Beggars

The Culture of Begging

            Went to the big city of Denver the other day.  Was well reminded of why I like my small town.  The noise was terrible and crazy rush to go somewhere in hurry.  There were to things that struck me n emerging sub culture and the amount of construction. 

            The number of beggars on street corners has increased and the variety of cardboard signs.  The exit ramps off the freeways were the busiest, then the busy street corners of town.  The variety of people begging was …… well there were most all types.  There even few holding their sign and walking the curb while talking on their smart phone. 

            Then there was Denver, It is a boom town.  There were a variety of cranes all over the city constructing high rise buildings.  Downtown had over 6 of the huge tower cranes.  There were large cranes mixed in and numerous types of boom cranes. 

            So when I look at the beggars, I wonder why, there should be all types of construction jobs for the beggars. Well why work when they can make more money standing around begging then working. If they get 100 bucks a day begging that is better then 10 bucks per hour work.  And 100 dollars is on the low side for beggars. 

            The hand outs these people get is giving rise to a whole new sub culture and one could refer to them as the leech culture.  The beggars pay no taxes, do not participate in society, yet they consume the products and goods others produce. 

            Being in Colorado more of these beggars/homeless are now being found with tokes of pot.  Then that should not surprise.  The whacky weed has replaced the wine etc for these people to avoid dealing with their issues. 

            So many people complain about the abuse of substances, yet the people that give the hand outs enable this type of behavior.  They are probably more complicit in furthering this lifestyle of begging and living high. 

            Then I look at the boom Denver is having and wonder how much of it is being fueled by the growth of the marijuana industry.  I’ve read stories of people moving to Denver just for the MJ.  There are also numerous entrepreneurs that will become the new millionaires.   What would be interesting is how much pot is being exported to other states.  Bale it up, load in semi and ship it to a warehouse in another state. 

            When there is a dollar to be made, there will be a way to garner it, begging or business production. 

            The other thing to look at is the rights of the State and their laws versus the Laws of the Federal Government.  In this case, the state over rode the Feds.   Set a pretty good precedent of states’ rights.  Colorado, in particular Denver, has liberal/democrat leanings.  In the case of the marijuana law, the liberals gave the republicans a bit of leverage for states rights.  

Dance

The Dance Hall

            Across the floor the couple strolled, toes tapping, bodies swinging in time to the clink of the piano.  It was Saturday night and the week was over, time to go to town and let off some steam.  For decades this was a social center for many a country folk.  The dance hall could be a barn in the country or a hall in town.  Someplace in a corner was an old piano, usually not in real good tune but it worked.  Set a chair or two nearby for the fiddler or maybe a guitar player and the music was ready for the dance. 

            Here many a young couple could socialize with their neighbors relive their days when they were courting.  There was usually a young girl or two that would baby sit.  It was also a time when a young man could go courting, ask the girl out he liked, meet other girls.  Many a romance began on the dusty dance floor. 

            Cora was born in 1910 and she would reminisce of the days she was growing up in the country.  “Yes this where I met my husband,” she said.  Old man Baker had a big ole barn north of town and every month he would have a dance out there.  Bill from down the road would bring his fiddle and into the night we would dance. 

            The hat would be passed around, pennies, nickels and dimes were collected to give to Bill for playing for the night.  Benches lined the dance area and many of the people would sit there and visit while Bill was fiddling away.  For many of the people it was the only time to see their neighbors.  The weather was always a topic, then crops and how the market was doing.  There was talk among the women about the sewing, canning or gardening.  Then over there were the youngsters, the single ones, talking about this and that. 

            Into the cool evening breeze a young couple would slip outside to find a dark place to be alone.  In the evening shadows could be seen the glow of cigarettes.  The men had clustered around in small groups having a smoke and passing the mason jar. 

            Short distance away could be heard the whinny of horses.  Patiently waiting to ride back home.  It would be, a moonlit night of letting Nellie find her way home after the dance.  The buggy would creak and bounce over the ruts of the trail. 

            Young girl and her boyfriend had crpt down to the creek.  Laying on the bank, they counted the stars, listened to the trickle of water passing by.  The squeal of delight as a shooting star passed by, cuddling up closer together.  Romance on the prairie was in bloom. 

            It was another era that has passed, memories are but tales to be passed. 

To Be Rich or Not to Be Rich

            For the kick of comparing apples and oranges.  In 1966 a new pink Mustang cost $1600.00 dollars.  How long would a person have to work back then to pay for that car.  Minim wage was $1.25/hr.  At min wage …. 32 weeks.  The blue collar worker was being paid $3.oo/hr.  14 weeks to pay it off.  Today a Mustang would run around $30,000.00.  Min wage today, $5.00….. 150 weeks… oops….. Blue collar wage, $20.00/hr.  37 weeks to pay it off…. Or you could say work to earn.  Yes thing have gotten expensive.  The automobile was the American dream as was a house. 

            In 1966 the wages ranged, from $0000.00 to 10,000.00 per year,  there were those who made less and those who made more, this is a middle category.  In 2010 that income range would be, $26.000 to $70,000 dollars. 

            A nice new house in 1966, garage with 1500 square foot house, cost about $7000.00 dollars.  Less than a good annual wage or about the middle of the annual wage back then.  Today that 1500 square foot house with garage will run around $200,000.00 dollars or about 3 times the good annual wage…… 3 times.  For the median income person at 26K, that new home would be equal to almost 8 times the annual salary for a hard worker. 

            Look at the difference grandpa had to work to provide for his family compared to what grandson has to work to provide for his family.

Even with 15 bucks per hour minim wage, today’s worker could not provide for his family as good as the worker that was getting a buck and quarter minim wage 6 decades ago. 

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Doc Coulson

            The Coulson Trail commemorates one of Hugo, Colorado’s early doctors.  Sitting on a ridge, the Doc's final resting place has a spectacular view.  Below winds the Big Sandy Creek with the woods of cottonwood trees, on far horizon is Zebulon Pike’s mountain.  From the vantage point, he can watch the first morning rays to the evening shadows as they race over the face of the peak.  Below, he can watch the seasons pass by in the trees that line the Big Sandy.  The first catkins of spring becoming a green ribbon that appears to reach on forever, to the glistening colors of fall as the temps cool.

            For over a century the good doctor has resided on this ridge.  The railroad that brought him to Hugo is still there.  The wagon ruts have been replaced by a super slab of concrete ribbon.  The trains still echo over the high plains, while the big trucks huff n puff to climb out of the small valley that Hugo is situated in. 

            Doctor Coulson came to Hugo to open a practice in the growing railroad town.  Hugo was a small hub for the railroad and had become the county seat.  There was also some ranchers and homesteaders in the area.  Prospects for a thriving practice looked good.  There were the railroad workers, their families, the shop keepers and the government people to take care plus the ranchers and farmers.  A country doctor he would be.

            Setting out his shingle, Doc Coulson began to tend to the needs of his new home.  House calls were made, accidents bandaged, babies delivered and assorted illnesses tended to.  Then smallpox raised its ugly head and the people of Hugo became fearful.  A rancher south of town came down with the pox.  No one wanted to tend to the rancher but Doctor Coulson agreed to nurse him and bring him back to good health.

            The Doc did a good job, the rancher survived the smallpox but the Doc caught the pox and did not make it.  Doc was not able to survive the ordeal and passed away in 1892.  For whatever reason the townspeople buried him on the ridge rather than the town cemetery, a couple of miles away.  A few people said that the locals back then were worried about the Doc’s pox spreading so they isolated him.

            For years the grave site sat on the ridge, little attention was paid to the single grave site.  About a dozen years ago some local citizens decided to honor the early day doctor.  Some funds were secured and the Coulson Exercise Trail came into being as part of the town’s park system. 

            Beginning on the east edge, near the town water tower, the trail followed the perimeter of the land, being about a mile and half long.  It was also a Nature Trail.  There are exercise stations along the way, and markers for the various flora and fauna, some of them rare for the eastern plains. 

The trail followed along beside a county road, down a gully, following and back up the hill to return back, crossing a small bridge, circling a communications tower.  Benches have been placed along the route plus a few picnic tables. 

            About 300 yards into the park is the grave with a memorial plaque with a fence around it.  Nearby are a couple of benches.  Here on can pause and enjoy the view.  In the distance Pike’s Peak rears up, the guide on for the gold seekers that passed through Hugo on their way to the gold fields. 

            No longer do the creaks of wagon wheels roll across the plains.  The sound of the trucks now whisper up the ridge.  Overhead can be seen the falcon circling overhead or maybe one the eagles.  The little birds flit among the scrub brush and grasses searching out seeds n insects.  Even the roadrunner makes an appearance looking for lizards.

            It is a place where one can sit and ponder the Indians that used to wander looking for the buffalo.  The good doctor gave his all trying to help. 

Rambling Thoughts

To even have thoughts, at times even amazes me.  For the most part the grey matter operates in a vacuum.
Im not a person of resolutions, for I have no intention of being locked into something nonsensical.  I do like goals and try to set reasonable ones. Then I haven't figured out what reasonable is any more.
Politics is always a fire to ignite, only goal I have there is to go vote next year. 
I have been enjoying the Trump show.  Who knew a former Democrat could be so nasty to his former party.  Like Obama, Trump has polarized the country even further.  The amount of hate that spews out on both sides any more is amazing.  The Golden Rule is alive and well…… hate others so they can hate on me.  Well I really do not want to hate but I get upset over some of the comments directed at me. 

Then there is the issue of the Christian haters.  Not sure how to deal with that one.  Then I am reminded of the what the Romans did to the Christians with their lions.  hen there were the witch hunts, Christian on Christian.  So called Christian leaders taking on the role of God and executing people they labeled as heretics.   Burned em at the stake or hot oil.   An ugly chapter in history. 
Then there was the Babylonian exile of the Jews.  When a person looks at that story and reads the book of Joshua, a lots of answers can be found.  It is interesting how God has used the Ishmaelite to be a thorn in the side of many.
Like the Jews, God will not let Christianity perish, there will be remnant. 
Then that brings up the question, at church is the focus on God or is it on the pastor/preacher or self.  God has been booted all over and people have become so complacent that they ignore what is in front of them.
On thing, the world will continue on for as long as God wants it to.  It is God’s position that so many want to be in.  They want to judge people and condemn. 
Look at all of the laws that get passed by government, so many of the laws elevate the lawmakers to a god like position.  The government has the answer, seek them out, not God. 
Within the secular world, we have the capacity to change things but if God is not sought out, then Satan is the controller.

Like I said, thoughts from no where that go no where.  

Have a great twenty sixteen and God Bless You. 

Climate Change ...... Two Things

            Changing climate, what are the influences? 

            Read an article the other day about the earth’s axis shift and how it is effecting the change of the global climate.  This makes more sense to me the carbon having impact on the climate.  The incident angle of how the sun strikes the earth has a tremendous impact.  If a person has paid any attention to the solar industry and how they tilt their solar panels.  How the sun impacts on the solar panels is the same impact of solar gain or loss on the good planet earth.

            Few years back I wrote along this same vein when I read about how the GPS system was being re-calibrated by the shift of the earth’s axis.  The satellites had lost their accuracy by seconds and things could get messy, such as ships navigating in to shallow of waters or planes in the wrong pattern.  Short little distances have a major impact on lots of things.  Something as simple as moving a shadow, which would change solar radiation. 

            The sun’s angle on how it strikes the earth probably has an effect on El Nino, a big impact on weather.  Changing weather patterns in turn impact the climate.  How these events affect the climate is seldom reported on unless they fit a person’s pre-conceived paradigm.  In that, is part of the problem with climate change.  For a tilt of the earth’s axis is a natural event, not manmade, kind of hard to manipulate people.      

           

            The other problem I have is the blaming of carbon being a guilty culprit.  Carbon is as essential to life as is oxygen.  Both of these elements are extremely critical to sustain life.  Carbon to plants is as needed as oxygen is necessary to animals/humans.  One can not live with out the other.

            The other thing is, carbon is called a greenhouse gas.  Think about that.  In a greenhouse, the life of a plant is enhanced and its growth is increased.  Since the critters of the world need plants for protection and food, one would think greenhouse gasses would be beneficial to have surrounding the good planet earth. 

            An agronomist told me, when he was going to college, they would add carbon dioxide to the greenhouse they were working in to stimulate plant growth.  The other thing is, these plants provide the oxygen we need to breathe.  Without plants converting CO2 to O2, we would soon expire. 

            So if people are blaming carbon for climate change……. Are they saying they want to kill plants and eventually kill life in general. 

            Photosynthesis is one of the very basic things one learns in High School science, which is not a requirement like it used to be.  The people that teach science now teach science in a way to fit their agenda rather teaching to learn, question and explore the things of life and how it operates.  

Bethune Lutheran Church

There are times when pieces fall together, when bits of information are accumulated.  The separate pieces by themselves are nice, and make good stories.  Then these relate to another piece and all of sudden the little piece has a bigger meaning. 
North of Bethune, CO was a small Lutheran Church that I had heard of.  I went looking for it and there it was, out on the prairie. 

It had recently lost its pastor and was now empty.  The parishioners were now going to neighboring churches in the area. What had begun as a pioneer dream was ending.  It is my understanding it still sits empty. 
It had its beginnings in 1890 as a home bible study church that grew into a congregation and a church was built.  In 1892 it was decided to build a church.  Members were assigned to contribute different materials by families.  Rocks were hauled in and there was lumber.  In 1892 the little rock church was built and services were held at their new church. 
By 1920 they had grown out of their church.  A new church was built in 1926, which is the one that still stands. 

It was a nice sized complex on the prairie.  Out back was the play ground and further was the cemetery.
 

In 1955 a parsonage was built for the preacher.
This area was known as Settlement, where a group of Germans from Russia had settled in the 1880’s.  There were Post Offices in the area, general store and country schools.  It was a community more then it was a town. 

The people worked together and helped each other in times of need and raised their families.  Like so many things on the plains, the number of farms have declined and so has the population. 

today the prairie quiet lingers over the land, breezes of times past whisper into the attentive ear.  The white buildings a mute testimony of other days.