My family has been in this area for a few years. And by a few years, I mean generations. I proudly tell anyone with even the tiniest interest that my dad’s grandpa was a mayor. The last mayor of the 19th century in fact. That’s just his paternal side though since his mom hailed from New York state. My mom’s roots however, are a little more plentiful. Both sides on her maternal side came to the area due to coal mining. Coal was the lifeblood of this community after all. Mom’s paternal side, took a more circular route to get here. Ranching outside of town brought the family to the area before eventually moving into town. So, whenever I read a book about local history, I always hope to bump into some family history. It’s true what they say, be careful what you wish for because you just may get it.
Continue readinghistory
The Lost Art of the Letter
I am by far much more of a fiction reader. It seems my attention span grows and I read much quicker. However, I also like to learn so I have come up with a fiction-nonfiction schedule. Part of my nonfiction reads include biographies. I like to learn about people who are only names to me. Their interests, their weaknesses, their lives. One of the tools most biographers use to peek into the souls of yesterday is through letters. Letters written by and to the person. It seems we can learn a lot – or as much as we can anyway – from their correspondence. This all got me thinking, how will the future generation learn anything from us?
Continue readingThe Sad Case of Hi Bernard
I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my mom’s people settled in an area called Brown’s Park née Hole for a bit during the turn of the 19th century. My ancestors were cattlemen, ranchers, and ranch wives (probably the hardiest lot of the bunch) before eventually moving to town sometime in the early 1900s. I am trying to discover my roots and find out more about those ancestors so I have read a few books about Brown’s Park in the hopes I will run across an ancestor’s name or two. My findings have been slim but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found other interesting stories in a colorful place with a bit of interesting history. One that caught my attention is the sad case of Hi Bernard. Continue reading
I hate to inform you but history is not a concrete study
Sometimes two unrelated events come together and school you in a lesson. That happened for me a few years ago when I was trying to rise after a failure of sorts and needed some sort of affirmation that I could be good at something. As I tried to find some validation I decided to combine two things that I like and see if I could make a go at it. So I combined my love of public speaking with local history and sought some outlet for the two. What I settled on was conducting cemetery tours. The lesson I learned fairly quickly is that history is not as concrete as I thought it was. Continue reading
Little Me in Italy: Part One
Arrival
I was born with a bit of a wanderlust heart. However, I was also born with a fearful mind. In case you’re wondering, these two things are contradictory and one cancels the other out. Usually fear wins because fear, as you know, is a big bully. But I still had dreams. Dreams of all the places I’d like to have adventures à la Indiana Jones. So when an opportunity to venture outside my daily living zone presents itself I jump on it. In a cautious yet impulsive manner.
Let me explain. For work, my brother, RH, was in charge of an annual community trip abroad. He and his wife, CC, were required to go. Two people I know traveling abroad? Cautious. Deplete my savings to travel somewhere that is not on my bucket list? Impulsive. However you want to describe it, at the end of March I found myself on an airplane heading to Italy for one week. Continue reading
Unknown Soldier
I have fought in many battles.
I have seen my fair share of war.
I have buried many a friend
and sent so-called enemies to the grave.
I fought and fought until I said no more. Continue reading
The Scot named John Jarvie
The Scot named John Jarvie
was known by every soul
who lived within the boundary
of a place called Brown’s Hole. Continue reading
Memory Keeper
I am the memory keeper
though I didn’t set out to be. Continue reading
ck's days 