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Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - Page Musing on musing understand that I now have a column heading -I Musings on the Mesa. Well, thats ok. Except that I am not always on the Mesa when I am musing about something. I might be doing laundry or out 16 was leading the coal miners toward the building of a strong labor union. A circumstance I deplored. Until I listened to some of the old miners talk about their lives - and deaths - before Musings Lewis. owe my soul to the company I store were not just words in a song. Men went down into Doris Valle by the mines knowing encouraging something in my that safety measures yard to flourish. I might be which would lessen the danger driving somewhere, and that of sudden death were not conposes a problem. sidered important by the mine I rarely use my car except to owners. go to the grocery store, hardAlthough the miners lives ware store, library, or Rec Cenwere made better ter. I get behind the wheel and by strong unions, start musing and end up at one the small mines of my regular destinations but like Oliver died not necessarily the one I had within a very few in mind. And the angry honk years, taken over of someone else who is using by the industrys the street often reminds me to coal mining gistop or go at a light. Or stay ants. Ed Oliver in my own lane. would pace the office floor beI I as was Today musing cause his mine was shut down washed my breakfast dishes again - by a strike. Then he and scrubbed out the sink. I would call me into his office. was considering a certain year Doris, come in here. Ill teach of my not so illustrious past. Way past. Almost 60 years. I was thinking of days of long ago because I just got back from Paonia, CO, where I lived briefly once upon a time. I was working in the Purchasing Department of Consolidated Aircraft in Fort Worth, Texas when I took vacation and a Greyhound bus to San Diego, California, continuing on to visit my mother, who had recently married a man Id never met. She lived with her new husband Roy, in Somerset which is near Paonia, a few miles farther up into the mountains. Roy worked in the coal mines as a heavy equipment operator and I was prepared to dislike him intensely. A coal ontheMESA miner! Mother, how could you? I would have stopped only long enough to show my displeasure but there was a problem. I had not paid enough attention to the cash flow in my pocket. By the time I got on the bus in San Diego I had $2 left. When the bus stopped for a lunch and dinner break I would get off, use the facilities and say to other passengers, Pm not hungry. Ill just get a cup of coffee and go outside and wait in the bus. I was so hungry that I was afraid to go near the dining area lest I lose control and grab something off someone elses plate. After I arrived in Colorado I could not get on another bus en route to Fort Worth because I did not have any money to buy a ticket. Maybe Ill stay around here a few months. If I can get a job, I said. The Oliver Coal Company in Paonia needed a bookkeeper. Well, I had gone to a business school for a few months. I convinced Ed Oliver that I was a bookkeeper and I stayed there in the mountains for almost a year. It was a wonderful learning experience. I was exposed to a way of life very different from the one I knew. At that time John L. Lewis a you some bookkeeping. As I learned bookkeeping climb. continue our lives. Last week, as we neared Paonia I saw the ever changeless mountains. A long train went by - flatbeds full of coal. The small, isolated town did not seem much different, with the same main street which ended in the hill we used to I also learned that education and polish are not the only measurements of a good man. Roy took care of my mother. She was happy with him. In Paonia on Saturday night I went with others of my age to the Armory. We danced there, sitting a dance out on the long benches which bordered the dance floor. It was fun. Maybe more fun than it was in Fort Worth in a hotel ballroom, dancing to a name band. Alcohol was available at either place. In Texas we brought a bottle, and ordered setups - glasses and ice and In Paonia we went out to the car and upturned a I wondered what my life would have been like if I had not made that phone call to my boss who said he would be happy to have me back at Consolidated; if I had not bought the bus ticket and returned to Fort Worth. OMELETS Organic Espresso Fresh 1acqs 5moot( p. fe C k Croissant Sandwiches ( A Wrap Sandwiches frerf Salads h bottle. Fortunately, there was a built-i- n consumption control. As we went back inside, slipping and sliding and falling into a snow drift, we sobered up fast. There are many crossroads in life, when we hesitate and then choose the way we are to cf ch Open: Thursday - Tuesday, 7 am - 7 pm 516 North Main Wednesday, 7 am - 5 pm Monticello 435-587-50- 63 QrPlT Isn't it time for a ride in the country? COME ON IN AND CHECK OUT OUR W wmwtt NOVEMBER IS THE BIGGEST TRUCK MONTH EVER WE TAKE CARE OF SAN JUAN COUNTY RESIDENTS f$r; 33 S. Broadway Cortez CHH (970) 565-374- 8 Y LLl Jeff Nielson, General Manager |
