It's All About . . . DNA

And this week bears that out! In high school, I remember in chemistry class learning about DNA and I made it a point to recall what the acronym stood for and it has remained stuck in my head ever since -- deoxyribonucleic acid, amazing after all these years.

But DNA is ever increasing in awareness and rightly so. I know that in the coming months and years it will no doubt play an even larger role in our everyday lives.

The huge variations of the genome displayed above are just the tip of the iceberg. I keep studying the different presentations and still am confused -- as I have mentioned before -- each time I attend a webinar or read another article I gain a bit more understanding. Why should it be so complex . . .

In last week's post, I mentioned -- almost tongue-in-cheek -- that National DNA Day was coming. And just how did I plan to observe the day -- never did I dream that there would be an amazing DNA achievement announced that very day:

On Wednesday, April 25th, DNA Day, it was all over the news -- DNA played a huge role in leading to the potential solving of one of the largest cold cases in California's history.

Less than a week prior, the ultimate perpetrator of a huge string of killings, rapes, and burglaries was not identified to the authorities.

Then, DNA was used and in a couple of days, the killer was identified and arrested.

Every news channel that we watched had this story at the top or close to the top of their report. I was just transfixed by the revelation. Having lived near many of the locations of the crimes over my years in California it was stunning to hear the details.

I happened to live in another state during most of the spree -- but never-the-less, I paid attention to the continuing stories and news articles over the roughly decade of their occurrences.

What is really astounding to me is that just a week ago I happened to see a detailed report about a book that sounded interesting -- a best-seller -- and so I ordered it on Kindle. It was about the Golden State Killer and written by a young author who unfortunately died before completing the book:

I was transfixed while reading the author's description of the details mostly geographically of where these crimes took place and the insights into her sense of the perpetrator's state of mind.

Just as I neared the end of the book -- which was ultimately finished by her husband from her extensive notes -- the above news story hit.

What a shame that the author did not live to see the culmination of her writing and constant encouragement to "keep after" this criminal.

Michelle McNamara, I believe was very instrumental in having this case becoming close-to-being solved. She was relentless in her follow up.

In her book, she could of course not identify the criminal by name, but certainly could identify him through "m.o." and through DNA capture.

The arrest was ultimately a result of detectives and officials using the features of a genealogical DNA testing company (gedmatch) to discover distant relatives of the person that they had a DNA profile of and then to create the family tree to identify that person.

Finally, law enforcement obtained a current sample of DNA (how and what not revealed yet) and arrested the suspect -- what a great finish.

It will be so interesting to learn more about the details of this person and his life for the last 40 years or so. This case has already encouraged the hope that other DNA assisted arrests in all sorts of cases can be achieved via follow up using DNA samples already in existence.

As I have mentioned many times in recent posts -- I have tested with four DNA testing companies and have used the features of gedmatch as well.

If you add up the matches for these companies, I have over 9000 matches.

It is overwhelming to try to figure how most of these matches fit into the family tree.

Partly, because so many of the matches show NO family trees posted or that they are private which requires communication which often results in no responses . . .

Very few of the matches share my surname and so that adds to the frustration as well

In the coming time, I look forward to a better way of dealing with so many "possible" close relatives being identified and how they are connected to me.

It is really that I'm not doing nothing about DNA matches.

I am slowly trying to go through the lists of current folks and grab some of the promising looking daily new ones as well.

I know that there have been several relatives from the tree that have recently submitted their DNA samples and I look forward to seeing those results too. Right now there are "sales" on from several of the companies and that makes it a good time to test.

And lastly, keepin' it "all DNA" today:

So, that is a bit of our week, see you all "in a few" ! 👨👩

The Weather -- Not Old Hat

Even though it may get to be "old hat" right now it is a lot like a new hat . . . that is, it feels good, it looks good. The weather has been super lately here in Healdsburg. Most of this week has been in the 70s and today will probably be in the 80s -- which is as hot as we hope that it gets for a while.

The birds are lovin' it too -- they've managed to power through several suet cakes and a fair amount of seed. They seem to come in droves and then disappear for a bit -- but so far they keep returning.

It is so nice today that we almost hate to put on the a/c -- but probably will so we have some comfort inside late in the day. We know that later in the year the a/c will be on non-stop . . .

As we go about our daily routines we often forget where we stand in terms of the year -- 2018.

Today is the 111th day of this year and represents about 34% of this year already used up.

For me, it is like looking at the odometer -- I like to see certain numbers turn over -- but of course, with the new electronic devices the numbers do not roll over like the old displays -- they just appear. This week our auto will have a -000- appear which is notable, I guess.

So, what will we do in the last two-thirds of the year? Whatever it is it will happen with the speed of light or sound and we'll again wonder what happened to the year. I'm still wondering what happened to this week.

Sadly, this week we lost Barbara Bush, an inspiring woman:

The above came from Dick Eastman's blog and the article written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Of course, Barbara Bush's genealogy is very interesting. Besides being the wife of a president and a mother of a president, she is related to a total of ten presidents -- amazing.

As this is being posted her services are being held in Texas. She will be buried at the "George Bush Library" at Texas A & M University. She has an impressive genealogy.

Looking at genealogy, Gail & I also have some top political relatives in our ancestor lists:

For Gail, Millard Fillmore, the 13th President of the U.S. is a 2nd cousin. Throughout her family, there are many folks named "Millard" (including her dad) and several named "Fillmore".

For me, James Norris Gillett was the 22nd Governor of California. And as I have mentioned before -- I did not know that fact until working on family history & that he was a 1st cousin.

I'm guessing that other notable connections will be revealed over time for both Gail & me . . .

We have seen so much attention being paid to DNA lately that it is no surprise that there is a DNA day -- April 25:

The question is "how to celebrate this day" . . .  I think "hot dogs" are in order . . . no one knows their DNA . . .

And lastly, it was 100 years ago:

My grandfather, Dayton Bumgardner was the "Worshipful Master" seated front & center, for the year 1918 in a Chicago Masonic Lodge. I never knew anything about that part of his life, but it had to be a major influence in his life.  The picture and the dress are very impressive.

That is a bit of our week. See you all "in a few"!  👨👩

The Pollen Tsunami

The weather today here in Healdsburg is absolutely wonderful. Sunny, balmy, warm day. Tomorrow is not supposed to be that and is predicted to be rainy and cold -- that's okay too.

But, growing up I do not recall having allergies -- that no longer applies. Both Gail and I are sneezing, wheezing and have itchy, watery eyes -- what's to blame -- POLLEN.

Every known tree in the area is "blooming" along with flowers and then the grass itself is beautiful and fragrant as ever -- especially when it is being mowed.

These are some of the offenders -- yet some of the most beautiful. We did have a visit to the doctor recently and were told to take Flonase and Zyrtec right now -- Gail does daily and I think it helps somewhat. All I have to do is take the cap off the Flonase and I start getting a major nasal reaction.

We'll "ride" it out hopefully and be able to go about our daily activities. When the temperatures stay in the mid to upper 80s we'll be adding the a/c and that will help as well.

I receive daily updates from almost all of the four companies that I tested my DNA with . . .

To the right is the latest from 23 & Me which depicts my 100% European genetics.

Interestingly enough, the current book we are reading -- "A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived" by Adam Rutherford, says if you have European ancestry then you are definitely related to Charlemagne and that you have "royal" blood as well . . .

So, I'd like more details -- but I won't hold my breath. The timeline sent by 23 & Me makes sense as well -- saying that the Scandinavian portion took place between 1850 and 1910.

I'm not too sure about the British and Irish portion though as we haven't identified who those ancestors are yet . . .

It is exciting to think about what the future with DNA will uncover and share with us. Now is a great time to be DNA tested -- so much happening in that arena.

Recently, I was reviewing some of the thousands of photos from our Guide Dog for the Blind experiences and I came across this one.

It almost makes us want to get one of those puppies -- almost.

We know that Dino -- who turns seven this year, would love (we think) a canine companion.

We'll think about it . . . a basket of fun!

We enjoy watching baseball. Even as the season is just starting and the teams figuring it "all out".

What we find very unpleasant are the several brawls that have broken out on the ball fields.

As baseball mirrors hockey more and more with that perspective -- we will watch less and less.

We are just one couple watching the MLB games each week -- so maybe it wouldn't matter to the league if we cut back.

But it is like the NFL. As more and more undesirable type players exhibit their unique form of (in our view) behavior we watch less and less. We applaud the Seahawks for not signing a certain QB this week due to his annoying display of character.

When the sporting events that we look to for entertainment and escape turn to annoying events and displays -- we'll watch more golf and if they had it -- curling . . . just saying.

From the photo shoe-box:

This is a picture of our family in front of the apartment on East Avenue in La Grange, Illinois.

Probably, Marv, took this photo since he is not in it. I'm puzzled about the date though.

It looks as though this was "developed" in Florida in 1954. This may have been the trip to visit our Aunt Carrie who lived in St Petersburg.

We did also go for Marv's wedding in 1955 that took place in Fort Lauderdale. I need to figure it out . . .

We lived in the above apartment for about one year as we waited for our new home to be built in Hinsdale -- I was in the Seventh Grade that year, Marilee was in High School and Jon, in First or Second grade. Marv was in the latter years of college at the time. I am wearing a "Camp Awana" tee shirt . . .

I think that now that "taxes" are finished for this season, maybe just maybe I'll get the chance to have a day to just immerse myself into genealogy researching -- that would be so nice.

There are so many loose ends to follow up on and explore. I do work on family history every day -- maybe just for a bit -- but usually not for as long as I would like.

I feel lucky that I have this hobby -- it pretty much defines my day in a way. If there is a "webinar" so much the better. Webinars are like what sporting events are to some extent -- that is, it is a time when the rest of the world is shut out for a brief period and a time to just experience something fun.

That is a bit of our week -- see you all "in a few" ! 👨👩

Drenched . . . Dry . . . Drained

For the last few days, it is true -- we have been drenched. Here in Sonoma County, we have received multiple inches of rain -- which we are so glad for, but, is it enough to ward off the other "D" word for this year? We'll see, at least for this week, we did not need to water the lawns or to fill the pool.

The signs of Spring are all around us. Because of the recent rains, Dino spent endless hours longingly watching outdoors for any sign of a break in the downpour. Today it appears that there is a break and the skies are filled with fluffy clouds. The birds are relentless in their attack on the suet and seed feeders outback. Blossoms are everywhere and at times giving the pool a blanket needing to be swept clean. And the fields of mustard are in full bloom throughout the Healdsburg area. What a nice cycle!

Inside, a different story was taking shape -- the finalization (finally) of the yearly Federal and State Income taxes was taking shape. Whatever happened to the notion that with tax reform we would be sending a 5 x 7-inch card with our complete tax story intact for filing . . .

We filed on the 5th, about 12 days earlier than the deadline of the 17th this year.

When I pushed the button to "print" a copy for the records it said there were a total of 63 pages in the Federal & State returns.

I then requested just the copies of the actual forms and the total was reduced to 36 pages, a far cry from the one-page 5x7 . . .

Hopefully, the ever-present feeling of doom will be removed until the next filing season next year. The whole process never seems to get any better or less intimidating.

Another process looming in the next couple of years is the "every ten-year Federal census". There was talk at one point of having the USPS conduct or aid in the collection of information -- can you imagine loading the postal workers with that task and having a census that was accurate.

The other controversy has to do with asking a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

The last time that a citizenship question appeared was in the 1950 census when folks were asked "where they were born" and if foreign born -- were they naturalized.

In the 1960 census, the question merely asked about "place of birth".


It will be interesting if the census does include a citizenship question -- and for what real purpose.

I look forward to two years after the 2020 census -- for the release of the 1950 census which would be the one that Gail and I would first appear. The current law does not allow for the information to be released for a census until after 72 years have passed. Two of my siblings made it into the 1940 census -- they know who they are . . .

DNA analysis and testing have been in the news a lot lately and I presume will continue to be prominent for a long time.

You know it is "hot" when the following appeared in one of my searches for DNA information:

Not only can DNA help find and identify long-lost family members and ancestors -- it could now play a role in possible future family members . . .

What other commercial uses of DNA will we see in the coming years. When I think of it this could be more controversial than any citizenship question on the census . . .

And speaking of long lost family:

The third season of this program will premiere this week, on
Sunday, on TLC.

While it mostly has to do with adoptees or biological parents searching for each other -- the process that they go through and certainly the results are great to view.

There can't be enough genealogical type shows on TV -- for me anyway.

And lastly, it was a perfect "soup week". And while we did make and consume some "from scratch" soups this week -- we did give some thought to the possibility of a "store-bought" product:

Mmm mmm good . . .

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