Time Traveller

I am a time voyager...I travel almost every day, researching family lines. The past..why do I search? Perhaps it holds truths to the present and future. I wonder about the people that ate off the antique plates and stirred with the spoons that are stored in my cupboards ~I wonder about the lips that have touched the glasses and cups that I use every day~ I strain to listen, hoping to catch a faint ghostly uttering of what was discussed over the mashed potatoes and gravy boat so long ago. I wonder if the creak I hear in this old chair is the same creak my great grandmother heard under her long, black skirt or if she found the tick tock of her old kitchen mantel clock as soothing as I do. I wonder about how it felt to live in that big old farmhouse when it was first built and I realize that nothing in these old trunks smelled musty when they were newly tucked away. It makes me long for the past~ to briefly be in the presence of my ancestors~just for a little while to get the feel of their lives. Did they ever wonder about me? I feel I know them~I stare at their photos, I lie awake at night and imagine them moving about in their daily lives. I search through old photos and hope that I will perhaps someday have a revelation about the identity of the nameless faces that have been kept boxed for over 100 years. Many long hours are spent endlessly researching with cousins and newly found friends as we passionately seek the secrets of our family ties..some things we find we just keep to ourselves...too complicated to tell the others~too hurtful to tell some~relationships too overwhelmingly complex to share in a short email with relatives that just don't have the time to take it all in. And then there are some stories that are just truly myths, but have been so believed for so long that we will never have the heart to dispel. Yes, I travel to the past in my mind.

Fallin' for the Amish in Southern Indiana

Last weekend was a wonderful autumn time in Paoli, Orange County, Indiana. The afternoon on Friday was spent at the court house going through the old, old marriage records of the family. Huge books with the weight of boat anchors, filled with beautiful calligraphy from the 1800's.
Friday night~ full of dancing and music during the Pumpkin Festival in French Lick. Many bands in outdoor venue tents scattered along the streets. KennyRogersLookAlikeBeforeThePlasticSurgeryWentWrong's cousin Bobby Easterday and the Heritage Band played into the night. It was the last band still standing. I was not always standing during the evening, however. When they played 'Wipe Out' I had to get up and dance 'the bird'! Kind of a throw back to high school. Well, I didn't realize I had been sitting too long and didn't have my sea legs or dance legs! Well, one wild gyration led to another and just as KennyRogersblahblahblah turned around to grab my hand to twirl me....I went down! Which is not unusual if you know me at all. How embarrassing..I felt like a beached whale..KennyRogers****picked me up with the help of Bobby's girlfriend and I continued on dancing wildly. I know how to fall and I obviously have enough 'padding' to withstand a blow to the floor!
The next morning we were awakened by a clip clop sound. Very unusual to me, being as we were staying with Aunt Margie and she lives in a little neighborhood in town. I looked out the front door and saw Amish buggies going down the street. We quickly threw on our clothes and followed the parade. They were going to an auction 4 doors down the street. I'd never been to an auction and I'd never been that close to the old order Amish before~to hang with them...er well, I stood with them~is more like it! I was fascinated and intrigued. Would have liked to ask them lots of questions and would have loved to follow them home and have some fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy and corn and green beans. Bet they would have an apple pie for dessert,too. Made me kinda wish for the plain life. Think I could go for that right now. Isn't it a great thing that we can have diverse lifestyles in this country?