Bits and Pieces

Well, having taken a mini-vacation from pet-sitting, I'm back at it again.  Sunday I took a client to the airport in Denver - well, actually, she picked me up in her car, and drove there, then bailed to catch her plane.  I moved to the driver's seat and began driving back to Boulder; I was fifteen miles away from the airport when my cell phone rang.  The person I had just left was panicking because she had left her wallet, with her identification, credit cards, and cash in the car.  She told me it was in the center console - but I found it in the door pocket.  I drove it back to her, and handed her wallet over.  I had gone back toward Boulder another eight miles when the cell rang again - she had left her medication in the car.  So I returned again to Denver International Airport....  Then I was able to drive back to her house and park the car.
   Earlier this week, while taking care of the house and pets of the above client, I took over my paints, brushes and epoxy varnish and several items that will be up on balcony outside my apartment as decorations.  I re-painted several items and did touch-ups on a couple; then gave everything several coatings of glossy varnish to protect the paint, wood and metal.  I'll be putting them in place later today - two geckos, a butterfly and a fish already have their spots.  I need to decide what to do with the owl with out-spread wings - inside, outside, or where?
    I'll be taking care of Lola, Cooper and Tipsi at the end of this month; then I have two days at home before going to Roxie and Finney's. 
 
   The way the original rumor about two two pony carcasses seen during the Spring round-up led me to believe that a mare and foal were found dead together.  The person who reported it has since clarified the information - a dark colored foal was found dead in one area, and a dark colored adult was seen in another area.  All three of Chief's bay mares came in for the round-up, but one of them foaled on 11 April; none had a foal with her, so it is assumed that is the dead foal.  However, several older mares and one stallion were not gathered in, so until the micro-chip is found and removed from the adult carcass, identification of that individual is unsure.
   The stallion that was not found is chestnut Phantom Mist (aka Fabio) - but he is well known for eluding the round-up men, sometimes for years at a time.  Right now, it's just a wait-and-see period.

   In doing my family tree research I found a distant cousin named Charles Carnahan; we're blood related through his mother.  He was born in 1887 in Indiana; his father was a jeweller.  In the 1900 Census, I cannot find the father; the mother and maternal grandmother are living together; the son, Charles, is boarding with a family (while attending school), in the same town where his mother and grandmother are living.  In the 1910 Census, all four - father, mother, son, and grandmother - are living in the grandmother's house (she has an independent income).  The father is employed as a jeweller; the mother is keeping house; and the son is, at age 23, employed as a mail courier for the railroad.
   The son's World War I Draft Registration was late, and states that he is housed in the US Detention Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  It also states that he has spent 1 year in the US Army infantry; and that he is short, slender, and has dark hair and blue eyes.  Charles is not found in the 1920 or 1930 US Census - he might have been missed, his name may have been mangled by the census-takers, or he might have been using an alias.  I make that statement because in the 1940 US Census, Charles is an inmate in the Colorado State Penitentiary.  The 1940 Census also lists where the person lived in April 1935, and Charles says he was in Denver, Colorado.
   The World War II Draft Registration card has been filled out by one of the wardens at the Colorado State Penitentiary, and says that Charles' permanent address is 1405 17th Street in Denver; and that a Mrs. Mary A. Casey will always know how to contact him.  Mrs. Casey also lives at the 17th Street address.  At that point in time, Charles was 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 170 pounds, had gray hair and blue eyes and a scar on his thumb.
   Charles died while in prison on 12 January 1948.  His inmate number shows that he was processed in mid-1938...  Being a nosy person, I want to know what he did to go to the state pen - and I'd also love to know what he did to be in Leavenworth in 1917/18.... 
   I have to admit that sometimes my nosiness leads me to odd places!