Robert Pence

My innocence is my armor. I'm so far removed from sarcasm and uppity insults that I don't recognized them when they're directed at me, and consequently they have no effect. Short of physical mayhem, I'm untouchable. :angel: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. If you know what's good for you, though, you'd better not try it.

Beautiful thread. Spring looks so good.

Quite spectacular views from the Garfield Monument. Such brilliant haze-free days have been rare on my visits to Cleveland.

Fun thread! Sherman, you must be attending entirely too many fashion shows; you have the patter frighteningly well!

Wonderful density! I haven't yet visited Boston, but apparently that set is the way the city should be photographed. The street-level density is amazing, and although I've read negative comments about the city's skyline, the street-level shots show the beautiful diversity of architectural styles hiding down among those standard-issue towers.

Beautiful photos, beautiful place. European cities' pedestrian streets amaze me.

A friend used to own property a few miles up the road from the ferry landing at Fly, and I tromped the area quite a few times in the sixties, both in his company and solo. It wasn't reclaimed mine land, but it showed many topographical features similar to your photos. There was a township road near his place, but the private road to his property ran sharply downhill and had a clay surface. If it rained there was no getting out, even with 4WD, until the surface dried. He had a winch on his truck, but I always parked at the road and walked in along the creek. I camped there a few times, and once in April about two inches of snow fell overnight. In the morning there were myriad critter tracks of various kinds in the snow, evidence that my tent had been thoroughly inspected while I slept.

Nice shots! They document the look of the area very well.

Laaaaaaaawd yeah, I thought that was common knowledge My dad was active with the Gideons in our small town, especially with their prison ministry program.

Great photos of some amazing structures! The story is the same elsewhere. In my neighborhood, 1880 St. Paul's and its adjoining school became a parking lot for a neighboring Lutheran Church - the Reformation marches on victorious, I guess. St. Paul's location was such that its loss left a gaping hole in the cityscape and urban fabric. It was stripped of its brilliant German windows and fixtures before being razed. Some items may have gone to other churches and probably the Cathedral Museum, but the windows and possibly other things ended up in antique shops as far away as Chicago and beyond. The Bishop of the Johnstown-Altoona (PA) Diocese has announced intent to close four of the five Cambria City parishes. I took some exterior photos in Cambria City during my 2006 visit to Johnstown; those magnificent buildings, towering above the surrounding working-class housing, in some cases seem to be all that holds together the neighborhood's somewhat tattered fabric.

Lurking in the women's restrooms again?! Sherman, one of these days you're gonna' get in bad trouble!

Great idea for a tour. I'm envious of your dad's memories of Youngstown in its hey-day; the photos I've seen are full of energy and vitality -- and soot and grit. I speculate that it's a good thing that cameras don't capture odors. KJP's photo threads from a while back ("We Make/Made Steel") do a good job of capturing the essence of Youngstown's erstwhile industrial might. Youngstown has good people. During my stopover in 2008 en route to Pennsylvania I spent parts of two days walking around with my camera, and the people I met were friendly and hospitable. Despite years of demolitions, the city still has an amazing collection of downtown massive buildings by nationally-known architects.

Well-illustrated post, KJP. My first car was a 1951 Hudson, bought used for $250 in 1956. The oil I used probably came from Drake's Well, floated down the creek in wooden barrels during a spring freshet :wink:. It cost 25 cents/quart. Premium oil for fancy cars cost 35 cents, and regular gas cost 29.9 cents/gallon except when there was a price war and it dropped to 24.9.

Beautiful. Places like that should serve as eye-openers for North Americans; we think a house from the early 1800s is old.

Some drunks are funny; I've known a couple. The ones who get crude and obnoxious and do rude and disgusting stuff to unwitting bystanders should be beaten sober with a rubber hose, and then beaten some more. Anyone who thinks what he did to the lady was funny should investigate whether there's a stem-cell procedure that might help them develop the empathy they lack.

I fail to see the humor in it. I think that's an appropriate offense for public flogging and maybe six months or so in prison where hopefully he'd be somebody's bitch. Not only that, but he should be required to reimburse the woman for the entire cost of her flight and vacation and pay for any vacation she wants to take, anywhere in the world.

On opening night Fort Wayne Tin Caps played the Dayton Dragons and won 7-0 (My condolences, Andy). The Tin Caps' season, so far, is also 7-0. For some kick-butt photos and links to local media coverage of the event, I recommend the Spaulding Brothers' blog, What's Going Down(town). They're dedicated urbanists and baseball/ballpark fans, and they've been following/promoting the ballpark and Harrison Square development avidly since its inception.

I'm risking wandering off-topic, so I'll try to keep this short. Kunstler is indeed abrasive, but it's difficult to communicate with peope in denial and tell them what they really don't want to hear, without grating on nerves. Many among us are accustomed to simple answers from politicians and preachers and the like, and have lost the ability to analyze seemingly disparate events and recognize the cause-and-effect interrelationships among them. I think Kunstler connects the dots masterfully in his writing, and that's what makes his work captivating reading for me. I do find his blog jarring to my sensibilities sometimes and I prefer his books, where his hyperbole is more restrained.

You're completely cool, David, and I know how you meant it. I was just role-playing "curmudgeonly old fart" with the whippersnappers-karma remark. The back-and-forth here can be fun so long as no one forgets it's all fun and starts to play too rough. And sometimes I wonder how much I've learned from my experiences, when I follow my own advice and it blows up in my face just like it did the previous two times I tried the same thing. So when you're listening to old people, don't turn off your bullsh!t filter. :-D

It's time for a midwestern farm-country fat-food recipe! This one has always gone over well for me at potlucks; with the right crowd, you'll likely take home an empty cake carrier. If you make it for home, a hefty slice in a bowl, drowned in whole milk, makes a heck of a breakfast. If you get all hung up about fat and sugar and make substitutions, don't try to blame me for the results. :wink: Chocolate Cake 1-3/4 Cups Sugar 2/3 cup Shortening 2 Eggs 1 Teaspoon Vanilla 2-1/2 Cups Sifted Cake Flour 1-1/2 Teaspoons Baking Soda 1/2 Teaspoon Salt 1 Cup Buttermilk 1/2 Cup Hershey's Cocoa (not the drink mix, the baking stuff) 1/2 Cup Boiling Water Preheat oven to 350F Grease and flour two 9-inch layer cake pans. Cream the sugar and shortening together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add Vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; add alternately with the buttermilk. Make a heavy, smooth paste of the cocoa and boiling water; cool slightly; add and blend well. Pour into prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes or until done. Cocoa Frosting 3/4 Cup Hershey's Cocoa (again, not drink mix, use the baking stuff) 4 Cups Confectioners' Sugar 1/2 Cup (1 stick) Butter, Softened 1 Teaspoon Vanilla 1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk Mix cocoa and sugar. Cream part of the cocoa-sugar mixture with the butter. Blend in the vanilla and half the milk. Add the remaining cocoa-sugar mixture and blend well. Add remaining milk and beat to desired spreading consistency. Additional milk may be added if required.

Ditto that - the improvement part, that is. When I make baked apples I stuff them with a mix of raisins and black walnut pieces, after soaking the raisins in rum (Bacardi Gold) for at least 24 hours. Not your mother's baked apples. The heat of baking probably evaporates the alcohol, but the rum flavor blends well with the cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter in the syrup.

I'd really like to see the Van Buren Street crossing in Fort Wayne, on the busy NS former Nickel Plate mainline between Cleveland and Chicago, quieted. So far, nearby homeowners haven't been able to get anything done about it. It's the only grade-level crossing in about a mile to the west and maybe a couple of miles to the east, and it's adjacent to a hospital, which I would think would exert some leverage. Although it's too far to create an annoyance for me, it's still loud at my house when the wind is right and I know that the noise has depressed property values in that part of the neighborhood. I think the price was quoted (probably by the railroad) at $250K a few years ago, and the homeowner who was pushing for it dropped it and sold his historic house at a loss.

I'm pleasantly surprised that "My way is the highway" Mitch has signed on. It would be nice to think that the Rally for Rail in Fort Wayne, and possibly other consitituent activism, inspired him to adjust his priorities.

Delightful-looking place, and interesting food. Thanks for the tour.

Interesting photos. I'm something of a nocturnal creature, too. After everyone else is home in bed, it's a different world out there.