Big Steam

 

Yesterday, Union Pacific Railway's "Big Boy, # 4014" paid us a (very) brief visit.  

Engine # 4014 was built in 1942 as one of a series of 25 steam locomotives which, with each weighing a smooth 1.2 million pounds, were the largest steam engines ever built. Of the 25, only 8 still exist, 7 are in museums, and only the # 4014 still runs.  This is part of a multi-state "Heartland of America Tour" put on by the Union Pacific Railway to promote rail travel in the USA.

Brenda and I positioned ourselves, "up-sun" in an area of track where we thought we could get a good view, on tracks 4-5 miles north of our house.  The train wouldn't be stopping of course, so I set Brenda up to take what would be her first video with my phone, and I would try to nab as many still photos as a 40 mile-per-hour train passing about 25 feet from us would allow...

Still about 3 miles away, we can just catch a recognizable glimpse, distorted by the heat waves rising up from the tracks on this beautiful Fall, but still pretty warm, day in Houston.

About 2 miles away, still pretty distorted, but with a characteristic railroad engine "head light" beaming at us.

 

And here she comes !!

The announcement said to stay 25 feet from the tracks...but this guy wasn't listening...

...a HUGE machine...  A modern diesel-electric railroad engine weighs about 300 tons, but this "mama-san" weighs in at about 600 !!

...and there she goes...

I hadn't expected to see the beautifully spiffed-up rail cars that make up the ceremonial train, the brilliant yellow complimenting the blue of the afternoon sky. 

...beautiful...

This special car made up the end of the train.  I wondered if President Roosevelt ever made a campaign speech (known as a "whistle-stop speech") from the platform on the very back end of the car.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran successfully for President in 1936, 1940 and 1944.  Train stations tended to be rather near the center of a town, and "whistle stops", where a politician would give a quick speech to a crowd gathered at the rear platform, were "a thing" back then.

Wow !

Y'all take care,

-Mark

India XX - Mangalore, Coorg and Chennai

Hello All !!

I've been busy, and not travelling internationally as much, so it's been a while since I've posted.  These are from my 20th ( !! ) to Incredible India.  I always enjoy the many things I see when I travel there, and especially enjoy the hospitality shown me by my partners, who have become great friends.

This is the least-used roadway that I've been on in India...because it's new and just opened up the week before.  It bridges across the Mumbai Port area and hasn't been "found" yet by Mumbai traffic.

Of all the gods and goddesses of Hinduism, I think Ganesha is my favorite.  Even though this talisman is small, Ganesh is said to have the body of a man and the head of an elephant.  He's known as the God of New Beginnings, and, because of his great strength, the Remover of Obstacles.

After business meetings in Mangalore, we drove up into the mountains to stay the weekend at a hotel that is part of a coffee plantation.  A pretty small place, with only 40 or so rooms, the bungalows are on the hillside, among the jungle trees, the coffee plants, the birds and the flowers.  A very lush, green place.

Coffee bushes are pruned to keep them from getting so tall that coffee can't be picked while standing on the ground.  The bushes are planted, but it's a bit difficult to tell where the coffee stops and the jungle begins.  It all looks very natural, as local folks harvest many items, coconuts, the fruits of several kinds of palm trees, bananas, mangoes and other fruit, rubber trees, etc.

This location was about the size of "a dozen parking spaces", with coffee spread out, drying in the sun.  Many local homes had a tarp out front (maybe only the size of one parking space) with coffee drying.  

This is a favorite, a banana flower, in the soft light reaching down through the forest canopy.

Panoramic view from my hotel balcony.

This is an Indian version of "Buckey's", an open air facility with many vendors of coffee, snacks, etc., a road-side stop between Mumbai and the city of Pune

...a bit of an "ooops" on the mountain road leaving Coorg.

... coconuts !!

One thing that is pretty consistent all across India...Traffic !!

We decided not to take the camel ride on the beach in Chennai, though it looked like fun.

The little lady in red is selling "Ice Apples",  It's a fruit with a thick hull, that grows in large bunches like coconuts,  It's purple, eggplant-colored.  When she hacks open the hull, inside are fruits, sort of flattened, round, and "clear-ish" inside, with a consistency like the insides of a large green grape.  Delicious !

In Chennai, these very cool sculptures are carved right out of the living rock and still stand right where they were carved, the elephant, temple buildings and all !

So, I hope, that as retirement looms, I'll have a chance for an "India XXI" !!

-Mark

Notice that the convoluted route that an aircraft takes to fly from the US to India, avoiding the skies over Ukraine, and now also over Russia, navigating carefully over Pakistan, avoiding disputed areas, isn't getting any less convoluted.

Max...Great Dog !!

 

Max

Our buddy !!

04-Oct-2019  -  12-Feb-2024

Max loved to ride in the car !

Max is gone.  He was older than we expected.  We didn’t raise him from a pup.  He was abandoned.  Some woman put him in our backyard 04-October-2019, just before Covid began spilling into the news.  The vet guessed at his age, but we later began to think she’d guessed low.

So, Max adopted us…and Max liked to walk.  A lot !  I have a step-counter/mile-counter on my phone.  Max and I had a 51-month long average of just over 2 miles per day.  We walked at 7:30am, noon, 5:00pm and one last time about 7:30pm, just like clock-work.  JUST like clock-work !  Do that math, it’s just over 3,000 miles !!  

Walking slowly through the neighborhood allowed us to connect with many neighbors Bren and I had never spoken to before.  The kids on the street all say “Hi Max !” as we pass by.

No kittycats in my yard today !!

Max was really a great dog.  We can’t claim to have trained him…it was more a case of him training ME about when and how we’d be walking.  He had a great disposition, which was especially good because he was a large dog, weighing 60 pounds.  

Relaxing a little...

His only down-side was that he didn’t get along well with cats…or possums (we had a possum in our backyard that Max encountered regularly).  Since he showed up just before Covid, his keeping us walking and active made our Covid experience much different than it would have been without him.

He was around for the time of Brenda's vision issues, 

and did his best to offer comfort.

Sadly, around 15 months ago, Max began having symptoms of a progressive condition that reduced his ability to control his hind legs.  At first, it was difficult to detect without watching carefully.  But it slowly progressed until last weekend, when he could just no longer get up and walk.  We finally were faced with the difficult decision, and his end came on Monday.

"Momma likes me, I like Momma"

A great puppy !  

We sadly miss him.

-M

80th Birthday Party (memory form 2014 !!)

From March-2014:

Well folks, we had a great time last night ! 

 

My sister Lori and I threw a Surprise 80th Birthday Party for dad.  The low lighting made photos a bit of a challenge, but thanks to my photographers, Charles, Jordan and Angelina, we still managed to get some nice ones.  This restaurant is dedicated to Texas History, we were in a back room which looks like the inside of a log cabin.

 

 

Lori brought some old photos...

 

 

 Prep'ing and arranging...

 

 

 Guests beginning to arrive...

 

 

 

Instead of a guest book, we had folks sign a University of Texas banner.

 

 

 ...more trickling in...

 

Gathering and mingling.

 

 

We moved to "hide" down at one end of the room when Rafael (Lori's husband, who was driving Dad and Charlotte to the event) signaled us that he was a few minutes away.

 

 

Surprise was complete.  Lori lured dad to the restaurant based on a fake invitation to an FFA Banquet, supplied by Jordan's Ag teacher, on letterhead, all official looking...

 

 

 We had a mix of current folks from the office, some recent retirees, and some folks who had worked with us years ago, plus local immediate family, dad's cousins from Baytown and Charlotte's family.

 

 

 Dad and two of his cousins...

 

 Various tables of folks...

 

 ...four such tables...

 

 ...plus a longer one down the side of the room.

 

 Very nice setup, the room looks like it could squeeze in 50 or so...

 

 ...we had 41 in all I think.

 We asked Rafael (Captain, Houston Fire Dept.) if we could put 80 candles on the cake...

...he said "NO!"

 

 Several of the guests gave greetings and told brief stories for the crowd.  I read a few greetings for guests that were unable to attend.  Then dad addressed and thanked the crowd.

 

 Visiting and chatting...

 

 

 Can't see too much resemblance...

 

 

 Princesses on parade...

 

 

 Looked like everyone had a good time.

 

 

As I told the group, keep March 2024 open.  If you see the way dad get's around at 80, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if we did this again at 90.  (I didn't pick a date yet...also wouldn't surprise me if we again had to plan around his work schedule !)

 

I really want to thank all of those who attended.  Lori did the organizing, worked with the restaurant, etc., and my job was to get the people.  I had a lot of fun reaching out to folks we hadn't seen in a long time.  Only a few folks couldn't come, and most of those lived as far off as Canada, the East Coast or California.  All the rest just said "I'll be there !"

Y'all take care.

 

- Mark W. Laughlin