Christmas (Holiday) Lights

Genealogy Verifications

It's nine o'clock on a Sunday morning...  Bertrando, the squirrel, has been on top of his telephone pole twice this morning, eating walnuts that we put out for him - and it's snowing, again.  Before dawn, we had a a combination of rain and sleet fall, as I heard it hitting my window; now it's just snowing.  It started out with tiny flake, and, in the past fifteen minutes, the flakes have gradually increased in size.  I spent 70 minutes putting up the Christmas lights yesterday morning, so they are up and I don't have to think about them again until a few days after New Year; then I'll take them back down.
   I've been working on my family tree again, thanks to my cousin Brian and his interest in the family.  My old PC crashed and I couldn't recover the family tree, so I've been re-examining it and trying to double check what I had put down as fact previously.  I found a sticking point earlier this week, and am just going to work around it for the moment.  I was following my Washburn family line back, and discovered discrepancies that I could not accept, looking at my old records, and preparing to put them in the new ones. My Grandma Grace's grandmother was Lucinda Washburn, daughter of Lewis Washburn and Nancy Moore.  Lewis is the son of Benjamin Bartlett Washburn and Dorcas Hall, and Lewis' first son was also named Benjamin Bartlett Washburn.  I was surprised to read that Nancy Moore's maternal great-grandfather was George Washington's "brother, Col. William Washington."  Wrong.  The man's name was William Washington, but he was a distant cousin (5 generations back) to President George Washington.  I was eventually able to trace the Washington family back to the 1200s in England.
   But Benjamin B. Washburn is another story...  Apparently I fell into the easy theory that a lot of other folks have followed:  That Benjamin was the son of land speculator John Washburn, who was born in Connecticut, and then moved to Culpeper County, Virginia.  John Washburn married Sussanah Suchy, and they had multiple children; some of the children's birth dates are recorded, others aren't.  John and Susannah had a son named Benjamin, who married, and moved to Shelby County, Kentucky.  He was born in 1852.  After much digging, I found that John and Susannah's son Benjamin had the middle name of Austin - not Bartlett.  The birth and death dates did not match, nor did the place of death....  So I'm back seeking the father and mother of Benjamin Bartlett Washburn.        That's one of the joys (and aggravations) of doing genealogy on the web - there are such a great number of sources of information to be found and used.  But do not completely trust someone else's research - I've seen more than 50 people who have my Benjamin B. Washburn listed as the son of parents who do not belong to him...  Keep seeking the truth!

This 'N' That

Sitting at my desk, looking out the window, and watching Bertrando, our favorite squirrel sunning himself on top of the telephone pole between Lumine and Chez Thuy.  Another squirrel has ascended the pole, and now they're playing chase, twining up and down the pole.  The ravens feasted well yesterday, but I haven't yet seen them today.  They are probably visiting the Outback Grill and Saloon which shares a dumpster with Pizza Hut.  My cats are curled up in my bed.
   I had one of my crazy dreams this morning - I was a pre-teen, at home with my folks, and my eyes were tested at school.  I was told I needed glasses and the school would "take care of it."  A week or so later, a package arrived at the house, addressed to me, and I was very excited!  I opened it up, and became quite still.  There was a pair of thick glasses, in the old cats-eye shape, in heavy plastic frames that were swirled pink and white colors.  I burst into tears.  My parents reached further inside the box, and found a bill for $13,668.00....   We were all astounded.  Then the image faded away and I awoke.   Why $13,668?  And Mom and Dad discovered I couldn't see things at a distance and I went to a Navy optometrist, and got my new first pair of glasses when I was eleven.  They were black rimmed ovals....    Weird.
    Mike came over and put up the 18-foot-long rope of multi-colored lights yesterday - it outlines our sliding glass door on the balcony.  I need to put up the blue and white icicle lights and the bright twinklers today, before we get more snow.  I think we'll buy our Christmas tree between today and Monday...  and we hope to go see the Blossoms of Light Festival at the Denver Botanic Gardens either Sunday or Monday night.  I'll spend this evening with Rosie, the Irish Setter, as her owners are going out for dinner tonight.
    Thunder, the mascot of the Denver Broncos, a grey Arabian, has been named the Grand Marshall for the Great National Western Stock Show parade next month.  That's a hoot! - A horse as Grand Marshall....
   And my distant cousin Patti Martin, who lives in Idaho, just sent me one of the most fantastic presents I could ever receive - a hand-made cap and gloves in the orange and blue colors of both the Florida Gators (my university) and the Denver Broncos....   I will wear them to the Blossom of Lights Festival!
   We're expecting a high of almost 50 degrees today, after a high Thursday of 10....  Snow is in the forecast for five days of the next week.  As always, we'll see what actually happens...