Thursday was an easy day of seeing the Western Museum of Mining and Industry and then doing laundry and going for a dip in the pool before going over to Joyce’s for burgers and dogs.
The Museum is a great place. We got to see a 20-minute video about prospecting and mining in the west and then got a tour of the museum by one of the most knowledgeable volunteers I’ve seen. George is a decorated WWII vet (he was in the Arden Forest) who has been involved with every aspect of mining but whose expertise is blasting. He ably explained the operations of placer mining and hard rock mining as well as the actions of assayers and the process of extracting gold and silver from the ore using either the old mercury method or the arsenic method. George wears an oxygen tank and two hearing aids because of his work drilling and blasting rock for road cuts, mines and quarries. Because of all the little stories he told along the way, the tour of the small museum lasted two hours (three quarters of it with George) and then moved outside. Terry and I opted to leave at that point only because 1-it was lunchtime, 2-we had other chores to do, and 3-George was finished. He had a date with his granddaughter.
On our way out, I complimented the curator on their display and especially in having a living resource like George. We talked about living history and oral resources a bit and he said they were trying to get as much of the stuff they could from George and others. So much history is not committed to the printed page that more is lost every day. It wasn’t until I was back in the truck that I realized I hadn’t taken a single picture.
After doing laundry and relaxing in the pool, we went over to Joyce’s again for hamburgers, hotdogs and good company.
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