Flashback Friday

From the archival vault today we have a couple rare pictures of a Mary Davis Home party at my place back in the early 80's.  My first day was Halloween night in '77.  When it looked like my stay there would be a fairly permanent engagement, I bought a little place at 1756 Bateman Street in G-Burg.  It is still there.  What I didn't know at the time was that it was a converted CB & Q boxcar.  I discovered it when I took a wall down between the front porch and living room.  Well, I didn't, but Paddlefoot and Tuscon did.  They were a couple guys referred to me by a staff member who were cheap construction guys.  Cheap is the operative word.  I paid them in alcohol.  They wanted vodka and beer to bring the wall down and while they were not exactly reliable workers as far as showing up, they did get the job done pretty well.  Hey, no one had any money who worked at MDH, except maybe Flo the cook who drove around in a Lincoln.  You got things done the best you could.     

In this first picture yours truly sits next to the front door.  Next to my foot you can see where the old wall was.  Standing at the window is Mike Johnson, my buddy, and Pat Johnson's husband.  Man, what an impact they both have had on my life.  One of the them or both have been at my side off an on for over 40 years.  Sadly Mike died in '91.  After the shock of his passing the whisper of 'what could have been' has been a constant, sad, refrain. That's Marilyn Tapper with her back to the camera on the right.  The guy on the left in the snazzy suit was the Boss Randy Storm.      

Why doesn't anyone want to sit in that big comfy chair?

Same seating arrangement but a different view.  By the way, I don't remember who took took these pictures. That's me holding the can of soda (?) in the lower left corner.  Pat Johnson is seated on the couch on the left.  Jim Glasnovitch is on the right talking to Marilyn Tapper.  And Randy again on the right. 

Of note are six paintings on the wall above the couch.  Five are old paintings I did and the center one was a gift at Christmas from the folks. None have survived.

The Boxcar was home for four or five years then it became a rental and then sold.  MINS, my  educated lab and I enjoyed our time there for the most part. Except for that particularly cold winter we had that one year. Paddlefoot and Tuscon forgot to hook up the heating ducts after their work.