Boy, it gets tougher all the time, trying to find a topic for a column. I don’t lead an exciting life. Work and home and work.
I did take advantage of the public meeting regarding the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program that was held at the Rendezvous Center last Tuesday evening. Saw a lot of familiar faces that I’ve missed during the past seven months. And of course, the fight is still on about who gets how much water, and when, under the program.
Harry LaBonde, director of the Wyoming Water Development Office was preparing for another visit to the water users at Saratoga the evening after he was here. From what I hear, those meetings are always very interesting. The modified plan is to extend the PRRIP for 13 years. It began in 2007 and was originally scheduled to end in 2019, but all of the goals have not been reached. Rather than moving on to the second increment, the proposal is to extend the first increment to 2032. Stay tuned.
I was in The Flea and Me shop on Main Street the other day, and spotted a small box of old post cards. Antiques, I’d guess. Boy, they knew how to make fantastic cards back in the day. Beautiful colors. Still brilliant after 60-70 years or so. And, being the history nut that I am, I am fascinated by the handwriting, the buildings in the old photographs, decorations on clothing, just about anything.  

I found one that definitely isn’t antique, but is unique. Kind of a 3-D thing. I’m sure it has a fancy name, but it’s colorful, with a lot of young animals that appear to move, depending on the angle of the card. A special feature is that even though the address, names, etc., are not complete, it is signed “Grandmother.” Just right for me. One of these days I’ll give it to my granddaughter, when there is more time to admire it.
And it is busy times. Just getting past Christmas and New Year’s Day, and coming up on Valentine’s Day. That means more fancy greeting cards, and cookies and cakes, and all sorts of Valentine themed items.
It brought to my mind some of the fancy cakes and ice cream treats that used to appear this time of year. Bakeries produced luscious angel food cakes with hearts and flowers all over the fluffy white frosting that seemed to be an inch thick. At one time the bakery back home baked a silver dollar inside some of the Valentine cakes.
And there were special editions of ice cream. The really fancy ones were a version of jelly roll cakes. Round, with a special “picture” that ran the length of what I call the “ice cream log.” In addition to the hearts and cupids for Valentine’s Day, there was a full color hatchet. Maybe for President Washington who supposedly chopped down a cherry tree, or maybe in honor of President Lincoln, the log splitter.
And the theme idea carried on throughout the year. Easter eggs and bunnies made the Easter version. Fireworks for July 4th, and Halloween themes for that special day. Christmas came around with the green tree, or a wreath.
Come to think of it, the big Woolworth’s store in downtown Denver used to bake hundreds of pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. They were good, too. Had individual flavor. Not the assembly line taste of a lot of baked goods today.
And I guess I’d better get on with the duties at hand. No fresh baked pumpkin pie, or angel food cakes or ice cream rolls in my kitchen, but maybe I’ll dream of them tonight.