As the World Turns

After retiring from fulltime employment, I took a job as a docent in my city’s local art and history museum. Located in a historic Romanesque brick building on the waterfront, the structure itself is part of the city’s history. My desk, alongside the grand oak staircase in the lobby, was situated so I could greet visitors as they arrived. What fun it was to explain the building’s history. As a custom house, it held the naval investigation into the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, the precursor to the Spanish American War. Even more fun was my discovery that the basement once held a jail cell. To my shock, one of the inmates was still hanging around! I could smell his pipe tobacco every time I was down there to lock up at night. This was not passed along to visitors, but I did verify it with a co-worker who admitted smelling it, too.