Well, I have made it home! I had a wonderful trip to Duquesne and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Between visits with my family, meeting new friends, reconnecting with old friends, photographing old haunts as well as new views AND finally, meeting with Jim Hartman at the Mifflin Township Historical Society, my 5 days were quite jammed!

My trip was not without its dramas. It seems nothing that I do ever is! I had spent the entire day on Friday at the Mifflin Township Historical Society gathering data and photos that I thought that you might enjoy. I had come totally equipped for the task by bringing an external hard drive storage apparatus for my computer. By the end of the day, and with Jim Hartman’s help, I had managed to obtain an incredible amount of information. I was so excited as I began to sift through all of the information later that evening.

After only 30 minutes or so, I heard a thud and realized that I had knocked my external hard drive off of the table it was resting on. Fortunately, when I picked it up and check to see if it was still working, I was relieved that no damage had occurred. All went well after that for about five minutes. At that time, I heard that familiar thud once again. Yes, not content for only being a klutz the first time, I managed to knock the external hard drive that contained all of the information from the Historical Society, off of the same darn table yet one more time! Expecting the same results as the first time it occurred, I merely placed it back on the table and went back to my computer, fully expecting nothing to be damaged. WRONG! This time I wasn’t as fortunate. It appeared that I had managed to damage the unit AND was not longer able to retrieve ANY of the files off of the drive!

In an effort to correct the problem, I began to plug and unplug the unit from my computer… no luck, still dead. I then tried to restart the unit itself… no luck, still dead! I began to restart my computer several times….again, no luck! Panic had set in by that time and I decided to take of course of repair that desperate men and hunkies have used for years…. I began to furiously shake the unit! I guess I thought that this would somehow awake the sleeping drive…… no luck. Since that approach didn’t work, I decided that a mere shaking was too subtle. It was time for the big guns! I ever so gently began to nudge the unit toward the edge of the table until it teetered on the end and plummeted to the floor, landing with yet another thud. You see, in my mind, I felt the gods would be with me and would somehow reverse the problem and self-correct the problem. In my panicked state-of-mind, this last attempt made total sense. But alas, it didn’t solve the problem. I was defeated. Fortunately, Jim Hartman came to my rescue and recopied the files to a new device for me and I was good to go by Monday afternoon. THANK YOU JIM!

This whole incident reminded me of the many “gifts” that are innate to hunkys versus the rest of the world. Allow me to elaborate:

• Hunkys can make soup out of anything! Also, they have never met a soup they didn’t like. I remember my grandmother always had a pot of soup on the stove. Brimming with vegetables and wonderful flavor. My dad was able to make the most interesting soups. Once on a family vacation, he managed to create a hamburger and hot dog soup! We were vacationing with our own family of 4, but also with my grandfather, 3 aunts, 1 uncle and 5 cousins. In retrospect, his ability to create and then stretch the concoction to feed everyone was like the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

• Hunky moms firmly believe in the theory of “don’t go empty-handed.” Early in life, my mom told me never to climb the steps to the second floor of our house without taking something up with me. It could be a load of laundry she had just finished, some toy I had brought down from my room or anything that might be waiting for a “lift” at the bottom of the steps. This early discipline was drilled into my head at a very early age.

• I firmly believe that the “never go empty-handed” philosophy was the root of yet another hunky “gift” that I continue to exhibit to this day. I loving call this the “Hunky Handful.” As I continued to carry items up the steps of our home throughout my childhood, I honed my skills at carrying more and more items on each trip. My father was the same way. To this day, I would rather try to carry everything in one trip rather than make several trips up and down the steps. What can I say…. “It’s a gift!”

Speaking of a gift…… as I continue to sort through all of the treasures I acquired from the Mifflin Township Historical Society, I thought it appropriate to whet your appetite with a few tasty tidbits of Duquesne memorabilia. They are unrelated, but still great to see and read…

This picture is for Barry Long. Barry, I wasn’t able top find a picture of the fountain when it was in City Park, but I think this is the monument when it first stood at the top of Library Place circa 1915.

A moment in time captured in 1960. This view was taken from N. 1^st St. facing toward S. 1^st St. I don’t recall Sally Fashions in this location, but I remember Isaly’s. Johnston the Florist (not shown) was to the left of Isaly’s on the corner of S. 1^st and Grant.

Here are a few snips from The Duquesne Times. As I continue with future posts, I will always try to include a few to provoke a few memories…….