November 25, 1915 “Julius, get the pies out of that oven. They look pretty close to baked. The afternoon crew can put them back in to keep them warm. Take out the middle rack. I seasoned another turkey.  We have a hundred reservations for Thanksgiving dinner. At 75 cents a plate the whole town wants […]

Our standard poodle, eleven-year-old Charlie died. We loved him and were close. He was a character in my published, hard cover, illustrated novel, A Diary by Victims of Love, Banished in 1914.  The sad thing is our pets don’t live as long as we humans. Although, if the situation was reversed, I don’t think any […]

November 17, 1915 “You’re finally leaving the position of Postmaster, Mr. Monson.” “It only took three months of government bureaucratic red tape. Good heavens, Walter Kemmer was the only applicant and there were no protests,” he grumbled. “When does he start?” “He checked in today and is working in the back. It’ll be a smooth […]

October 31, 1915 Except for the explosion, it was a great day. I netted the biggest brown trout ever in Colorado. Maybe I will catch him again. My remittance transfer from Salisbury, England, arrived last week at the bank. I put a half-dozen silver dollars in my coin purse for the Father and the afternoon […]

October 28, 1915 (Hello Reader, the disadvantage of Julius writing this diary was it must contain his observations, thoughts, experiences and perhaps a pastiche of his current readings. As the narrator of this heartbreaking story, I saw the next scene. So, now for something completely different. I am going to give Julius’s technique a whirl. […]

October 27, 1915 I did not sleep well last night. The knowledge of JJ having us watched ups the stakes. I rose from bed before the dawn’s early light and started a fire in my cook stove. I watched the coffee pot until and well after it boiled, thinking of my, really our, current situation. […]

October 26, 1915 “Gus, you bought another saloon, the Oasis. Is that three now? On January 1, the state will be dry. What’s the plan then?” He shrugged his shoulders and pushed a cold mug of beer across the bar top to me. “It’s what I do. I invest in businesses and properties. The building […]

October 22, 1915 “You’re writing everything we say in your diary.” “Not everything.” “Julius you are a burglar of conversations,” Corina teased. “It helps me remember.” “Good, bad and sad?” “Yes, all of it, I guess.” The full moon rose above the mountains and illuminated Corina’s Garden, now nipped by frost. Odd shadows of stalks […]

October 15, 1915 I have been helping the survey crew on my days off from the restaurant. I have embraced abstract thought and have started milling it to my situation. Arthur has boasted for two weeks, “Did I tell you how many fish I caught at Trappeurs Lake? I could have used four hooks and […]

October 1, 1915 “How did you pick up this job? When did you learn to land survey?” I asked du Bois. “My last year of school. I’m good at math, trigonometry, geometry and such. My instructors insisted I try it for a trade. It came easily and apparently there is a surveyor shortage in Steamboat […]