A couple of leftovers from December

First, it looks like the R.H. Beymer has or had a new paint scheme.

Then on New Year's Ever the Caleb Lay passed Huntington.

40 years ago

I have kept this photo in a book for a long time -- almost 40 years. On the back of the print is the date 1-2-75, so I assume that is the day I took this particular picture.

This was taken from a hill near where I grew up. You can see the Ohio River and the locks to the Gallipolis Locks and Dam. You can see a small boat pushing several barges, at least three, but I cannot come close to identifying the boat. If you know where to look you can see the old farmhouse where I was born.

If the calendar I found on the Internet is correct, January 2, 1975, was a Thursday. A few days later I would return to Athens, Ohio, to continue my junior year at Ohio University. The Vietnam War was winding down and would be over in less than four months. I made a lot of good friends that school year -- probably the most in all the years I spent at Athens. I joined the staff of The Post and began my newswriting career.

The area in his picture has changed so much in 40 years. Most of the people who lived in the houses you see are either dead or have moved away. Some of the houses themselves are gone. I would guess the boat and the barges have met the scrapper's torch. And the locks you see have been decommissioned and replaced by new ones in a canal cut through the bend there at Hogsett, W.Va.

Yeah, this photo probably doesn't mean much to anyone except me. But that's okay. It's why I've kept it the past four decades, tucked inside the same book so I always know where it is.