Genealogy..What Does It Mean?

  OK, this is quite a stretch for me, to be serious about a topic for any length of time…I am quite taken with our family Genealogy and it occurs to me to wonder …WHY?..These people are the past..not the future.., many of them long gone, their time has passed.  Why, then, do we want to know MORE about our families?? We have our own families now, what does it matter who, when or where we came from?  I have a feeling there aren’t many of you out there who do not sit and wonder about  your ancestry…and the older we get , the more we find it important to leave a legacy to our current families about our lives.  I also think that the access to records being so available at our fingertips on the computer has created a new interest in Genealogy…it sure has for me….

Crystal Lake, IL HS Class of 1898, left. (My Grandma is back row standing left. Her waist is smaller than my leg.) Middle photo is Uncle Jr. with his Dad,(Den’s Grandpa), Clarence Bark…and right, is McGyver’s Mom and Dad’s wedding pic..Ben Campbell Cave and Katherine Bark..

My Dad, Don Ross, left. (why didn’t I inherit that musical talent?) My mom, Cora and my Dad, middle. Right is my Uncle Walt and Aunt Edie, ALCAN HWY 1948.

So…..When I found that we were only 40 miles from one of my elusive relatives, McGyver and I made it a point to drive the 40 miles and find his resting place…

I cannot begin to tell you my feelings here…I soooo want to know this man, Eyles Sylvester Harnish.  He was my grandmother’s brother’s son…(her nephew).  For some reason, I cannot find out very much about him. Fortunately, I do have many family pictures of him…Kudos to Grandma (Harnish) Ross for writing on the back of nearly every photo I have of her family!!

Eyle’s Grandfather (my Grandma Ross’s father) is another elusive soul..and how did Eyles and his wife end up buried here in Texas anyway?  Oh, don’t worry..now that I have gotten this far, his life will slowly unfold before me, and it is becoming my new “part time job”….Please! Everyone!  Remember to document, on the backs of photos, the dates and names, so your kids and grandkids know WHO the Heck, WHEN the Heck and WHERE the Heck!!…OK, enough said already, I’m getting waaaay too loud.

The rains have finally quit here and we have been reintroduced to the sun.  Hi Dude.   Long time, no see.  Wednesday evening we had our first campfire in 3 days…We were on “cozy cocktail hour” withdrawal..

I took my walk separate from Dennis today.  I take 2 steps to his one step and I swear I walk twice as far!! Plus, I take my camera and we wouldn’t want to compromise his walk time …Is he running in the Chicago Marathon this year??? ….Whatever.

Do you see how green it is here?  This means the mosquitos are quietly plotting.  They are sitting in their little green puddles of standing water as I write, just waiting for nightfall ….and a full frontal attack..And we, the evening campfire Cave Dwellers act like a Trojan Horse, unknowingly bringing the little varmints into the Hiker on our hair, body and clothing..even riding on the edge of our cocktail glasses…Deep Woods Off, you say?  That stuff is nasty and smells like a surgical unit at a hospital…Skin So Soft??? ..tried it…I smelled like a cheap Laundromat and still got bitten….No, McGyver and “moi” choose to sit close to the smoky fire, hoping they cough up a lung,  leaving us alone.

I know they needed the rain down here though….Just look at these poor dead trees…  

 

This big tree was totally horizontal, and when the winds and rain came, it just got pulled out of the ground, roots and all…

 

This sign is posted in many places around the park.  In other words, “Do NOT hurt yourself trying to drag whole dead trees into your campsites for firewood.  We are not responsible for hauling your sorry asses out of the woods,  and do not even MENTION the word lawsuit!!!..”

We are slowly winding down to our last day here.  I took the Hummer feeder down, and also the hanging feeder…The Hummers are late arrivals to our party this year…(actually they were a “no show”)…and I also got tired of fighting the squirrel over sunflower seeds.  He’s not pushing me around any longer..so there!!

Thanks to all who read my blogs to the bottom…I understand that some of you are also getting tired of riding in the crowded back seat of the GMC….And to Kenny, who thinks something smells bad back there…NO MORE BEANS FOR YOU!!….

“My ancestors wandered lost in the wilderness for forty years because even in biblical times, men would not stop to ask for directions.”  ~Elayne Boosler