Dear friends and family,
With some amount of sadness I have to say that this is the last installment of my father’s book “It’s a Wonderful Life”. With some amount of gladness I have to add that I have dozens of dad’s CD ROM’s filled with mostly backup copies of the book but, I have found more unpublished stories and even a file called ‘The Book 2″! It looks like there’s a lot more Don Tschirhart written stories to publish!
The stories are in an old, outdated format that both dad and I preferred called ‘Word Perfect’ that lost the race for the universal word-processing format to Microsoft Word. I had to buy an app called FileViewPro so I could read the files. It works, but, I will have to edit out ‘formatting’ symbols that appear throughout the paragraphs. Then, I will have to edit the stories themselves because dad did not like to edit his own stuff (and sometimes his spoken words) and I’m sure there will be some things, not just spelling, that shouldn’t be published. Editor’s (my) discretion will be used, but I will be fair. In all the stories, I have allowed colloquialism’s and folkish sayings to stay because they add color to dad’s stories. Imagine what a Mark Twain story/book would be like without Samuel Clemens’ colorful use of language. I’m pretty sure Clemens gave his editors a hard time for trying to mess with his prose. I promise to leave dad’s words alone as long as they follow my own loose interpretation of good grammar and they don’t say anything that shouldn’t be said in public . . . Did I mention that dad’s filter sometimes needed filtering?
So, here we go . . . The last story in Don Tschirhart’s unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Love to all,
David T
“The Urge to Travel”
By Don Tschirhart
Excerpted from the unpublished book “It’s a Wonderful World: A Retired Reporter Looks At Life“
It’s that time of year again. Like many people I have itchy feet. I want to go somewhere . . . anywhere.
Springtime travel — any travel — excites me no end. I can drive to Lapeer and feel good all over when walking around the historic downtown. Can you imagine what happens when I pass Bishop International Airport in Flint and watch a jet take off without me? I sigh!!!
As the winter goes on I look forward to the moment Margie and I can fly or drive to visit something or someone. If we go to Boston, my smiling daughter-in-law will greet me with a hug and a cool Beefeater martini — stirred not shaken, thank you.
Everyone has favorite places to visit. I love Michigan. But aside from this mitten state it’s exciting to visit colorful places on the western side of the Rocky Mountains.
New Mexico, Arizona and California are tops with me. I like everything about the Land of Enchantment and the Grand Canyon State.
Three New Mexico cities are must see’s for tourists –Albuquerque, Santa Fé and Taos.
Old Indian pueblos — small inhabited villages have lined the banks of the Rio Grande (Great River) for up to a thousand years. Usually residents welcome visitors to their community and may sell you hand-made jewelry or bread baked in outdoor beehive ovens.
The thrilling tramway near Albuquerque was built 40 years ago and takes passengers 2.5 miles to the 10,450-foot peak of the nearby Sandia Mountains. Just don’t have more than two drinks at the peak’s High Finance Restaurant. At that height too much drink will knock you on your “you-know-what.”
The state capitol, Santa Fé, is charming as is the nearby southwest art capitol at Taos, both adjacent to the Sangre’ de Cristo Mountains.
Great shops in the Santa Fé downtown and on Canyon road are exciting as is an outdoor, hill-top opera house where you can watch a summer opera and see in the distance the lights of Los Alamos, made famous for producing the atomic bomb.
Mountain man Kit Carson found a home and I found a delightful place in Taos and two miles south of Taos Pueblo, the oldest in the area.
All around is desert. A former horse wrangler turned Realtor named Doughbelly Price (honest!) told me 40 years ago that land near Taos was so dry that even Jack rabbits carry canteens.
Arizona is rainbow colorful, especially north of Phoenix in the Sedona area. Take an adventurous open jeep tour around Sedona to view cliff dwellings and you’ll return amazed and covered with orangish dust.
The Grand Canyon is even more magnificent than any picture you have seen. My favorite is the nearby Navaho-owned Monument Valley. On the valley floor, stop, walk and listen carefully to the music of the wind blowing around buttes, mesas and spires that surround you.
California isn’t a state; it’s a different country. Or so it seems. Everywhere you look in California there’s something special. In San Diego there’s Old Town and Anthony’s Restaurant in a former whaling ship on the downtown waterfront as well as nearby Mexico.
Not far away is an old mining town called Julian. A restaurant on the one-block downtown has the tastiest apple pie in the country.
If romance is your thing an overnight stop at Madonna Inn at San Luis’ Obispo, the most unique motor inn I’ve seen, is a must. The motif is Gay ‘90s; all the rooms are colorful. The heavily wooded dining room has full-size cherubs.
Like so many before me I left my heart in San Francisco with its many hills, great restaurants, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 19, Gharidelli Square, street car, and . . . I just may want to return to pick up my heart.
I think I would also like to return to the gold fields and pan the American River. It was nearby that gold was discovered in 1848 sparking the westward movement of easterners which hasn’t stopped.
Or cross the beautiful Bay Bridge to visit the wineries in the Napa Valley. As you cross the bridge watch for the infamous San Quentin Prison on the San Marin side.
Where will you go this year, Don? I’ve been mulling that question all winter.
Maybe I’ll put a map of the United States on the wall and travel where the dart hits.
As I write about these God-made American wonders I ask myself, “Why would anyone want to leave ‘the states’ to see the rest of the world?”
When I return I’ll have a few interesting tidbits to pass on to my Lapeer County friends.
***
Once again, loved this column by your Dad, my Uncle Don!! I remember with so much pleasure when he and Marge came to visit us in California. We lived just outside of San Francisco, a perfect place to travel from. We have photos of visits down to Half Moon Bay, then up to a couple of wineries, and a couple of missions that the monks created from the top of CA down to the bottom of CA. It was a wonderful vacation….for us as well as for them!! I miss them both deeply. Love to you and Sue, and many thanks for the work involved in creating this love book to your Dad! Cousin Patti
I like this one also, Patti. Dad’s understated description of the Southwest is intriguing. Sue and I are planning to take a cruise from San Diego next year. We probably will do a short tour of California after we get back. That’s a state that interests me. Especially Northern Cali.