Day Fifty-Eight

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…we bugged Brent at work…at lunch…very small chance he’d get in trouble having us all there…what could I have done to get him in trouble with his commander??? I’ll have to think of something for next time…wait, he’ll be retired from the Army before then…DARN! I missed my last chance!

Brent is a Sergeant First Class in the 4^th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Carson. He’s a Team Chief in charge of 34 mechanics, overseeing the maintenance of the 87 tanks and 2 Army Breaching Vehicles in his brigade. He has an office, but he only uses it when the Army makes him. He’d much rather be down on the shop floor alongside his men. He’s good at what he does and has earned the respect of his commanders and his men. Good, ‘cause he ain’t getting it from me! And don’t tell him I complimented him, because I didn’t. I’m just quoting my sister who HAS to say those things. As you can see, he and I have a special relationship. I’ll just sit back and wait for the retaliatory remarks to come in once I post this one.

Anyway, after lunch we dropped the boys back at home and Donelle took Mike and me…yes, that’s grammatically correct…on a driving tour of the nearby town of Fountain. The historical museum there has a pamphlet that outlines a walking tour of homes and businesses. We were on a time schedule so she chauffeured us through it. At each stop, Mike read the explanation of what was or used to be there. It was rather interesting. One of the stops was at a still standing TB Hut. Back in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries doctors would prescribe Colorado to their tuberculosis patients. The higher altitude and drier air “cured” many of the disease. Several sanatoriums were built in the Colorado Springs area for the treatment of tuberculosis and other lung ailments and some of those sanatoriums had 100 or more huts on the grounds for their patients. The huts gave the patients unrestricted access to the healing qualities of the fresh mountain air. The huts were small, housing just one patient per hut. Many of the huts still standing in Fountain are now on private property. I saw one in a back yard. How would you have liked that for a clubhouse as a kid?

As the day went on, the sky showed signs of an impending storm. One radio weather report we heard warned residents in the northeastern part of Colorado Springs of possible tornado activity with quarter-sized hail. Residents should seek immediate shelter. Well alrighty then…that’s a new one for me at least. I’d never been anywhere where the weatherman told me to seek immediate shelter. Donelle assured us that the warning didn’t apply to where she lives. Whew!

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