One of my fondest memories of a toy was this hand-made and hand-carved wooden replica of a Thompson Sub-Machine gun. One of my relatives who had been in the South Pacific during World War II and who had a Thompson, spent some of his down time after the war making wooden items as a way to regain his serenity. The gun was actual size and most realistic, but it was wooden. Highly varnished, thus shiny, it was a favorite toy and was used many times in childhood war games in the big woods behind this home pictured. Most of the neighbors had boys, thus as we grew older we were a tight unit of lads, not a gang by any means, but a unit of friends who had the respect we needed by simple civility to the other. If there was ever a disagreement among us, we worked it out by simple avoidance of the other for a few days or a stand and shout session of name-calling. We shared many memories and good times. At that time in history, the late 40s and 50s, families normally stayed wherever they had a home. There was no moving for the sake of rapid upward mobility or to find a place that did not need up-dating. To be quite frank, there was not one single home on that block that couldn't have used one hell of lot of up-dating. However, everyone was pretty happy. Homes on that block were heated by coal. There were railroad tracks just a few houses south of where I grew up, thus the sound of trains was part of my youth; there were, I recall some mighty big steam locomotives that roared past our neighborhood. The old Missouri Pacific route of the Eagles had double tracks, the Kansas City Southern, the freight line had one track only. The KCS was basicall an oil supply train that ran from the Standard Oil Refinery in Sugar Creek, Missouri to various areas throughout Kansas City, Missouri. And while speaking of refineries, I am reminded of energy. If one stood at the top of a hill a few blocks north of our block, the eternal flame of the Standard Oil Refinery could be seen. It was a flame that died in the 70s, never to be fill the sky with it's orange glow again. So, when I think of energy, I think of our natural resources, not windmills...

Mancini was born in Rome and showed precocious ability as an artist. At the age of twelve, he was admitted to the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples, where he studied under Domenico Morelli and Filippo Palizzi. Mancini developed quickly under their guidance, and in 1872, he exhibited two paintings at the Paris Salon. Mancini worked at the forefront of Verismo movement, an indigenous Italian response to 19th-century Realist aesthetics. His usual subjects included children of the poor, juvenile circus performers, and musicians he observed in the streets of Naples. While in Paris in the 1870s, Mancini met Impressionists Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. He became friends with John Singer Sargent, who famously pronounced him to be the greatest living painter. His mature works show a brightened palette with a striking impasto technique on canvas and a bold command of pastels on paper. In 1881, Mancini suffered a disabling mental illness. He settled in Rome in 1883 for twenty years, then moved to Frascati where he lived until 1918. During this period of Mancini's life, he was often destitute and relied on the help of friends and art buyers to survive. After the First World War, his living situation stabilized and he achieved a new level of serenity in his work. Mancini died in Rome in 1930.