Memories and genealogy!

While sitting and contemplating things, and reading a small article by Richard Bass, I remembered that my older brother always complained loudly that "no one ever closes doors around here"!  Well, maybe we are all claustrophobic!

And how could it be that my husband and I have ancestors, both named Thomas Jefferson in our families!  How could that happen.  Must have been a popular name.  I am working on tracing the male ancestors in my family.  Am currently waiting on information about my Father and is he really Irish or Scottish!  A toss up!

Lot of family came through Iowa, Ohio, and Kansas.  Then on to Washington to pioneer the place in the woods!  Hard times!

Into the twilight of my time on this good earth, and reading terrible tomes about previous famines, and seeing the ground around me being brown, causing dust to make me sneeze, and wondering when the water will fall out of the sky once again.  Oh, thats right, it is doing that in Washington to a fault!

Well, this is a start, doing once again, my blog!  I really have so many other things to do but I want to write.  I sent away my DNA for testing to see if the rumors in our family about just what is in our background is true.  It will be like a Christmas present finding out!  Whoopee, I hope it is true, or if not, maybe a surprise!  Till next time!

Anitiyah Continued

A new baby, a move from a very small mine site to a new State, and another mining town. Two small children. A cat that I loved. He was black and large, and I so wanted him to make it to the new place! But I had had the baby two weeks before the trip. How is that for planning. I cannot remember just what went into this planning, or if there was any at all.

Aniy was tiny like her siblings at birth. Six lbs. something. She was good in that she did not cry much, but did seem to have an acute sense of hearing. Things are a blur in that I do not remember getting reading for this trip, just that we made it. Actually, we came down Tennessee Pass toward the new town and realized that the car was acting up, and we stopped at what we thought was a gas station but was actually a home with not automobile amenities, even though it had a gas pump out front, and they did have some oil, which the Bug needed. We then went on to find a motel in town. I was exhausted.

As far as I can remember the children really were quite good, amusing themselves and seeming to understand that their Mom was having some troubles.

September 14, 2012

It has been a long time since I added to this blog!  I come up with good ideas and then something else needs to be done, so I forget.  I have been thinking about the past 40 some years and have wondered how we got through them.  It seems like there was so much going on, kids growing up, leaving home, moves we made, trips we made, and yet here we are lapsing into the elder years, still doing what we do, although with less strength at times, and caution!  The changes in the world do not seem to be any better! Actually, probably getting worse! Each generation is so selfish concerning what they want and need that they do not consider the impact on the next generation.  I do not think we even ponder what the effect most things will have on the world at all, but then we are not getting along very well either!

So what can we do to make a difference?  We as a human being on this earth should try to think past ourselves and contribute to the well being of others, and of our surroundings, the global village, the good idea of passing it on!  If you look at it, human beings are the bane of just about anything that occurs on the planet.  We pollute, we ignore, we consume, we fight, we kill, we go on and on assuming that what we do is only a small thing and couldn't cause harm, but it all has consequences!

Periodically things hit home to remind us that we are not going to get off scot free!  Viruses tame us, fires wipe us out, floods clear us out, congestion and arrogance add to the mess.  And there you are, pretty depressing, but we could change it if we really tried and could communicate!  Hard to contemplate that, but worth the effort!

Gala at Midnight

I woke near midnight, finding my way into the bathroom, peed, felt my way out, and heard, 'it's near midnight, do you want to see if there are northern lights?'. I changed course, headed out of the bedroom, down the hall, looked out a window seeing only street lights. I went and opened the deck door, went out into the night air, looked up past the deck roof, turned toward the north, looked into the ski, and then noticed I was alone. I did not see anything that looked like northern lights, but did remark inwardly that there were a lot of stars so there must not be fog about at midnight. I returned to the deck door, closed it, and staggered down the hall, and the disembodied voice asked if I saw anything. 'Stars', I said. I got back in bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning, I was told about the alarm going off about 15 minutes before I got up. My bedmate could not find the alarm or the clock, fussed around while it kept sounding, finally turned on the light and turned off the alarm. I slept on only to arise like a sylph some time later to attend to physical needs and do my parody of a midnight gala in my nightgown, staggering blindly down the hall out onto the deck in the cold wind alone. The 'voice' stayed warm in bed having sent me on my way to go north in pursuit of color in the sky, which some day I will see having gone to Alaska for just that reason!

But therein lies the good parts of a marriage. It must contain humor or it is doomed, and now that I am awake and can appreciate the night moves, I can say I am laughing!

Timers

I realized yesterday that our lives are now run by timers. It was a subtle transition. Jack likes to let nap take him away in the afternoon, so he set the timer so he would wake to feed the dog at 4:45 pm. Then he would be awake for the news at 5:00 pm. I would be out in the yard weeding! He would lean out the door and say, 'it is almost 5!' So I would pack up, water what I had weeded, and come in so I could make our popcorn meal, sit and watch the news after cleaning myself up from the weeding. Then I started taking a timer, shaped like an apple, out with me. There are other timers during the day that I hear, can't remember what for, but now the cat and the dog are paying attention to the timers. The cat comes in from yard on the 4:45 timer. Time to feed her also.

When we ride our bike we have the speedometer on the bike telling us our speed, mileage, average speed, and there is a clock telling us time, so there is another silent timer! We do about 6-7 miles in 45 minutes depending on what there is to talk about or to look at on our ride. We count the deer up the hill near Washington Park, 14 yesterday. Lots of fawns in various age attire. We see small bucks with budding antlers, spikes they are called. Haven't seen any raccoons lately, but various cats, and elderly dogs, and eagles flying overhead.

As I get older, having to watch various areas of my day to day life so I won't fall, so I won't sever some part of my anatomy, so I won't run into other cars, so that I notice lights and cross walks, so that I can find the right word, remember names, birthdays, and who my relatives are remaining in my life, maybe a timer is really a great idea. Ringy Dingy!

Grannie Days

I find myself befuddling a little. I try to explain something to someone and the words get all mixed up, and eventually I finish what I am trying to say or explain. I actually think I am being more and more like my Mother. I am on alert! I need to watch what I say, where I walk, what I bump into, and what I am handling. I need to pay more attention. I am laughing more which is what my Mom and I liked to do with each other. I would read here grocery list as I saw it, and both of us would laugh because it was not what she meant at all. It was the writing I was taking literally. And I now realize that I can't bend over as easily as I used to, I have to think about it some, bend, reach, and then get back up. Weeding the garden requires getting down and then back up. Pulling requires more strength, weeds up, or myself up. Paying attention, not tripping, but being aware. Takes some doing.

But I have vowed to pay attention to others in my age group and above. Sometimes we become invisible. So I talk to old people. They are my group. I am aiming for smiles. We need to stick together. I will open a door or acknowledge their presence. In the grocery store you can see some of us looking downcast, and that is not good. Say hello. Smile. It does not take much, and I will bee older one of these days and may be confused and need help. Pass it on!