A New Set of Downs . . . 1st & Ten

This week it feels like a new set of downs are coming our way . . . besides the fact that it actually rained one day we sense that "fall" is almost here.

Autumn is such a pleasant time and we look forward to the change in the season.

There is still over a month before the "time" changes back from Daylight Savings time to Standard. (November 2nd)

We have divided our time between NFL and MLB. The Niners/Bears game was a "wake-up" call as was the Seahawks/Chargers game this week.


And the Giants looked good in some of their games this week and hopefully will be in the playoffs.

Also this week we enjoyed the premiere of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), that show continues to be so entertaining. And the finale of AGT -- America's Got Talent -- which is also a very entertaining show, brought us a magician as the winning act which was refreshing to see.

We actually did do some other things besides view TV this week . . . but not a whole lot.

Dates Next Week

September is a "busy" month for birthdays for folks in our tree. And as it turns out September is the busiest month for birthdays for a lot of folks -- more details coming up.

What I found interesting is that I pretty much felt that all months were fairly even in the number of birthdays -- but not so!

For example, a study conducted by the NYTimes regarding this pointed out that September had the top 11 most common days for birthdays.

My father's birthday is in September (the 9th) which happens to be the second most common birthday of the year.  My birthday falls next week (the 23rd) and that is the third most common birthday of the year. And my father's father's birthday is in September (the 6th) but that day does not rank near the top (111th).

So, if you click on the chart on the left you can see all 30 days of September and how each one ranks. And the 16th of September turns out to be the most common birthday of all.

The facts and figures came from a variety of sources -- Dick Eastman's blog for one:  blog.eogn.com Dick had the main article that caught my interest. The NY Times put together the chart at the left for every day of the year.

And if you wanted to see the month of September shown graphically  as a "heat map" for the days, check out vizwiz.blogspot.in

What I found to be fascinating is that I always thought that September was a very busy birthday month but I never really gave it much real thought -- until now, and it makes a ton of sense.

When you count back from the days in September by nine months some of the reasons are more apparent -- those days would be in the "holiday" period when "things were lookin' up" . . . so-to-speak.

For my own personal "day" I came along just about nine months after "Pearl Harbor" . . .


One of the Butchers in the Tree

A couple of posts ago I mentioned the "Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick Maker" and that all three could be found in the tree -- so today I quickly mention one of the "butchers" who can be found in our tree:

While it is a "stretch" to say how I am related to Vern, I am kind of like a "shirt-tail" cousin. Vern is actually -- from the description listed by Family Tree Maker -- a first cousin once removed of the wife of a first cousin once removed of mine . . .

So there you have it, Vern is related, he was a butcher in 1959 per the above city directory for Faribault, Minnesota at Harry & Fran's Red Owl Store in town. And I'll divulge another butcher from our tree -- yours truly -- in 1959 I was starting my apprenticeship as a "butcher" at the Hinsdale IGA store.

For me, I worked as a butcher -- meat cutter -- for six years, the last three as a journeyman at various stores in California while going to college -- providing me with an ample income while also being a "poor student" . . . in a financial sense of course.

Status of other Searching

I am still searching for the details of my own parent's wedding (if anyone knows, please give me a clue . . . thanks).

But in the meantime I did find some details of another HILES' wedding that I did not know previously:

Leland Blair Hiles, a second cousin (once removed) lived in Viroqua, Wisconsin and ultimately was buried in the Viroqua Cemetery and my wife and I visited there in 2003 when we visited with my nephew, Jeremy who with his family lives in Viroqua.

However, this week while searching for HILES' wedding information I stumbled across Leland and his wife Mildred's information.

If you click above you can see that they were married in Iowa on 26 July 1934. At first I did not think it was the right HILES because they lived in Viroqua, Wisconsin and why would they get married all the way over in Iowa . . .

Until I checked the map:

Waukon and Viroqua are less than 50 miles apart and even in the 1930s it would not be such a great distance away.

I still don't know "why" they chose Waukon, Iowa as the site of their marriage but perhaps there were some extenuating circumstances that made Waukon appealing.


So, that was a bit of our week -- it is Saturday and I have a craving for maybe "taco salad" tonight as we watch the Giants play the Chargers . . .

Tomorrow we plan to watch NFL football and the Niner's in particular along with one or two other games as well . . .

See you all in a few!