That's Cool . . .

With temperatures below the norm, it is indeed cool. Well, not THAT cool, but cooler than the last several weeks. We only used the a/c a couple of times this week and it is so nice to have the air just coming through opened doors and windows. Even the nights have been better for sleeping, not perfect, but better.

And with the windows and doors open, the sounds of the newly returned school kids at recess come wafting into our space. We don't mind at all. We are glad for the school year to begin once again.

The above is "Dream Garden" by Maxfield Parrish. Beautiful and is what is in our mind's eye when referring to a garden. We do have a Maxfield Parrish -- not this one -- hanging in our "needlepoint" room.

It is nice to just envision things as Maxfield Parrish presents them. And then we see the latest news and are reminded that everyday life is not quite like that . . .

One of the things we see on the news these days is about the flooding in various parts of the country.

But of course, this sort of news has been going on forever. To the left is a blurb set in The Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin almost 70 years ago.

The article lets folks in Racine know that some relatives connected to Racine are safe in the flooded areas of Texas.

The article does have the relationship backward though. Carrie (Martin) Palmer is the aunt to Muriel of course.
These days, social media takes care of reporting most of the who is safe type news.
Heaven help us if the internet is compromised.

To the right is some of the kind of relationships that I find throughout the week.

It is almost impossible for me at times to follow that path:  father-in-law of sister-in-law of grand nephew of husband of 1st cousin 2x removed.

That is way too far out there for my brain to deal with -- and when I think of where that possibly might be of family interest, well I get lost again.

By the time I try to sort through that, I've lost the sense of all reality and simply move on to "the low hanging fruit" that gives satisfaction.

And speaking of "puzzles", after eight grueling days Gail and I (yesterday at 3:30 pm) finally put the last remaining piece into "The Olde General Store" puzzle.

Both of us thought that it was the most difficult puzzle to date -- but then we almost always think that whatever puzzle we are currently working on "is the toughest".

There is a sense of accomplishment and reward for sticking it out and finishing even when "you know" that there are pieces missing (which there were not any missing, thank goodness).

But then the question becomes -- what next. We'll work that out after admiring this one for a couple of days. I remember working on puzzles with my mother when I was young and how fun that was too.

And then the image of "the farm" pops back into my memory bank. For some reason that still holds some space in my recalling the days when our family used to drive to Wisconsin in the quest to "buy a farm".

Of course, that did not happen but it is fun to think about it. And then thinking about it makes me think that "the farm" would make a good puzzle and then thinking even more -- "The Dream Garden" too would make a very good puzzle.

So many puzzle ideas, we'll have to see how that works out. We almost feel like artists after completing a satisfying work. So we understand a bit how some of our really talented artists in the family (Marilee) feels after completing a piece.

Lastly, later this year my daughter Lisa turns fifty -- so hard to believe that I have a child that old.
And so I have started perusing photos that I can share with her for that day:

I came across the photo above -- it was taken obviously almost 50 years ago. It was in the dining room of Lisa's Great Grandparent's home in Chicago.

In the photo are left to right:  Ruth Bumgardner Hiles, Jon Hiles, Dayton Bumgardner (Lisa's great-grandfather), Lisa & Susan Carr Hiles. I believe that I took the picture.

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

Too Close for Comfort

It used to be "polio" that was in the minds of many parents back in the 30s and 40s. Today here in the West it is "wildfires". Just two days ago -- Thursday -- our lunch period was punctuated with the sounds of sirens, planes, and helicopters. We could see smoke -- didn't smell smoke -- but it was very obvious that fire had to be nearby. Nearer than we wanted it to be.

We feel somewhat lucky in that the fire was quickly extinguished -- unfortunately, the danger still exists. The fire burnt some 13 acres, which in the scheme of wildfires these days is minuscule, never-the-less is frightening.

There were air drops of water and I believe retardant as well which I'm sure lessened the threat. We live about 5 minutes driving time from the area and have frequently driven through. There is a fine restaurant at that location -- The Madrona Manor -- we've eaten there a few times and that would be a shame to lose.  And there are several homes in the vicinity -- the ones that were evacuated immediately -- and a ton of "fuel".

At this point, that fire is out and we can only hold our collective fingers crossed that another does not ignite -- they have not yet announced the cause of this blaze but it could be so many different things.

Today is day #230 of this year, way past the midway point in the calendar. Christmas is only 128 days away . . . time for some shopping.

Apparently, though today is also a coveted day and date to get married.

If you are "into" numbers today's date is a good one and also one that is associated with good luck and good fortune in many cultures.

But being a palindrome it would make it easier to recall -- I have to always look my anniversary date up to just "be sure" -- and that by the way is one week to go for our "26th" . . . it is so hard to believe.

I never really thought about the dates as being significant but to many, it must be. There are even dates that are not recommended for a variety of reasons. Go figure.


In hindsight, I'm sure that there can be many conclusions drawn as to the impact of the date . . .

So, in between doing random searches throughout various branches of family trees, we spent a lot of time working on our puzzle projects. We find it satisfying to at least be able to solve some pieces of some puzzles:

We have a nice setup now for working a puzzle. Above you can see Gail putting the finishing touches on the "Home Cooking" puzzle and then on the right the start of "The Olde Country Store" puzzle.
The puzzle board covered in green felt is on a swivel base which really makes it handy especially when working alone.

"The Olde Country Store" puzzle has been really a tough one and for a while, I wasn't just sure of the reason -- but it is because the puzzle is a picture of a "painting" and the pieces are covered in brush strokes that obscure the items but become clearer when assembled. If the puzzle is a picture of a picture, then the pieces are easier to "see" where they fit in. We learn something every day. . .

And finally today -- what is on our nightstand?  A lot of books, but the one we are currently reading has an interesting way that it came into our hands.

We both had our regularly scheduled dental appointments this week. While waiting we noticed an addition to the waiting room -- a bookshelf.

On the shelves were several books and a note posted on top stating that this was a lending library -- take one, read one, return when finished.

Initially, I ignored it -- but as time went on I started perusing the titles and found one that interested me -- "A Higher Loyalty" by James Comey.

Still very much in the news these days and seemingly a person of interest to read about -- I decided to take advantage of the book offer and so we are reading it.

We are finding it very interesting certainly with respect to this week's actions -- that being the pulling of security clearances of some folks and may include the author of this book as well -- but the interesting behind-the-scenes look at the goings-on in the White House.

There was another book that came out this week that I'm not sure I would read based on my impression of that author over the last few years -- but James Comey, I feel is a legitimate person to listen to and has the right to share his side of the story.

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

Somebody "Cry Uncle" Already . . .

Okay, we give up -- enough is enough. Our local paper "The Press Democrat" says Healdsburg was 103° yesterday. We have experienced several weeks now of 90+° days. Our a/c has been running -- it seems like forever and thank goodness for that at least. We have no memory of rain in the recent months.

The earth has been scorched over thousands of acres, the heat and the winds continue and the fires have complete control wherever they go.

We wake up to mostly diffused sunlight -- today was fairly clear -- and hopefully, that is a good sign.
It looks as though an air force dropping retardant is needed at all times now. I'm not sure if the retardant is washable from the surfaces of the structures that it saves but it probably is or at least can easily be painted over . . .

Aside from the real fire dangers here, it is just plain uncomfortable -- last night the temperature stayed relatively warm throughout the night and so sleeping was sporadic -- again. And apparently, we haven't even gotten into the "fire season" yet.

One of my activities this week has involved the process of gathering all the folks from the tree into manageable units to be able to display them in charts like the above. It is a time-consuming activity and can only be done piece-meal.

One thing for sure about this hobby is that it is "never going to be completed". There are always things that need to be done or fixed or corrected or explained. But that is the beauty of this activity.
Some of our other activities DO have completions, like our book reading and our puzzle working.
But they too offer us their own form of "payback".

Linked closely to the genealogical activity is the DNA activity. While we have our DNA tested by four different companies and continually receive "matches" from those tests, we have not participated in the other very exciting aspect of DNA tests -- and that is -- making identifications.

To me, it is a wonderful use of this fairly new technological advance, i.e. the catching of decades-old criminals who probably thought that they had no chance of being caught. This week CeCe Moore aided in catching yet another cold case killer and has said that these cases are "only the beginning" of many cases already in the pipeline to be solved. We anxiously await the news . . .

If you are looking for something to do this weekend -- may be a drive along one of the world's longest garage sales will satisfy your quest for adventure and/or "stuff".

This event originated 19 years ago set into action by Linda Hiles and her husband, Frank -- I still do not know if we are related, but that doesn't matter. The "yard sale" goes on for some 160 miles or so and I can only imagine what it is like to drive that route. Who isn't tempted to stop when seeing a variety of items set up for sale at potentially below bargain prices . . .

We did manage to watch a bit of the two NFL pre-season games for the teams in our area. Both games seemed chaotic, as can be expected for first of the pre-season games. But both games had an element that ruined watching even chaotic play and that was the behavior displayed by some players during the national anthem.

Something needs to happen e.g. just not showing OR mentioning any of this activity during the TV broadcast. But once the image of this activity is shown it ruins the spirit of the game for me.

If it continues -- we'll just stop watching any NFL games this season and buy more jig-saw puzzles to occupy our time. We might just do that anyway.

The NFL may just go the way of pro boxing and pro wrestling in our home -- not ever watched. I remember in the early days of TV, boxing and wrestling were very big attractions, but not anymore.

I suppose that it is too much to hope for that "our town" is as just as "down-to-earth" as the above depiction. I like to think in terms of the above but recognize that it just represents a dream of sorts.

Our town is a small town -- but ever growing and changing. Why, we even have a functioning "roundabout" today (almost completed after a couple of years . . .) that change from a five-way stop is so much better, even from the first day of driving through the construction zones. And to think that in our town there were so many "doubters" . . .

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

August Already

It may be August and it may still be HOT here and the "back to school" sales are booming. The youngsters around here get to return to school in a few weeks -- no longer is it the week after "Labor Day" for school sessions to restart.

But first, most everyone around here is tuned in to the status of the wildfires burning in so many locations around California and other states as well.

The "Carr" fire burning up in Shasta County now around 150,000 acres consumed is one of the worst fires in California's history.

While the fire is a couple of hours driving time to the north of us -- it still is of concern for a couple of reasons -- the conditions here are hot, dry and windy AND a fire like that could easily start here the way that it did by Redding -- i.e. by a flat tire or some other accidental means. 

The sun seemed smoke diffused yesterday in the early morning though we have not detected a smoke smell -- yet. We check throughout the day and it is always in the back of our minds. The TV news is predominantly about the fires (the good news is that it cuts back on some of the other disastrous news that we have to deal with on a daily basis).

Our local newspaper -- the Press Democrat -- contains a large percentage of space devoted to the fire results of last October's disaster and now the new constantly featured fires this year.

The stories of the evacuations both mandatory and voluntary remind us that after just recently having "unpacked" our bags from last year that we might have to repack again this year . . .

The naming of the huge "Carr" fire was curious to me since we have a large number of Carr folks in our tree but it turns out that the "Carr" reference is to one of the highways on which the fire originated with the flat tire -- they surmise.

Speaking of fires -- the 1973 fire in St Louis that burned about 90% of the military records of Army personnel including many members of our family tree (my father's as well) still frustrates the search in that area.

There is always some hope that alternative documents will be found that could recreate some of the millions of important files lost. In my father's case, it is frustrating to not be able to put together his military history from the 1920s and into the 1930s.

This is that time of the year that there are no holidays to celebrate -- but that doesn't mean we can't honor some of the lesser known "national" days. 

For example -- today is supposedly "National Chocolate-Chip Cookie Day" and I think we can figure out how to celebrate that fairly easily . . .

Next week -- Wednesday -- is "National Sneak Zucchini Onto a Neighbor's Porch" day. We actually used to do this before we knew about the holiday and had a garden full of the stuff . . .

So there are ways to make each day special -- and that is what we try to do.

Our day might have been really more special if only we had seen the "light" a few years back and bought Apple stock . . . 

Apple became the first officially recognized  $1 Trillion sized U.S. corporation. Who would have ever thought that that would happen?

I do love Apple products and have used them for many years mostly via their iPad products -- I love to use that every day as does Gail. I would have used an Apple desktop if the software that I wanted was available to run on Apple -- today it is, but I'm entrenched in Windows too.

DNA still is capturing the headlines these days. To me, it is a welcome addition to the tools we use in genealogy -- but -- it is also fast becoming huge news to the crime-solving world.  A few months ago we saw the start of many cold-cases being solved.

This week, we learned that even recently committed crimes are being solved via the use of DNA. One particularly satisfying result came in with the capture of a criminal who had taunted police and feeling secure with getting away with his crime -- until DNA use. 

As I have mentioned in previous posts -- I receive a large number of DNA matches every week. The unfortunate detail is that it is hard to connect those matches "in the tree". To date, I have received over a couple of thousand matches with only a handful that can be tied to the tree -- hopefully, that will change.

Besides, "Zucchini Day", coming up this next week is the return of the NFL games. I will wait to see how enthusiastic I'll be watching this season if a couple of things happen -- especially if there are political "statements" happening during the games . . .

And then there are the "49ers" -- they finished last season very strongly and have given most fans some real reason to look forward to the start of this season -- except for the addition of at least one player who in my mind is a total distraction and could be the reason that I won't want to watch the Niners. We'll see about the above events . . .

That is a peek into our week. See you all "in a few"!  👨👩