Good Thoughts

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Please excuse me but I wanted to start a thread of posts that do not really fit in anywhere else. A thread that tells you stories of your lives...of good things...of bad things...no rules...nothing.

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Friends...whenever I think good thoughts I think of family and friends...then I think of where they are now from where they were and the thoughts turn out not so good.

My good friend Larry died from a massive heart attack about a month ago...Thanksgiving always seems to remind me what not to be thankful for.

I vividly remember a beautiful clear blue summer day in Colorado...I ran into some kids at Sloans Lake in Edgewater...lets see there was Larry Gerry Lester...another Mike...and an old man named Crowfoot.

We became instant friends...we shared some oranges and began flipping the peelings at a lady who was trying to sunbathe...we thought is was funny...and it was.

Until she jumped up like some wild banshee and started chasing us with her beach towel...we got away...a perfect bonding experience!

Old Crow as we called him didn't even get up and was sitting there when we got back...he was a man of his word...and he don't throw no orange peels.

He was a 100% Crowfoot Indian...named Crowfoot...who drank Old Crow...he looked like the stereotypical Indian from the North plains.

Old Crow was probably in his 40's which made him an old man to us...but he was a kid at heart...he would buy us beer... he was our friend.

Oh but this is about Larry...

I remember running with my new found friends for as long as we could run...never looking back...from a girl in a beach towel.

When we caught our breath we talked about how we never would do that again...we were in a Safeway dumpster...full of bread.

We returned loaded with two loaves of bread in each hand...looking for trouble from any beach toweled bimbo anyway.

Have you ever fed ducks and geese...I know you have...but have you ever fed flocks?

They will tear you up man...I mean talk about aggressive...they chased us right out of the park again while Old Crow sat there and laughed his crow feathers off.

Larry took this new found Safeway shopping to be beneficial to him and his family.

Larrys dad took dumpster diving to a whole new level...he would be at specific stores at specific times and load up straight to the trunk. Larry had every nook and cranny stuffed with food...they had frozen

stew in the freezer. Even the dogs had premium dog food to eat...life was good at Larrys.

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The last time that I saw Larry was in 2010 while visiting Colorado and going to 2 concerts! Everyone in Denver seemed to be so self absorbed in their lives that they could not even look up to see where they are.

Larry was just completing 30 years as a dishwasher...and was proud. His restaurant had lots of good reviews...next time you eat out...look at your silverware. Until you have washed tons of silverware and dishes

and pots and pans...then you can judge him. I made the mistake of asking him why don't he move up...he told me he was the lead dishwasher...the top dog of the dumpster!

I never thought of it...but for the last 4 years I realized... that I always knew that I had been judging people all of my life...I am sorry but I still do.

I asked Larry if he would go to the concert with me...he did in 2008 when the same artist was playing 3 dates in local clubs...he said no.

Larry was going to work that night and it would be time and a half...I told him that I would pay him double time just to go...he said no.

The next night he was no where around to say no...no one was around...seems as if I was a native and an outsider...the same feeling that I had as a kid.

I split Sunday morning headed South ...crossing into Oklahoma I got a call from my sister who flew in from SF...they planned a party that afternoon for me.

Kinda like a Bob Seger song I used to love...I made my decision...I moved on...and on.

youtu.be/TEBwq4A1wsU

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WOW...that kinda music brings back sooooo many memories...but right now...as usual...I forget!

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I really don't know how I found out about Larrys passing but I heard that they scattered his ashes in the mountains...probably around Evergreen.

People don't really have much to say about a dishwasher...a lifetime qua-duplex liver...that's all people would have to say about him...maybe.

But time to say adios my friend...let it be here and in writing.

Thanks for being there when I was at the bottom...you always had direction and advice.

My question that I have for you is why did you not use your own advice ... thanks now I know.

It seems he says that nothing really matters in life other than to be good to others...to serve others...to help others...to give it away.

still thinking...always have to be open...someone has to always clean up...do the work that no one else wants to do...why not you...

Oh...get the hell outta my head now Larry...he is known to go on and on and on.

I will wrap this up by simply saying that if I knew that Larry would end up with such a high profile gig in Heaven...after a life time of giving...

I would have returned to that Safeway dumpster by Sloans Lake too.

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Before I get to gettin it I wanted to share a link to my place in Edgewater...as it is now.

It used to be my sisters place ...then she added Cleo...and Cleos Brother and to equal things out... me.

They sold it to the city of Wheatridge and they turned it into a really cool place.

I do remember how the neighbor kids were in awe that I lived in the big pink mansion.

It was certainly a popularity booster when the stories got out about how I was having parties in the Jail in the basement.

My BIL would practice with Sugarloaf in the jail before they broke out...literally!

I have lottsa stories about this place...I know every brick and block that makes up this place.

I have met at least 3 spirits in person here...and that is the truth.

Oh... let me know what you think!

www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/DocumentCenter/View/1315

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Here is the door to the basement jail...where stagecoaches would put there prisoners in while the other riders rested.

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Michael,

Here's to Larry, looking down at his friend Michael from Heaven and smiling at the wonderful memories and tribute.

I'm so sorry you lost your friend Michael.

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Michael,

Your place in Edgewater is absolutely beautiful. I absolutely love the wood floors...I have a real love for wood floors.

Tell us more about the spirits you've encountered there.

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Dec 20, 2014 11:12:58 GMT -5 @jolene said:

Michael,

Here's to Larry, looking down at his friend Michael from Heaven and smiling at the wonderful memories and tribute.

I'm so sorry you lost your friend Michael.

Thank you Jo...speaking of good thoughts...I feel them...

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This a four minute video that someone made of what's left of Idana, Kansas. It's the town nearest the farm/homestead that my dad grew up on and where he went to school. The schoolhouse building is included in the video. A bunch of my family is buried in the cemetery outside Idana.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdflo7X_qDs

....Michael...propane tank alert by the church. : )

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Dec 20, 2014 11:16:22 GMT -5 @jolene said:

Michael,

Your place in Edgewater is absolutely beautiful. I absolutely love the wood floors...I have a real love for wood floors.

Tell us more about the spirits you've encountered there.

Oh but the wood floors are so interesting...The left hand side was wood and styling from the East coast and the right side architecture is from the west coast...SF to be exact.

There are so many hide holes...I betcha they haven't found half of them yet...it was home to us and some sort of entertainment to them.

Remember my friend Lester...well as a kid he robbed the 7-11 store with his moms rifle...I think he was about 12 or so...before I met him.

Anyway... he ran into our yard...which was a full city block... where he had been digging this clubhouse out of the earth for years...no one was the wiser...it was all underground.

The police could not capture ole Les...he had to give up in about 6 hours...he was hungry.

This place had a force field around it...no one ever bothered it...everyone always veered away from it...it was home.

I didn't know it then but it is a historical haunted house...

I have a hard time believing my personal ghost stories that I have of the place...why should anyone else?

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THE HISTORY OF RICHARDS-HART ESTATE



JAMES W. RICHARDS 1869-1911

In 1859 James Richards, a 20 year old from Illinois, arrived penniless at Russell Gulch. A hardworking farmer and astute businessman,
he quickly made his fortune. In the mid-1860s he married Elizabeth. Their first child was born in 1868 and died at the age of 3 months. In
1869 and 1870, two other sons were born; in 1874 Effie, the only daughter arrived, and in 1876, son Charles completed the family. In
1869 James Richards homesteaded 160 acres at 26th Ave. to 32nd Ave., Sheridan to Harlan. He built his country residence, called Lake
Side, at what is now 27th and Benton St., overlooking Sloan’s Lake. He had multiple business interests in Denver and Colorado but his
residence is always listed as Lake Side in Wheat Ridge. The original house, of Italianate architecture, had beautifully landscaped
grounds with unusual trees (Linden, Kentucky Coffee, Catalpa, Walnut, Evergreens), a fountain, etc. He grew wheat, averaging 30
bushels per acre. He had a large orchard and a vineyard that yielded 2-3 tons annually. A few years later he added the western portion
of the house, built in the less ornate Queen Anne Cottage style. On May 22, 1883, at age 44, he died at his home of unknown causes.
Services were the next day at the residence. The family remained in the residence until 1911.



THE MANBY FAMILY 1911-1926

Jocelyn and Lovella Manby purchased the property in 1911. Mr. Manby was born and educated in England but had traveled extensively.
He had finally settled with his family in Trinidad, Colorado when they bought the Wheat Ridge property. The Manby family raised four
children in the home; three of them were married at the mansion. The family remained in the home until 1926, when they traded it to
Patrick Hart. PATRICK F. HART FAMILY 1926-1976 In June of 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Hart traded their 640 acre cattle ranch near
Leadville, Colorado to Lovella Manby for the five acre property at 5349 W. 27th Avenue and a Denver apartment building. Mr. Hart was a
well known and successful merchant in Leadville. For over two years the Harts repaired, remodeled and landscaped the property and
moved in early in the summer of 1928. The exterior was stuccoed, hardwood floors replaced the original ones and an art deco fireplace
was built in the living room. A new hot water heating system with a coal stoker was installed, replacing the various coal heating stoves
previously used throughout the house. The east side of the property was a 75 tree apple orchard of several varieties and the family
enjoyed making cider in the press.

Mr. Hart passed away on Christmas Day 1928, due to complications from an auto accident. He had lived in the home only six months. He
left his widow with six children to raise, the youngest three years old. For several years Mrs. Hart rented the fields to local farmers raising
various produce on a share basis. She canned, preserved and stored her portion in the fruit cellar of the house for her family’s use. In
1929 due to a fire of undetermined origin the one car garage burned. The boys built another garage in 1934, which was razed in 1983.
In 1932 Mrs. Hart had extensive remodeling done in the kitchen which included installation of a Skelgas combination range, cabinets and
new appliances. A back porch was added for laundry facilities. There is an artesian well on the property which the Harts never used. One
daughter, Marie and her husband, John Brovsky, built a home on the southwest corner of the property in 1965 to be close to and care
for Mrs. Hart in her golden years. Mrs. Hart passed away in 1971, leaving her estate to her children. In 1976 the children sold the
property to the City of Wheat Ridge. This included the house and five acres of ground, less the Brovsky lot.

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This one is my hometown - Clay Center. It's also the county seat and you have a nice view of the court house in this one minute aerial view of the downtown from 2008. Piotique day is a Clay Center only holiday....invented a long time ago to commemorate both the pioneers and old days (antique). Every year they have a parade and a festival.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tazldbchvgc

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This is a video tour of where we live now in the 'burbs of Houston - Sugar Land, Texas.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkYrLCO70H0