Month: March 2026

The USS Constitution (Repost!)

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USS Constitution-Boston 2

Picture Courtesy of Chief Flora, USN Retired.

This picture spans the time from 1797 when the U.S.S. Constitution, Old Ironsides, was launched until now, 2011. Old Ironsides, the sailors on the dock, and the Blue Angel aircraft and their pilots are all on active duty in the U.S. Navy. Old Ironsides was never de-commissioned and is the oldest active duty warship afloat in the world. She is berthed at the Charleston pier in Boston harbor. Her crew is made up of active duty officers and enlisted men of the U.S. Navy.

Another point of interest for me is that our ancestor, William Sprague (my 7th great grandfather), and his brothers helped build the town of Charlestown in 1629.

I feel very fortunate to have a piece of wood from the hull of the U.S.S. Constitution that was cast into a small paper weight. In the 1970’s I was Vice President and Plant Manager of a small manufacturing firm. We fabricated printed circuit boards and also had a department that produced front panels, nameplates, and signage. I was responsible for sales for the company and in that capacity called on the Director of the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego, Lt. Col. Ed Carey, U.S.A.F., Retired. I became acquainted with Col. Carey and the men who restored aircraft or worked as docents at the museum. One day, the Colonel showed up at our shop and said he needed help with a personal project. He had once been in Boston with his family and wanted to pay his respects and take a tour of Old Ironsides. He called, made an appointment, and at the proper time showed up in Class A uniform with his family. As they toured the ship they came to an area where some rotting timbers were being replaced by a crew of skilled craftsmen. Col. Carey, within earshot of other tourists, asked the Naval Officer conducting the tour if he might have a piece of the rotted wood as a souvenir. The officer apologized and said it wasn’t possible. As they completed the tour and were leaving the ship, the Colonel and his family thanked their tour guide and the Officer of the Deck. Colonel Carey saluted the flag and the O.O.D. as is the custom and the O.O.D. returned the salute and handed Col. Carey a sack containing a sample piece of the wood removed from the hull.

After telling me this story, the Colonel said he was going to take pieces of his wood sample and cast them as small paper-weights and wanted a small aluminum nameplate to identify the source of the wood. He provided camera-ready artwork so I made the nameplates myself, over a lunch hour, and provided them at no charge as a goodwill gesture from my company. A couple of months later Colonel Carey showed up at our shop and presented me with one of the paper weights containing an original piece of Old Ironsides. I kept it on my desk and showed it to every visitor to our plant.

Dave Thomas
June 1, 2011

Old Iron PW

 

Clucker

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Clucker is the name Pat has given to the crow that clucks like a chicken. We figure he must have been raised on a farm where chicken talk was all he heard.  He has been visiting us for over a year and has always made this sound. It’s been a matter of pride for us to know a bilingual bird. A recent happening makes us think he wants to add English to his language accomplishments.

We heard a ruckus at the front door and went to check it out. Clucker had landed on the wrought iron front railing that borders our front stoop. He clucked a little and then started rattling off gibberish that wasn’t understandable. As we listened to the cadence and inflection, we realized that it sounded like a human who was speaking a foreign language. His actions were like those of a person telling a story. When he finished his remarks, he joined his fellow crows on the driveway and began eating. It was as if he had delivered his message to us, and the ball was in our court. It seemed that he thought he was actually getting through to us. When he says something we can understand, I’ll let you know.

Dave Thomas

3/12/2026

The Morning Ritual

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Shaving can be the most boring part of the day.  I mitigate the ennui by drinking coffee while I shave. Being a low vision kind of guy, legally blind, I don’t have a need for a mirror, so I can shave in the kitchen or living room or wherever.  My normal routine is to shave my right cheek, take a couple of sips of coffee, shave the left cheek, take a couple more sips, and keep this up until done. The balance of the coffee is cold by this time, but it’s still coffee. While enjoying the aroma and taste of the coffee, my mind wanders, and I daydream and sometimes get constructive and try to plan the next story for my blog.

This morning, I got to thinking about the many places Pat and I have enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee. Some of the stories have been told already, so this time, I’ll just concentrate on locations. Our coffee drinking took place across a fair amount of the globe. We feel that for a working-class couple, who never had more than a 2-week vacation, that we’ve covered a lot of ground. From Montreal, Canada, in the North to Paris, France in the East, to Mazatlán, Mexico and La Paz, Baja California in the South, and Okinawa, Japan in the West, we got around!

I’ll try to only list recognizable places but will add places where we have been individually as well. Here we go:

Montreal, London, Warminster, Berkley, and Bath-all in England, Paris, Memphis, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Denver, Durango, Taos, Santa Fe, Gallup, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Sedona, Prescott, Yuma, San Diego, Capistrano, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco, McKinleyville,  and Palm Springs, Oahu, Lahaina, Kauai, Midway, Kwajalein, Guam, Iwakuni, and Okinawa.

Some of our journeys were done separately. Pat has been to London and Paris twice, and I have only been there once. She has been to Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington, and I haven’t seen either of them. She has also been to Victoria, British Columbia. I have also had coffee in Peal Harbor, Kwajalein, and Okinawa. Another solo trip for business was to Cleveland and Detroit.

Lots of fun and lots of coffee!

Dave Thomas

3/5/2026