Native American Artifact and Antique Show and more

It has been a strange weekend, partly because one of the conductors at the little railroad had to leave and the other one, an older retired Amtrak conductor in poor health, was told by his doctor not to work for a while. Tom, as usual, was the person they turned to for filling in. He worked all day (ten hours) on Friday and was expecting to have to work the weekend, too. Fortunately other volunteers became available for the weekend, but Tom was still on call for Saturday. So we could not venture too far afield.

We went into Baraboo for the annual Native American Artifact and Antique Show. It is not a big event, but it is always interesting. There seemed to be a number of new exhibitors this year and some of the ones I remember were missing. In particular I was sad to see that the people with the huge assortment of rocks, fossils and other geological items were not there. On the other hand, one guy had a small bronze Hittite fertility goddess image, dating (allegedly) to about 1300 B.C.E.  It looked a bit like the one in the photo. The price wasn't outrageous, but I passed it up anyway. Why it was in with a bunch of Native American artifacts is a mystery to me. On the other hand, there was a guidebook to the 1893 Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair) in pretty good shape, and I was tempted. Tom and I lived in Hyde Park, not far from where the midway of that famous fair was located. Again, it is not clear to me why they had the book at the Native American Artifact and Antique Show...

After that we visited a historic home that the local historical society is hoping someone will buy and refurbish as a residence or business. Originally built in 1909 for the family of George Ruhland, who owned a couple of breweries in town, it reminded me of countless convents I have visited, where the nuns had moved into a large old home and converted it more or less successfully to their use. This particular place would have been fine for a small young community, and the selling price is $1.00. One single dollar. On the other hand, Tom figures is would require at least $150,000 to $200,000 to get it in any kind of shape. And the area is, while not dangerous, not aesthetically pleasing. The view from the back of the house is an electrical substation and from the front you look out on a boarded up train depot. Two trains go by every day, one in the afternoon and the other at night. The large house next door (which you can barely see on the right side of the photo) belonged to Ruhland's father, and it looks like the walls are about to collapse. As you can see from the photo, the Ruhland house has multiple stories and would not be at all suitable for anyone who did not want to climb a lot of stairs. On the other hand, there is some nice woodwork and it might make a nice setting for a law or architectural firm.

Lots of people were walking through and we saw people we know. No news on whether anyone has expressed serious interest in taking it on, though.

Then off to buy a lawnmower and back home just as it started raining lightly. We went to Reedsburg for Mexican food and that was that.

Today (Sunday) Tom was tied to the house waiting for a couple of phone calls he expected in the morning. (Neither call has come yet, and it is 2:30 in the afternoon.) While he waited, I went to do some grocery shopping.

Tom will be working as conductor for the railroad Monday through Friday (most likely), and that means the meals will be my responsibility this week. We thought we might have a guest all week (a friend who had expressed interest in taking the conductoring position and who would stay with us while Tom trained him), but that is one of the phone calls that has not materialized. So I am assuming (1) that Tom will be working 10 hours a day all this week, and (2) that even if he doesn't have to work next weekend (he told them he would not be available ...), he will still be too pooped to do much of anything come Saturday. The conductor's job is hard on his back for a number of reasons, and I hope he makes it through the week!