Welcome, my fellow WikiChatterboxes, to a mid-May Weekend Chat! And greetings from Cathey’s Creek where the weather has been warm (until cooler yesterday) and where we’ve had a couple of gentle rains to wash the pollen out of the air. This spring has been a hard one for both of us, allergy-wise, due to a heavy pollen season. We’re glad for a rain now and then.
On the Home Front: The painters are DONE! A butter-colored home with deep green shutters. There were some difficult places to get to, so it took a little longer to finish, but it is beautiful now. We’ll be dead by the next time it needs painting. We’ll just keep it clean for the next owners.
My Tucson brother is staying with my WikiTree brother this weekend and will arrive here Monday afternoon or evening. I have not seen him since my last visit out there. We hope to keep him busy enough to enjoy his stay. He is not one to just sit around and visit. He’s a doer. He just passed 1000 hiking miles since his move out to Tucson about three years ago.
I have once again picked up Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, in my opinion one of the greatest works of fiction/fantasy. Reading it makes me wish I’s lived in the Shire. Where I grew up was kinda like it. This will be my 20th something time reading this since I first borrowed a copy from a friend 23 years ago.
I have learned how to lift something a little heavier without hurting my shoulder. My left arm I keep straight out while letting the right arm do the hard work. This made it easier to move large pots in which we planted our year’s buy of mandevilla with pink blooms. These die every winter, so we wait until we are sure the last frost has passed us by in the spring before starting over. They are beautiful.
On the Genealogy Front: May seems to be a month of birthdays for many members of my family, some of whom I knew (or almost knew) over the years. Notably…
My Aunt Rosa (Grandpa’s sister) was born 6 May 1882. My g-grandmother (her mother) told my grandmother not to let the children of these two families play together. I could say more, but…
My gggg-grandfather, Solomon Fite, was born 17 May 1797. By virtue of his marriage, he was allowed to be buried in the old Wells Cemetery not far from where I grew up, which cemetery is misnamed in nearly all the internet sources, including FindaGrave, as the Abee Cemetery.
My gg-grandfather, Maclin Kerr, was born 8 May 1810 in Tennessee, he who moved across the mountains in the wrong direction… eastward into the southern Appalachians of North Carolina (don’t most US people move west?).
My mother wanted to name me after my g-uncle Math (Matthew David Underwood) who was born 26 May 1887, but dad wouldn’t go along with it. If you read Uncle Math’s (partially completed) biography, you’ll understand why, that old prejudice against people with mental deficiencies. I never met Uncle Math, but my Grandpa told me many stories about him, so I have this deep affection for his memory. I’ll finish up that bio soon, I promise.
I look forward to hearing about all of you, like I do every week. I’ll be out-and-about this morning, but I’ll catch up like I usually do.
Enjoy the Chat!
