Those 70ish Girls

You will be informed of our tiny home adventure in it’s entirety. We have come a long way, and we’ve learned so much. The house has been ordered and will be built in the tiny home factory near Athens. We thought long and hard about all of our choices from colors to where our new abode will sit on our lot. We have sorted, stacked, rearranged, sold, given things away, and in the midst of it all, become a little confused about what we have and what we will need. It doesn’t matter at the moment, anyway, because we are sidelined by a tsunami.

For over a week, I have worn nothing on my feet but the Bit and Bridle water boots I bought at the Goodwill Store in Rapid City last summer. Kip decided they make a lot of sense and since the forecast is for at least five more days of solid rain, he found a pair for himself at Tractor Supply. The same place he purchased his raincoat last year.

As the title of this blog suggests, I have uncovered an interim adventure. I wasn’t quite ready to let you in on it as I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to proceed with unveiling my finds. If I seem a little secretive at first, please bear with me. There is a good reason why I can’t give you a lot of details up front. Trust me…I think the full story will be worth your wait, and should be fun for all of us. The most important thing you should know today is…This has nothing to do with thrift store shopping or tiny homes, or Murdo. (Except, all those things are my points of reference.) I might need your help.

If I have already mentioned anything to you about this adventure, please keep it to yourself for now, as I have changed my mind about telling anyone.

This recently came into my possession. It’s some type of camera. I can’t find anything that looks exactly like it. I can only find information about cameras with one or two of the same features. It could be an antique, or it could be something someone made, either recently, or a long time ago.

Below is an ebony vintage, large format 4 x 5 camera with a Schneider lens. The base and the accordion part look similar. I don’t see a lens on the one I photographed. Maybe it’s missing, or I just haven’t found it. Maybe it isn’t supposed to have one.

Antique half plate camera…no lens.

I don’t have knowledge of old cameras and therefore haven’t identified the parts you see in the photograph. I will just have to reach back in time and find the answers.

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A Young Man’s Dream

No one knows me here. If others have noticed me at all, they wouldn’t mistake me for a wealthy cattleman, or a cowboy, but they would assume I am in the cattle business. I’m alone and in no hurry to leave. Why else would a man of modest means stay at an old hotel near the train depot in a cow town, if not to make a cattle related living.

In truth, I have been watching and waiting. I have at long last mastered my craft and through patience and perseverance, I have accumulated the magnificent tools I need to fulfill my dream. Everything is coming together. I intend to record a very big piece of history. There is no longer anything to distract me from my work.

The railroad that passes through this magic city brings trainload after trainload of Texas Steers to graze on the Dakota grass. But it’s not the cattle that fascinate me, it’s the people.

Why do they come? I wonder this as I watch them get off the train, one by one. What kind of life are they looking for, here?