I’ve been spending too much time at the Riesen House Saloon in Gold Hill. It’s a drinking spot for out-of-luck miners and a few political hacks who come up from Carson City.

One of those guys is Orion, who wears fancy boots and an oversized cowboy hat and claims he’s the big boss of the Nevada Territory. He’s buzzed by noontime and just sits there, staring at himself in the gold-tinted mirror behind the bar.

I just hope Orion’s brother shows up. He tells great stories about navigating the Mississippi on a riverboat. He showed up in Virginia City to find gold and get rich. Fat chance! He’s a bit like me. All we can do is write okay and make a few bucks doing it. His name is Mark and he works for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper up the street. I could sit on my barstool all day listening to this fellow tell his crazy tales.

That’s me back in 1864. I like to think of Mark Twain as my drinking buddy.

I hope he gets out of town okay.

– Don Kuhl

NOTE FROM INDY: Orion Clemens (July 17, 1825 – December 11, 1897) was the first and only Secretary of the Nevada Territory. His younger brother Samuel Langhorne Clemens became a famous author under the pen name Mark Twain.

Don Kuhl is founder of The Change Companies® and Train for Change Inc.® He has authored hundreds of Journals that have assisted over 10 million people in making positive life changes. While Don was aging (think of a side of beef at a fine restaurant), he managed motel properties, started several sports publications, worked in college and health care administrations and started about a dozen corporations. Some of them failed miserably, a few flourished. 
To read more of Don’s musings on aging, check out his other posts at www.changecompanies.net/aging-mwf, and to find out more about The Change Companies^®, visit www.changecompanies.net.