Wednesday, December 25, 2019

‘Tis the season to wish one another joy and love and peace. We wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas! May you feel God’s love this special day, and may the Spirit of Christmas give you and your family hope and happiness this holiday. May your heart and home be filled with all of the joys this festive season brings. Merry Christmas to you and a wonderful New Year!

It was August of 1989 and I was rambling around the beautiful state of Colorado. I decided to take a jeep tour to the old ghost town of Crystal. The jeep pulled a trailer where the tourists rode and the road was steep and narrow, but the scenery was beautiful. 

Along the way we came to the iconic, picturesque abandoned Crystal Mill, where many photographers have taken pictures through the years. In fact, it is one of the most photographed sites in Colorado. The mill is precariously perched on an outcropping of rock just above the Crystal River, framed by beautiful aspens and a backdrop of stunning mountains, giving it an undeniable visual appeal.

The mill was constructed in 1893 and harnessed the river adjacent to the mill to power the air compressor housed inside. The enormous compressor ran drills in the nearby Sheep Mountain and Bear Mountain mines. The drills were used to bore holes in the mine walls for the placement of dynamite. Once the dynamite was detonated, the miners removed the ore.

The mill closed in 1917. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Citizens in the area continue efforts to preserve the old mill. The mill is located six miles east of the little town of Marble and just before you reach the ghost town of Crystal. The little town of Marble is where marble was mined for years and is also an interesting place to visit.

As we went higher up the mountains on the trip, we saw the falls on the Crystal River which is illustrated on the logo of Coors Beer, which is made in nearby Golden. While there we also saw beautiful meadows of wildflowers in bloom.

I often think of interesting places I have been blessed to visit and love to recall the times spent there and experiences had along life’s way. Remembering how I loved this trip and my enthusiasm for the unique Crystal Mill, my niece Kathy DeMane, who lives in Golden, gave me a photographic art piece awhile back of the beautiful old, historic site. I sure treasure it and the wonderful memories it brings.

Recently we enjoyed some remarks by our longtime friend, Gregg Davies of Winnfield, and he has graciously allowed us to share his thoughts in Observations this week. Davies is a native of Winnfield, born on the old Huey Long, Sr. home place. He has a B. A. and M.A. from Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana Monroe) in Criminal Justice, serving almost 30 years at the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office as Chief Deputy for 16 years, and Chief Investigator for 8 years. He currently works for the Regional Organized Crime Information Center (a part of the Dept. of Justice); Davies also taught Criminal Justice at NLU and Northwestern State University for about 10 years. We found his following insights refreshing and valuable. We trust you will enjoy as well.

Boxes that have made America Great

Something I was reading earlier today triggered what I posted some time ago regarding the most important “boxes” that have made America great. I stole much of this from a Yale law professor who went down this list on one of those 3-in-the-morning shows no one watches, but I do watch when I can’t sleep.

The first important box is the soap box. Our constitution guarantees our right to free speech. I might not agree with what you say but, by golly, you have a right to say it. So do I.

The ballot box:  whether we realize it or not, it has not been all that long where the right to vote was really guaranteed for all Americans.

The jury box:  imagine how it was or what it could be if an ordinary person found himself at odds with the controlling power of government. I well remember my grandmother telling me about the “poll tax” in Louisiana that kept poor folks from the polls. I have some of those poll tax receipts from the ‘20s and ‘30s whereby one paid $1 each year to be able to vote. And it was not until the 1900s that women won that right.

The lunch box:  I heard an old timer who was dear to me say one day that hungry bellies had the largest influence on elections. People used to vote their best interest based on if they had food on the table. My daddy was a union man and almost always voted along with the union recommendation. My father-in-law was a postal worker and did the same thing. All this screaming and hollering at each other between the major parties today did not happen much in my youth (other than Earl Long.) People had more sense back then, I’d swear.

The cartridge box:  If all of the above fail, we still have a means to stand up to oppression and the right to protect our families, our property and ourselves.

Keep in mind, the Yale law professor I listened to said he was a liberal. He said he did not own a weapon, did not like guns, had no intention of ever owning one and did not like to be around them. But he was adamant in that the Constitution is the final law on free speech, freedom of and from religion, suffrage, the right to confront one’s accusers, and the right to bear arms. Put this in your pipe and smoke it, as my grandmother used to say.

A special thank you to Gregg Davies for allowing us to share his recent post.

Picture from the Past

That will do it for this Christmas Day of 2019. Thank you for your faithful readership. It is much appreciated. To see Observations of the past year, follow the pages below. To see older ones, visit our Facebook page, where they are archived under Photo Albums by date. To save, send or print this week’s column, please click on the appropriate icon below. As always, I welcome your thoughts, ideas and suggestions for future articles. Send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com or call me at (318) 332-8653. I love to hear from you.

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