The phrase “insult to injury” is a writing cliché. But there are circumstances, times, and events where nothing but a cliché will do. It’s in these circumstances that we must forgive the writer for the use of tired phrases.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Volcano, California, to speak at the Ghost Rush Conference. During some down time at the event, I took a walk around town — a town with a population of 101. So when I say I took a walk around town I’m being quite literal. There’s a wonderful wooden structure in the village that begs further investigation once you get a glimpse of the building. It’s old, has a tin roof, plank siding, and no windows. I learned from one of the locals (and the plaque on the front), that this was Volcano’s first jail. It was built in 1871.
Two men guilty of crimes were sentenced to construct the jail with two-by-twelve timbers on the outer and inner walls with boiler plate sandwiched in between. Once the construction was complete, the two carpenter criminals were told to get inside and get comfortable, because they still had time to serve. Yeah… insult to injury.
