Hobo Jungle

[webenda]

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless man who asked him for a couple of dollars for dinner.

I took out my wallet, extracted ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy some beer with it instead of dinner?"

"No, I had to stop drinking years ago," the homeless man replied.
"Will you use it to go fishing instead of buying food?" I asked.

"No, I don't waste time fishing," the homeless man said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."

"Will you spend this on a new engine for your model railroad instead of food?" I asked.

"Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless man. "I haven't played with trains in 20 years!"

"Will you spend the money on a woman in the red light district instead of food?" I asked.

"What disease would I get for ten lousy bucks?" exclaimed the homeless man.

"Well," I said, "I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife."

The homeless man was astounded. "Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting."

I said, "That's okay. It's important for her to see what a man looks like after he has given up beer, fishing, trains, and sex."

[P&R Pete]

[hev52]

Check this out............................................












hev

[hev52]

Ok Bo's....................time for a shot............take your pick...........................







or.....................








hev

[P&R Pete]

"Well, that's it, boys, I been redeemed! The preacher done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlastin' is my reward. The preacher said all my sins is warshed away, including that Piggly-Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo. Neither God nor man's got nothin' on me now!"

[P&R Pete]

How's it goin', Hev?
Cool bottles, cool graffiti!

[2railjon]

that Piggly-Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.

Pete, LMAO!!! When were you down my neck of the woods?

[P&R Pete]

OK, something weirding me out here.
Guy using the handle 'Del Mar' posts on the Hobo Jungle a quote from Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" right while I'm in the middle of the novel, reading it in bed at night before the light goes out, right when I'm reading a description in the book of every hobo that ever was. Next, I see graffiti on a railcar on the Hobo Jungle that reads "o brother where art thou", exactly the day after I penciled a quote on a piece of paper from a movie I had just watched that day called, you guessed it, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou", about a hobo that knocked-off a Piggly Wiggly in Yazoo. And what was the name of that hobo that had all his sins and transgressions warshed away? You guessed it.... Delmar.

Full circle.
Somebody crack me a beer.
And hope that Heaven everlastin' will be my reward.

[Del Mar]

Who said I was dumber than a sack of hammers?

San

PS: No, George, not the livestock.

PPS: Those Syreens turn Petey into a horny toad.

[MartyE]

Jon

Nice Avatar!

[P&R Pete]

I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.

[chorus] The place where he was born and raised

For six long years I've been in trouble
No pleasures here on earth I found
For in this world I'm bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now.

[chorus] He has no friends to help him now

It's fare thee well my old lover
I never expect to see you again
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.

[chorus] Perhaps he'll die upon this train.

You can bury me in some deep valley
For many years where I may lay
Then you may learn to love another
While I am sleeping in my grave.

[chorus] While he is sleeping in his grave.

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you'll never see no more.
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.

[chorus] He'll meet you on God's golden shore.


The Soggy Bottom Boys
(Ulysses, Pete, Del Mar)

[2railjon]

LOL, Pete!! You hit the nail on the head, so to speak

[P&R Pete]

Jon, if you haven't seen the movie, (and it plays loose with historical accuracy), it's set in Mississippi in the '30s, and is a great movie, for so many reasons. The music is freakin' sublime. Blues, hymns, folk, bluegrass, gospel... fantastic. A slow freight with a boxcar full of hobos, and a handcar with a blind seer. I could go on for hours.
Have you seen it? If not, I'd be proud to buy you a copy. Might take me a bunch a weeks to get down there with it, but I could meet you at the Piggly Wiggly over a bottle of Hood's sarsaparilla.

Say, mebbe we could hit 'er again, fer ol' timey sake!

Hell, mebbe Del Mar could join us, get the ol' band back together?
That Del Mar, he's a Dapper Dan San!

[Del Mar]

The list goes on and on. Pater Familia? That's you, Petey, 'cept you're already Petey, and we know you got turned into a horny toad by the syreens.

Ever read Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid (Books 1- 6 imitate the Odyssey) , or watch Sinbad the sailor (a loose interpretation the Odyssey)? Let's see, the movie has the seer, the sirens, the cyclops (one eyed bible salesman) and a true odyssey. Which brings us back to Steinbeck. If you pursue East of Eden, you will often encounter the phrase, "In all the world there is only one story".

Loved the scene where our boys are ejected from the store and told never to enter again. Del Mar's comment, paraphrased, "Do you think he means this one or all of them?" was priceless.

Of course, Odyssey is the name Lionel choose for their motor that supports speed control, so, as usual, we are "on topic" for O-Gauge trains and I am certain our host, Gulielmus (That's Latin for "Bill"), will look upon this with favor.

And hell, yes, I would love to do a "Foggy Bottom Boys" redux with you hobos.

San

[hev52]

How's it goin', Hev?
Cool bottles, cool graffiti!

I sent ya an email Bo..........

hev