CEDARHILL

The Hiesler....AGAIN!

I was standing in my kitchen tonight when I heard the distinctive hoot of the steam engine and hopped in my car to find it. They were pulling out of the station on another "practice" run....this time with several cars attached, in preparation for this weekends' unveiling of the Engine. Nearly 30 other people had heard the hoot as well and cars and cameras converged! This will be such a draw for our little town...and it is enough to make a train person out of just about anybody.  Deb had just completed a photo shoot and was ALSO taking pics. This is a shot of me talking to Steve (who actually owns the Engine)...standing with Earl and Sue, who are both engineers and qualified to run a steam engine.  They have invited me aboard tomorrow morning to ride with them for awhile so i can get a story for this next edition!  Wow...what a town i live in!

The Hiesler Arrives!

Next weekend our excursion train will be pulled by a REAL 1914 Hiesler Engine. It was brought out of the museum and on to the tracks through much hard work - and the will power of its owner who wanted to see it in use, instead of behind glass. Tonite was its maiden voyage along the tracks that run from Bixby road to Globe and it performed very well considering its age. All systems go.  It had to go through extensive testing including hundreds on the boiler alone to ensure that the original thickness still met all standards (it did), and the entire engine was taken apart, tested, re-built and tested again. The last step was the Federal Inspector who came this week and gave the engine his blessing.  How exciting to see it actually steaming along the tracks!There were several of us in cars lining the tracks waiting for the 1st glimpse. it came as the sun had almost set...but the distinctive sound of a steam engine is still worth the wait -even if there is little light for pics.
MORE to follow on thursday which is when it will finally be put into service!..

Intrepid Rafting Reporters

 
Nephew Eric and his good friend Mike are in Globe (from Ohio) for a few days of adventure in Globe over Spring Break. Next they head to Las Vegas, but I get them for 2 days!...

I had forgotten that it was Mike and his dad that I had rafted with on the Ohio Pile several years ago and so i asked them if they wanted to raft the SALT RIVER.   But Of Course!. I actually was able to get them set up on a full day trip for today as reporters for the Globe Miami Times. Complete with a set of questions to ask, my small camera and a tape recorder, they are to "get the story" for my next edition of the paper ....coming out in just 8  days.

Eric has a 2nd degree burn on his hand, so we wrapped it and put a rubbermaid glove on and he was good to go!

Conversation of a higher power...

This morning in my kitchen I was reminded once again why I love having CEDARHILL and a mother who raised me to not only be comfortable in sharing a home....but to embrace the new, and interesting people who COME TO YOUR DOORSTEP . Carol (dark hair) was taking her Sr. daughter on a trip through the Southwest for Spring Break and i was on the stop over before they continued on to Tucson. I love people who love my town and they found Globe curious and interesting and charming....and appreciate big Ooold houses. Perfect company for CedarHill.

Then I got a call, kinda last minute, from Ilana who asked if I might have a room available which I didn't....really. Except Kara's room was empty and she's always said I could use it if need be...so I offered and they accepted and boy was that a pleasant meeting of like minds and spirits.

Tsvi is a newly minted Rabbi (after 30+ years in applied mathematics) and Illiana is a harpsicordist **who teaches at Stanford.  We covered the ground from the origin of my family history as Gross and Marowitz who were most likely Jewish, although I didn't grow up with any inkling of that heritage. Now I want to check into it.  I also tend to agree with the Jewish belief that Jesus was just a really connected guy...Maybe I AM Jewish. We talked religion, death, aging, college admissions, music, ...and the joys of road trips.

It was great. Tsvi and I even talked about the possibility of doing an inter-faith retreat HERE next Spring...complete with hiking, rafting and subjects of a higher power. I find myself energized by these  occassions of shared connections with strangers-turned-friends who find their way to my doorstep.

Thank you mother for establishing this "house by the side of the road" .Its a good legacy you've left in my hands.

**Elaine Thornburg is her performing name and you can catch her music on Amazon.com by plugging in her name. WORTH the listen! She "has received critical acclaim for her performances throughout the United States as a soloist and chamber musician..."  And she was right here in my kitchen!

Oh- and they graciously invited me to their house in San Fran which I warned them I would certainly do. I think they are sincere and serious about the invitation. And so....it goes..the ability to live a rich life on pennies a day and friends in hi/low and far away places.

A busy Spring

I realize I haven't blogged in ages and you may be wondering if interesting things have stopped happening at CedarHill. No - quite the contrary...it has been a busy month and I feel pulled in many directions. I'm maintaining a blog for the new Globe Theater which is going up in leaps and bounds right across the street from me.
It is impressive to watch block walls- laid in by hand- instead of the tilt-up method I'd seen in Tucson where huge concrete walls were poured in place and then raised all at once. Wallah!..a wall. Here you watch the daily progress in number of feet...and the walls rise and a building takes place. It is good to see construction activity taking place. Jobs happening right next door. Even if noise is an occassional problem.

In addition I took on a project to do a feature piece on the problems with Student/Staff retention at Globe Unified School District and that is a challenge on several levels, not the least is the defensiveness of the District to release any information. After nearly 40 hours on the project so far, progress is being made and I hope to publish a story by April.

The Copper Spike Train continues to be a blessing to this community and recently I met Eric Laubach who had come here with his wife and friends to ride the train. Turns out his "hobby" is musician who plays not only piano (and writes his own songs), but also  6 and 12 string guitar. We are trying to brainstorm on some sort of Train/musical evening at the Depot.... You can check out his stuff at
Eric Laubauch   And that same weekend, Jennifer - my ace graphics designer/Creative Director for GMT....brought her mom and sister up for a day of "GLOBE."   She is moving soon to be with her sweetie in Texas, but the great things about modern publications is you can do work anywhere in the country. So she and I will continue to produce GMT's even if she lives 1200 miles away. Cool...love it..