Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Nixon, Chester Arthur, & Politics

Happy February!  I've been out beating the bushes and logging time looking for my next project(s).  I enjoy this, but it does seem to eat up more time than I'd like.   

Decades back I'd take notes when I was out searching for properties.  Now, the notepad isn't such a necessity since we have real estate listings, maps, and county records on-line.  On top of that, we have digital cameras now, which get's me to where I am today, talking about something I saw and photographed in an old house.

Time.com
Oscar White / Corbis
We're here in South Carolina and our first primary is this Saturday.  Most of the commercials on TV are political in nature so what better time than now to talk about something connected to politics.  This past weekend, I was in an old home... built in 1885 when Chester Arthur  was our President.  Evidently, my great great grandparents were quite fond of Pres. Arthur because they named my gt. grandfather after him when he was born in 1886.  Maybe they liked how he got it done in D.C. or perhaps they admired how he rocked in the facial hair category; funky sideburns and an awesome 'stache... Chester always had it going on. 

Anyway, during this past weekend's visit, I spotted a Nixon bumper sticker.  Like Chester Arthur, Nixon was a Republican, which I point out now since the bumper sticker reads, "Another Democrat for Nixon."  The irony of this may be a little cloudy to us in 2016, but if there were bumper stickers out there that read "Another Republican for Clinton" or "Another Democrat for Bush" that would surely raise some eyebrows which is why the Nixon bumper sticker is noteworthy.

Like the actual renovations, searching for the next rehab is sometimes like peaking into a time capsule, offering glimpses into history and telling us how times are different and in some ways similar.  For me, it's just another thing that I enjoy about what I do.