Insulator Adventures With Dad #3.

Dad managed to retrieve his glasses from the mud okay, but the frame was broken a bit.  Just cracked really.  Not too bad, I said, wiping the mud off.  Dad was still rubbing his head where the stick hit him.  Just a small crack right in the middle, I continued.  What?!  Where, I don’t feel anything, yelled dad rubbing his head.  Not your head, your glasses, said I.  You broke them, he said.  No, not me, you did when you dropped them in the mud, I said.  You’re the one that hit me on the head, said dad.  Actually, the branch did, said I, but it didn’t hit your glasses.  Ha, ha, said dad, Bonehead!  By the way, you’re rubbing mud into your hair, said I.  AAAAAA!!!!!!!, I forgot, said dad.

cpr eagle river
An old picture from about 1910, one of the old railway towns we explored.

I’ll go wash your glasses in the creek over there, I said.  NO, I’ll do that, said dad.  Odd.  Almost like he didn’t trust me.  While dad was doing that I went to investigate some shimmering glass in the mud.  Sure enough, there was several insulators sticking up out of the mud and all in very nice condition.  All Canadian Pacific types, I said, nothing too exciting, various blues and greens.  Hey, a purple one, I said, and went over to retrieve it.  Rats, just a piece.  Dad was still at the creek trying to clean himself.  I kept looking around.  There are a lot of poles in this dry swamp, should find a lot more insulators.

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Similar but larger insulators than the last ones shown. These weigh 1 1/2 lbs each.

We did, but we had those types already, except for one in a beautiful blue.  Okay, some of the colors were nice, but still a waste of time when we could be out digging for old bottles.  Sigh.  Finally at the last pole there were several cross arms solidly planted in the mud and still full of insulators.  And 3 purple ones in excellent condition, one each in light, medium and dark purple.  Not bad.  We decided to wash some of the insulators in the creek.

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These were common on trains at one time, sadly no longer used.

Dad was close to the creek and said, toss them over and I’ll wash them while you continue looking.  Naturally.  He gets the fun part.  Toss them higher, he said, easier to catch.  That’s what he said.  So I did.  AAAAAA!!!!!  I could hear the breaking glass.  That one insulator, just a common aqua, destroyed 2 of the purple insulators, only the lightest color remained.  I went over to see.  Dad was just looking at all those pieces of glass.  Amazing, he said quietly.  Oh well, less to carry back, I said.  Bonehead, said dad, shaking his head.  We decided it must be time for lunch.

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The dark purple in the middle is like the ones that got broken, it weighs 1 1/4lbs.

The day has warmed up so nicely.  We were finally back on higher ground and definitely ready for some coffee.  We found a nice spot with some large flat rocks which made good chairs and even one for a table.  I set all the sandwiches and coffee on our ‘table’.  Dad told me to sit down while he got his coffee.  I offered to do it.  I think that ‘no’ could be heard a mile away.  Dad sat down with his food.  I got mine.  Amazingly there were no problems this time.  Dad always manages to spill his coffee.  AAAAAA!!!!!, said dad. 

And tomorrow we find out what caused dad to scream.  Plus it will be the last part of this little adventure.  I hope you are having a great day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.

19 Comments on “Insulator Adventures With Dad #3.

    • They do come in some amazing colors. I just display them, like all my other collections. They look great in a window. I also have a back lit display shelf for some of them. But since I moved into this small apartment 3 years ago, most have stayed packed away. Just no where to display them all here.

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  1. LOVED the pics steve! WOW! That part was funny when your dad was rubbing mud in his hair!

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