie.  The only changes were the roads and fences.  The buffalo had been replaced by cattle to graze the grasses. 

 

There were scores of different birds, falcons, eagles, hawks, larks and you name em.  The occasional antelope could be seen on the ridges, watching the intruder, deer cautiously watcher the passer by, ground squirrels scurried off the road and coyote sauntered along the ditch.  Here was a land with few changes, so I settled in for the journey. 

 

Soon I was at my destination, well almost.  The road curved at the fence and beyond the fence went the ruts.  Over there in the trees was Damascus Post Office.  I followed the road around the curve and across Rush Creek.  There was a small trickle of water in the creek, some deer were lounging in the cool grasses on the banks.

 

I paused and did a 360 look about, There was a ranch house over there and some cattle were grazing over there and the breeze tickled the air.  It was day of time of wonderment.  The destination was at hand, the journey was the time spent thinking about past travelers. 

 

Damascus, Colorado, how came to be named that is still a mystery.

Animal House

County Fair 

                                                                 

2021

Photo Blog

World's First Harvey House

 

World’s First

Harvey House

 

Fred Harvey did not start off in the food business, he worked for a railroad.  His job required him to travel a lots and the food served him at the RR places was not good by his standards.  So Fred set out to change the food quality served to RR workers. 

 

Fred, along with a partner opened their first dining establishments on the Kansas Pacific railway in Hugo, Colorado and Wallace Kansas.   The railroad hotel served as the host for Fred Harvey’s lunchroom, 

 

The cluttered lot, where the first Harvey House had been.

These first eateries set the stage for Fred Harvey to begin a chain of restaurants across the western US. 

 

The Santa Fe RR contracted with Fred to establish dining houses along the Santa Fe route.  Standards were set for food preparation and apparel for the staff.  The Harvey girls as they were known had a manual of guidelines to follow to be a food server in a Harvey House.  The quality of food and the girls became the mark of a Harvey house. 

 

Not only did Fred Harvey have eating places along the rails, He also got them in various National Parks.  Across the SW US the Harvey house was well known. 

 

Today, most of the Harvey Houses are gone as are the RR hotels that hosted them.  In a few towns, the old hotel has been restored and the restaurant is back in operation.  These places still trade on the Harvey House name and there is a Harvey House fan club. 

 

The location of the first Harvey House in Hugo is a vacant lot full of stuff.  There is no reminder that the world’s first had been there. 

 

The Kansas Pacific RR built a roundhouse in Hugo in 1870 when Hugo was designated a division point on the railroad.  In 1870, the government changed the regulations covering rail workers.  As a result, Hugo was no longer a division point. 

 

The roundhouse was closed and torn down.  The hotel was shuttered and demolished along with Fred Harvey’s first lunch room.  Into the dim memory box this page of history faded.    Around Colorado, there are a few places where the building still stands where there was a Harvey house.

 

What would be cool, is somebody open an INN of sorts on the site of the old Harvey House.  At corner of the lot is an old vacant 50’s style gas station, a classic icon of a bygone era. 

 

The railroad town of Hugo is still a town by the rails.  In 1909 government regs changed again and Hugo became a division point again.  A new roundhouse was built on the west side of Hugo and it is still standing. Many of the old railroad houses and section houses are still in use in Hugo and the depot is in the park. 

Looking across the RR park from where the depot had been located.

US 40, America's Highway, is part of the Port to Plains route.  

US had it origins on the Smoky Hill Trail In 1870.  

Stormy Night

 

Dark and Stormy Night

 

Jeff strode through the woods, that dark and stormy night.  The wind danced over the trees, clouds played tag with the moonbeams.   Jeff was making rapid footprints as he strode down the path.  Lantern at his side, light beams lighting the way, penetrating the darkness. 

 

Shadows from the lantern light, bouncing off the shrubs.  Oh what a night for a horror story, Jeff thought.  This is the path the coven would dance down to their bonfire what a witching New England night it would be.  Jeff’s mind raced on that dark and stormy night.  Other images came forth as werewolf’s sat among the trees serenading the witches.  Naked warlocks scattered among the waving trees.  Bodies writhing and weaving to the sound of the rustling wind.  The thump of the branches pounding on the ground, a frenzy of dancing around the fire.

 

Jeff continued his pace along the path, watching the shadows dance across it.  The storm had pushed the wildlife into their burrows.  Looking ahead, Jeff could see the path ahead, lit by the silver beams of the moon. 

 

Oh what a romantic night this could be Jeff thought.  Walking my girl back home after the dance.  Brief interludes in the hidden shadows.  Jeff felt her warm body beside, rubbing on his arm.  

Bakersfield

 

Bakersfield, Colorado

Bakersfield, CO, was a small country Post Office on the Plains of Eastern Colorado.   SW of Vona or SE of Seibert.  It served local farmers and ranchers, early 1900’s out of their house.  Where the map showed the location, there were a couple of homes.  One was an abandoned farm, now home to grazing cattle.  Nearby was an operating farm, with equipment and well kept yard.  The empty farmyard is probably where the PO was located. 

 

It is an area of rolling hills, of mostly pastures, with some farmland.  Cattle pause their browsing to look at the interloper, the buffalo have a look of curiosity and the deer and antelope scurry for cover and distance.  The fox and coyotes wander the area as do other critters.  Then there are the birds, Eastern Colorado has one of the largest, most diverse variety of birds in the state. 

 

Because it is mostly ranchland, the area is pretty empty.  Homes are few and far and the little country Post Office may have had a couple dozen customers. 

 

Nearby is the Mennonite community of New Fredericksburg. The church has been boarded up, but it appears the graveyard is still used and taken care of.   Probably there are still some ancestors in the area.

 

It is a land that holds memories of dreams from years ago.