But Who Is Counting -- Anyway

If we are talking "family trees" we are counting . . . lately, as I work on the tree the numbers have been going up & down. Up, because I add new people that belong in the tree and down because I find duplicates that somehow got inserted.

It is always interesting as I get "to know" the family units as they go through their lives and I see them via censuses and other documents including newspaper articles.

And we seem to be always counting forward to how many days until Christmas for example or til when school starts (which is right about now around here) or to when our next vacation is coming (which for us is right about now . . .).

And currently, I look ahead 6 days to the 25th and know that a special occasion is nearing.

It was just 9,131 days ago that Gail and I stood under a small grape arbor in the town of Columbia, Calaveras County, California and repeated our wedding vows.

This was the first stage of an elaborate "sting" that Gail had planned to pull on friends and family.  The wedding was attended by two people -- the man who married us (my brother) and his wife, Nancy.

There were no announcements made as friends and family were invited to a surprise birthday party for me where Gail would "pop the question" and we would be joined together in matrimony at that moment . . .

It all went well -- except for a few disappointed folks who wanted to see my reaction to the "popping of the question". Instead,

it was Gail and me who got to see the reaction of those in attendance who discovered that they had been "had".

So, here we are 25 years later. I've actually been married for a little over 50 years and Gail for a little over 38 years -- figure that one out . . . Happy Anniversary Gail! You've made these past 10,000 days great!

And of course, we are counting the minutes until the big event -- that is the solar eclipse due on Monday.

We have not purchased the special glasses for the eclipse so we will have to be content to watch it on TV.

Now, if we lived in Makanda, Illinois, where the event is to last the longest (a little over two minutes) we would have definitely purchased the glasses.

It is interesting to note the huge crowds driving to witness this, in most areas, less than two minutes. We have seen entire families camping out ready to view all -- we can only hope that for those folks the weather cooperates.


In the "I remember" segment for this week, I do
remember this scene very much.

It is my father carefully detailing our 1956 Buick Special. Like all the cars we owned over the years -- he kept them spotless.

I haven't seen whitewalls that looked like that for years -- if they even make whitewalls anymore.

This picture was taken in the driveway of our house in Golfview Hills (Hinsdale) Illinois. Just parked behind the Buick I recognize the 1952 Pontiac that my mother mostly drove and at one point became  a car that I drove a lot.

In the foreground, the handlebars of a bicycle can be seen. It was either my bicycle or my younger brother's bike -- I'm not sure except that if this was the late 50's or even the early 60s, I would have been driving and that would not have been my bike.

Speaking of anniversaries . . . this week marks forty years after Elvis passed away at 42 years of age.

I do remember that day upon hearing that news -- I was just finishing a sales call at a Southern California Drug store.

Elvis played a big role in our growing up years and was a "secret" idol of my mother -- who took me to see a few of his movies.

And of course, my younger brother had a one line speaking role in an Elvis movie that was shot on his Navy ship in the 60s.

But, recently I just happened on Elvis' early growing up pictures and noticed how my own brother -- Marv -- who was born about the same time as Elvis, resembled him.

In the above collage, Marv's pics are the bottom three with early Elvis pics on top . . . even though he has never admitted it, I think that there was an influence in the way he appeared. Right now he is about double the age of Elvis and is going strong.

Last but not least is one more example of the incompetence of the USPS:

Last week I had finished up scanning a pile of documents from Sam Sigg regarding his family history. As I had promised to get them back to him promptly, I packaged them up in a heavy duty envelope and took them to the local Post Office on the 11th.

I asked for the safest and most secure way to send these documents and was told that "Certified Mail" was the best way. I was told that the recipient would have to sign for them.

I was also given the 14th as the most likely delivery date. On the 17th I received an email from the USPS stating that delivery was delayed . . . Finally on the 18th delivery was made in the condition shown above.

The envelope was wet, torn open and stuffed/dumped into Sam's mailbox and NO signature was requested . . .

Thank goodness we think everything was included -- but what horrible service. And even the follow up email from the USPS stated they had given the package to an individual (that did not happen).

Given the choice in the future -- I will avoid the USPS at every opportunity. I also will be following up at the Post Office, good luck with that . . .

That is a bit of our week, see you all "in a few"!