Of Patriots and Pioneers

A couple things:

1. I can't believe it's the end of July.  Where does the time go?  Father Time, that's what.  He's a tricky one, stealing and speeding time the way he does.  But it is the end of July.  This year is more than half way through.  And the month of Fireworks has come to a close: Independence Day and Pioneer Day.  The first I cherish; the second I tend to forget.

2. Today is Harry Potter's Birthday, in case you missed it and care.  For those who don't care I hope you had a delightful day, regardless, but Potter-ish things were afoot today, and I may have sneaked a few passages of reading a certain script during Church.  Naughty, I know.  You didn't take me for a rebel, did you?

Yup, I'm all kinds of rebel . . .

All I will say, for now, is that after reading the script I feel a little bad for choosing Team Valor in the Pokemon Go game.  Just a little bad.  Only a little.

 I do love Independence Day.  I spent that morning researching an ancestor who fought in the American Revaluation and found a treasure trove of information in the process.  Three pages of his account of the battles he was in, for pension purposes, scrolled out in delicate cursive, most of which I could make out. Brintnal (Brintnell) Robbins, born on March 22, 1756, who fought in the Concord portion of the battle at Lexington and Concord, the battles that started it all.

I went with my parents to the Colonial Days at Scera Park.  They had never been, and it had been a few years since I visited.  My brother Robbie and Lindsay joined us, and they had a good time.  It's like an interactive History lesson.

I love it.  I totally geeked out.

And then this happened.  That's not a bruise.  I was holding the program under my arm and the ink melted in the heat, so really I just found a new way to wear my patriotism.

And then there's Pioneer Day, which is a big deal in Utah, celebrating the pioneers who fled here, fleeing persecution.  I grew up in Central California where the only people who celebrated Pioneer Day were member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  In seminary it seemed every kid had pioneer stories to tell of their ancestors.  When it came time for me to share a story I said I had no Pioneer Heritage, so I was skipped.

The funny thing is, as I've begun working on my genealogy these last many years, I've found many possible distant cousins who are Mormon pioneers.  Joseph Smith is hypothetically my 5th cousin 7 times removed, though our "joining" ancestor is Thomas Gates born 1590, England.  Many names leading up to Thomas I'm quite unsure of, as there are sloppy genealogies all over the place, and I'm a natural skeptic, especially with genealogy.  I need proof and paperwork to believe I'm related to someone.

I don't know why it should matter if I have Pioneer heritage or not.  It shouldn't.  All members of the LDS church must discover and find their testimonies independently.  I appreciate the pioneers and their sacrifices.  It's funny, I do get a little annoyed when someone launches into some great story of their Pioneer heritage, and yet I have no problem declaring my pride for my ancestors who fought in the Revelation.  I read a few years ago that 1 in 10 Americans have ancestors who fought in the Revelation.  So I'm guilty of what I find annoying, or, technically, what I'm jealous of.

Not very virtuous of me.

Still, Summer is journeying on.  My Grandparents and Aunt were suppose to visit Mesquite NV this weekend, but it got up to 118 degrees there last Friday, so the trip was canceled.  Since experiencing humid Florida heat a couple months ago I haven't been bothered by dry 100+ Utah heat, which has been nice.  I'm just going to enjoy it.  Snow can be quite a bother at times.

Happy August.  You will be here in a few minutes.  It's 11:25 PM now.

I'm ready for this new month. 

Ready for the lessons it will teach me.

Time seems to rob so much from us, but he also gives, too.

Never forget that.