Looking at pictures

I've been looking at old pictures this morning.  On this date in 2006, I was watching Natalie and Monica, my daughters girls, before and after school.  I've always found trains and train-tracks interesting; I even love hearing the sound of trains running by the back of this place that I call home.  So that afternoon after school, the girls and I went to the railroad tracks to see what we could find.

  Walking up and down on the track, we found some interesting (and troublesome) prizes.

As noisy as an approaching train is, I would have thought any coyote would be scared away before he was stricken by a train; but then I recalled all the people who have died who were in a big hurry and thought they could "beat the train".

There were things that made one wonder if the track was even safe.

Really, does this look safe to you?

And what did these big springs fall off of?

Our main goal that day was to smash pennies on the track; I think we recovered three of them out of the dozen or so we put down; one for each of us.  I still have mine!  You place pennies on the track, and if you're lucky, you'll find some after the train runs over them.

All in all, we had a successful afternoon at the track, and lived to tell the tale.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

And in doing this blog entry, I enjoyed it all over again.

With that, I'll leave you with a bonus picture from 1924.  My mom wrote on this picture. The tall man in back is my Grandfather Stevens, who died with cancer years before I was born (I think 1938). My dear grandma is next to him, and Aunt Ruby, their first child, is beside her. My mother is directly in front of grandpa, and the boys are Carl, Paul, and Leo. I'm not sure, but I think that's the outhouse in the background.