My Grandpa passed in 2018, but before doing so he had a super loyal dog named Ginger. She was a dachshund/Chihuahua mix, golden in color. Long body with a small little face.
My Grandpa adopted her, and she was traumatized by her first owner who was abusive. For the first few years her fear was apparent at times, freezing and shaking, but as time progressed she eased and relaxed.
Ginger was a good dog, perfect for my Grandfather, but there was a problem. She was the kind of dog that was fantastic with elderly people, but not at all good with kids. My nieces and nephew were quite young, and when there were adults around Ginger minded herself. When there were no adults around she ran and barked furiously at the kids, and as the kids ran into the house their faces were full of terror. Thanks to Ginger the kids became scared of all dogs.
I don't blame Ginger for this, as all dogs are different, and we don't know her previous experiences. Honestly I was upset with her at times as I'm super protective of the kiddos. It did pose a problem, though, for when my Grandpa would pass. We couldn't keep her, but we didn't know who to give her to. The pound was out of the question, as were other places. But we were afraid to take her to an adoption place, for worry she'd get adopted by a family with kids. Ginger needed an elderly couple, but how could we go about finding a good fit for her?
A couple days after my Grandpa passed, my Dad was playing and watching her in the backyard. Then, while my Dad was looking in the other direction, Ginger ran away and squeezed through a gap in the fence. She escaped and my Dad couldn't catch her. She never tried escaping before, so it was odd.
We didn't know what happened to her. Feared the worse. But after about two weeks we got a call. Ginger ran several blocks, and as she was crossing a major road with a lot of traffic, an elderly man rescued her. For over a week he couldn't get close to Ginger to see her tag, but she finally let him read the tag for our phone number.
We did get Ginger back for a few days, but called the man back, asking if he would like to take Ginger. He lived with his sister, both single, and they already had two other dogs. It seemed like a long shot, but perfect. He gladly agreed, and his sister claimed Ginger as her own, as the other dogs were her brothers. Ginger found the perfect family with two dogs she got along well with. Playmates, which she hadn't had, but needed.
God works in mysterious ways. Prayers are answered, sometimes quietly, so quietly we may miss them, but sometimes prayers are answered so loudly they refused to be missed. Signatures from the Lord bright and bold.
I'd like to think it was my Grandpa guiding and protecting Ginger to this family, as he was super worried about her fate.
Every now and then I see Ginger out on a walk, and she's happy. Living a full life as a loyal companion.
The interesting thing about doing family history is realizing one of the greatest resources for gathering stories and linking families: Pension war testimonies. War is sad, but historically the records kept during each American war are of great worth. And when an ancestor does give testimony, either for himself or another, there are true gems to be found. Gallant stories. Acts of heroism. Bringing to life a name on a family chart that would have otherwise blended in.
Ensign Brintnel Robbins is my 5th great-grandfather, born 1756 in Connecticut and died July 25, 1836, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He fought every chance he could during the revolutionary war, and when he wasn't marching/fighting he was making saltpeter.
On his gravestone it lists his battles of engagements as Concord, New London, White Plains, Rhode Island, Monmouth, Trenton, Valley Forge, etc. Each time Brintnel enlisted he was in his brother Captain Samuel Robbins company
His grave mentions Concord, but in his pension he talks about fighting in Lexington. Battles is plural, so I suppose he was at Lexington and Concord:
"I was engaged in the battles of Lexington, we had a good deal of Sharp Shooting we had to retreat at the first onset but we soon got more help, and the British Soldiers had to fly in turn, we had an old cannon - we put it on a waggon, we loaded it with broken metal pots, which the women carried us, then we got log chains and loaded it with them, we shot at the Soldiers from behind fences, and walls and every place where we could protect ourselves from their fire."
Then he talks about marching from New London to New York where the waited for General Washington to retreat from New York Island to White Plains.
"I was engages in the battle of the White Plains. The British were within a short distance of us, and were marching and maneuvering within sight of us all morning, and the American army were mostly entrenched and on high or elevated ground not far from White Plains, the firing commenced about 3 O'clock in the afternoon, there were a good many killed on both sides, during the engagement three musket balls passed through my hat, but I received no wound . . . After the battle we were marched to North Castle where we lay for some time, and General Washington crossed the North River with part of the army and marched to a place called Fort Lee, which the British soon afterwards captured, they also captured Fort Washington about the same time, the company that I belonged to was dismissed at North Castle."
And later, with another enlistment:
"I was marched to Rhode Island and was engaged in the battle that was fought about 2 miles from the city of New Port, in or about the last of August of that year, General Sulivan was our commanding officer & General Tyler was there also. We got defeated and had to retreat by the north end of the Island. The enemy pursued us close and we had to face about and try them another spell, and we soon had hot work of it, we were constantly under arms for three days and three nights in succession, we got off the island in the night in boats and every way we could. General Lafayette was at this place, but not in the battle, we crossed Kings Bridge and the British did not pursue us any further."
There's some more, but these were the more exciting parts. At the end of the testimony he declares he was never wounded, despite "4 hard fought battles and a number of skirmishes," which is amazing.
One of the reasons I love studying family history is because it brings history alive and makes it personal, giving a different perspective than what is presented in history books. History is exciting! Tragic. Crazy. But none of us would be here now if these things didn't happen, and it's good to be aware.
Someday I hope to visit the east coast, so the places by ancestors lived and even fought, as I have several ancestors in the Revolution, War of 1812, and the Civil War, Gettysburg included.
Study your family history. You never know what tales you may unfold.
My Mom was going through some old papers when she found one she wrote about me when I was really young. It was fun to read, and shows how I've always had music and dance in my soul :0)
"Before Sarah could walk she liked to kick her feet. Her mommy would hold her arms so she would not fall. Her tiny little feet made a tiny little dance.
"One day Sarah and her mommy and daddy were visiting Sarah's great granny and grandpa's house. There was lots of family there, because it was granny's birthday.
"Everyone liked to hold Sarah, because she was such a sweet bundle of joy. Her daddy told everyone there: 'did you know that Sarah could dance?' Sarah's granny, and grandma, and great aunt said: 'Oh how wonderful.' But Sarah's aunt Krissy said: 'How can that be. She can't even walk.' Sarah's daddy replied: 'You do not need to walk to dance.' Then daddy walked over and picked up Sarah. he held her arms and there went the feet tapping and kicking in perfect rhythm. Aunt Krissy said: 'You're right she can dance.'"
On October 9th, hanging out at LAX, my brother, sister-in-law, and I decided we desperately needed real food, after enduring that weird stuff on the plane. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it had a lemonade theme, very California, and is in the Delta terminal. I write this because of something that happened. Something probably not worth mentioning, but it's actually been on my mind, and has me contemplating stuff.
When I was in line I first got the broccoli salad and some couscous something or other, and then I decided to get the Salmon. (Insert here, the salmon is cold, but cooked, just to warn you.) But it was taking forever for them to get me the salmon. So I stood and stood while Michael and Krista moved ahead, bought their food, and went to sit down. I was still waiting for the salmon.
After I got it and moved ahead, my eye caught a glimpse of the chocolate cake, and after spending a week in Japan finding difficulty eating stuff, the chocolate cake looked mighty good.
I passed it, and then turned around to get another look, deciding whether the cake was truly worth it. But when I turned around I couldn't see it. Someone was standing right behind me, close, blocking my view. Some guy wearing a purple shirt, a button up dress shirt I believe, and instead I stared at the wall gathering my thoughts. Mainly because I was shocked. But also because of what I was feeling.
I felt that zing. That something. That feeling where you feel molecules move. A feeling I haven't felt in a very, very long time. And it surprised me. And that made me nervous and self conscious. So I stared ahead, afraid to look up. I inquired then to the gal at the counter about the chocolate cake, saying something about we all needing a little cake in our lives, or something like that, and then she handed it to me and I faced the direction of the registers.
I couldn't look up to see who the guy was, so I decided I would walk up to the register and causally glance back, unassuming, and sneak a peak then. But when I got to the counter and looked back, who ever it was was gone.
So it's a mystery.
But, even though it's strange, I'm thankful. Thankful because I haven't been next to a guy in a very long time and felt that. I know this sounds kind of pathetic! But you have to understand my circumstances. When I moved to Utah I joined a singles ward, 19 with the average age around 27. Then when I got to be 27 the singles ward I was then in became young, the average age around 22. And now I'm in the mid-singles ward, and it seems like there's 3-4 girls to every guy. I've given up on love. I didn't realize how much I have truly given up on it.
And for a moment I felt hope.
And I hope now that I may feel it again.
So many girls my age have given up, but I know I can't. Man it's painful, my chest hurts writing this, but I have to cling onto hope. In this modern World so many girls have given up having a family for other pursuits. But I feel there's nothing wrong with wanting a family. Call me old fashioned, because I am. Unashamedly so.
And then this all reminded me of something. See, there's a lot of divorce in my extended family. I have one aunt whose been married seven or so times. And many of my cousins come from broken homes. My Mom's parents divorced, at no fault of my Grandmother, when my Mom was 13. I've learned so much from those around me.
But when I think of my Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, Granny and Gramps, theirs is the greatest love story I've even seen. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and more. It was a special event. There was a huge party. And they deeply loved each other till the very end.
Then after my Gramps passed away I sat down and read his life story that he wrote out with his hand, and I read something that amazed me. "I saw Welma again at the Sheridon store one night and later the neighborhood kids had a party at the store upstairs. Still my heart didn't flip flop. She was just one of the girls." And that's how the greatest love story I've ever seen got started. No flip flops. And I listened to an interview my Mom and Grandma gave my Granny on cassette tape a few years ago. She mentioned she didn't feel any pitter patter when she first saw my Gramps! He was just one of the guys.
I sometimes think modern society gets love all wrong. We think it's all about the flip flops and the pitter patters, but it's not. Those come, but what makes a marriage successful involves so many things. Marriage is complex, and yet simple. Ups, downs, and the in between.
And once again one of the greatest lessons I've learned is thanks to my Great-grandparents. I heard a lady asked once how she kept her marriage together, and she responded, "Back in my day when it was broke we fixed it."
We really need to learn from those who have come before.
This is my last Disneyland post chronicling my recent trip to the Magic Kingdom. I've somehow managed to create about seven blog posts out of just that one day visit. Can you imagine how many posts I'd create if I stayed several days, or a week at Disney World? The possibilities! (I've never been to Disney World; someday I'll make it). I've been to Disneyland so many times over the years I'm well into 30-40+ visits. I've lost track. So doing anything new at the park is a wonder, which made this visit all the more special as I got to experience many firsts.
Starting out my family was Mickey's "Guest of the Park," getting a special badge, free parking, and a special parking spot. Below are some more, new aspects to Disneyland/California Adventures.
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues opened Summer 2011 with sparkly 3-D and many ride combinations. Taken from Wikipedia: "There are eleven random segments of the film (two opening segments,
three primary destination segments, three hologram message segments, and
three ending destination segments; when combined, they allow 54
different possible ride experiences.) which are presented in the ride."
The Original Star Tours, which opened in 1987 and was my first exposure to Star Wars, was getting a little boring, though I will always remember it was great fondness. As fun as the new ride is, I miss those robots! The father and son robot team you hear talking in the line and the ships pilot. Well, whenever I feel nostalgic I can listen to the original via "Star Wars: An Audio Retrospect" which came with this book I got . . . "I know this is probably your first flight and it's . . . mine too." That never got old. Poor Rex got his memory erased after each flight! You can read the original script here.
California Adventure, at Disneyland, opened World of Color in June 2010. I had heard so much about this show, seeing videos and watching behind the scenes, that I couldn't wait to finally see the show 2 years after it's opening. Long time waiting, but it really is amazing. Tip: make sure the first thing you do when you get to the park is get a World of Color Fast Past. Fast Past's are typically used for rides, but here they use it for seating sections. The sooner you get your fast past, the better the section. You can find it by heading through Condor Flats to the Grizzly area. Unfortunately my family learned the hard way and got our ticket early afternoon. The standing area wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic. The show itself? Wonderful! And worth the wait. Now they need to do this Fast Past section thing with Fanstasmic.
I wrote two separate blog posts on this, which shows how excited I was with visiting Radiator Springs and riding the ride. So amazing! The Radiator Speed Racers is currently my favorite ride, gasp, even over Star Tours . . . until they open Indiana Jones again after refurbishing and small updating.
I love the Little Mermaid and always wished she had her own ride, and now she has one! The movie is one of my favorites. Disney's Golden Age of animation started in 1928, but this film launched the Disney Renaissance in 1989 which lasted till 2000. I'll never forget going to the theater to see The Little Mermaid. My family was visiting my grandparents and we went to a nice theater in Riverside CA. The place was covered in Little Mermaid decorations, and they gave out prizes before our showing. It was a big deal!! And the movie changed my life.
Talking about 1928, California Adventure got a face lift to reflect this golden age of Hollywood. It was in 1928 when Disney came to Hollywood, and the front of the park was made to reflect that. I love old California architecture, and I love art deco, so the change is nice.
Grizzly River Run opened when California Adventure did, but somehow I've never managed to ride it. That might have something to do with Magic Mountain. Back in middle-school I went on their rafting ride, first thing, and spent the entire day soaked. Not fun, but the Grizzly ride was fun, and I didn't get too wet, which is really quite lucky.
Soarin' Over California is one of my favorites, but my brother Steven hadn't been, so this was his first time. I would buy potpourri of that pine and orange scent they mist during the ride. It smells like California. Growing up in Central California . . . it's lucky they didn't do cow smell . . . (Talure County CA reference, which is the County I lived in . . . I heard once there were more cows then people.)
First time I tried this cake! There's this amazing, crunchy hazelnut thing going on at the bottom. Plaza Inn, 'nuff said.
I was waiting in line for It's a Small World when everything got really dark, all lights going out dark, and suddenly Nutcracker music started playing as colored projections shined on the ride's facade, giving us a little show. So unexpected and cool.
And it's the first time I've seen Sleeping Beauty's castle look like this. Enchanting.
Disneyland,
New Orleans Square, afternoonish, 11-16-2012: I was at the Pin Trading
store in New Orleans looking through the latest collection. If
anyone's been to Disneyland in the last several years, it's a pretty
well known fact that pin trading/collecting is quite popular in the
Magic Kingdom. It's my souvenir of choice. They're not too cheap, but
cheaper then most things, and the pins are small, so you don't have to
lug something around all day, considering you choose not to rent a
locker, which comes highly recommended.
Anyhoo,
so I was looking through the pins when I found a cloaked hooded Mickey,
all by himself and clearly out of place, staring at me. A little
giggle started to grow within as excitement bubbled forth. "Mom!" I
quickly shouted, and showed her the little treasure. She looked it
over, not impressed. "We have to get it for Steven," I said, and she
simply asked why. "Because," I continued, "It's Kingdom Hearts
Mickey!" She still looked a little puzzled as she shifted through
Cinderella pins. "It's his favorite game," a said simply. "If there is
one thing, One thing he would want in this park, this is it. Trust me,
he would want it." She debated a little with me, but I continued to
insist that Steven would love it, and so it was bought.
I
tried to find one for myself, because, honestly, it's a cool pin. I
haven't played the game myself, as it seems to be the way with me these
days. He plays the games (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Uncharted,
etc) and I waltz downstairs to inquire after the plot and watch recently
unlocked scenes. Then I geek over the music. I love game music. Utada
Hikaru has written two great songs for Kingdom Hearts: Hikari and
Passion. Oh, and the Piano Collection to Final Fantasy X and X-2 are
simply gorgous. Steven bought me the CD's and Sheet music while in
Japan (well, X-2 is mine, he claims X, but I get shared joy in
borrowing.)
I'm off topic!!
About
an hour later my Mom and I joined up with my bros Steven and Robbie.
They were off riding rides (namely Star Tours an extra time) while my
Mom and I did "girly stuff."
Steven
was super excited and declared, "You'll never guess what I found!" He
pulled out a small white bag, and I knew immediately what was inside.
"It's a Kingdom Heart Mickey pin, isn't it?" I asked, and his face fell a little.
"How did you know?"
"Mom
and I got you one," I laughed, and I showed it to him. Ha! So now I
have a Kingdom Hearts Mickey pin of my own, and my little Disney pin
collection continues to grow a little more epic.
When I was young, pre-kindagarden young, my family lived only 8 miles
from Disneyland. My parents had friends who worked inside the park, so we visited many times during those short years. At an early age I was introduced to Ragtime music next to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream parlor on Main-street USA, Jazz in New Orleans, and barbershop quartets. Not to mention all the countless parades (the electrical parade was in its prime back then.) Then there was the Plaza Inn stage located close to the mouth of the castle leading into Fantasyland. Schools and groups performed there, and there was a space between the stage and seats where kids would get up and dance. Next to that stage I did a fair share of dancing as a little tyke.
One of the joys for me when visiting Disneyland are the surprise performances, especially in New Orleans. On busy days you can hear Jazz music about every 15-30 minutes, and once they even had tap dancers (which is a soft spot for me, because tap will always by my favorite genre of dance.) Disneyland helped influence my love of music beyond the popular, and for that I am thankful :0)
Last night was a night out with the family, and we dominated in laser tag!
The first time I ever played laser tag was at the Adventure Dome in Circus Circus hotel and casino, Las Vegas. Back then it was called Grand Slam Canyon, and we went right after it opened in 1993, almost 20 years ago!!! I feel old . . . I don't know how many rounds we played; the line was long, but we waited anyway. It was so much fun. My family was addicted.
There weren't any laser tag opportunities in Porterville CA, maybe Bakersfield or Fresno had them, but the Internet was a growing beast back then. It still is a crazy, growing beast. When my family moved to Utah in 2001, we were excited to see there were quite a few places here that had laser tag arenas. It's really exploded these last couple years; practically every type of fun center has a laser tag, and there's a lot of fun centers here. We're a family/college town, after all.
The two games that I played my team won, and I didn't do half bad myself. This last year my groove was rocked a little, because my shot was off, so I always managed to rank low on the list. But last night I tried a new strategy. Usually I stake out an area and stay put, but last night I roamed and sought out enemy territory. And since it was super busy, the full arena was opened up, so it was fun exploring. The first game I ranked #9 overall out of 41 players and #5 on the team. And the second game I got #11 out of 43 players and #2 on the team. Never got that high before! My brothers are really good players, so they usually beat me. And my Dad always seems to place in the top couple places.
Having a whole lot of fun, Sarah :0)
(My shameless plug: There's an amazing activities program here in Utah called the Utah Pass of all Passes.
It's incredible, and if you live in northern Utah and don't have a
pass, then you're missing out. For those interested, it's still $32.00
with tax on citydeals,
and at kiosks located at the University Mall in Orem, and South Towne
Mall in Sandy. For a full year I get unlimited games in the largest
laser tag arena in Utah, unlimited mini golf, Ice Skating during certain
times of the year, shoe rental not free, bowling, once again shoe rental not free, and a whole lot of sports. Plus they just added a location in Draper called Planet Play
that has unlimited mini golf, mini bowling, laser tag, and go-karts for
only a $1 each time you visit. Oh, and unlimited access to the water parks in the
summer. There's this bird place
that's free on Mondays that I want to check out. Rocky Mountain
Raceways. Real Salt Lake Soccer. Etc. All for $30. It sounds too good
to be true, but it's not. Get the pass if you live here! You wont
regret it. It pays for itself and then some.
I only write this because we had two family friends with us last night who didn't have a pass of all passes. 3 games total cost $18. It adds up, and we felt really bad for them. My Mom helped them get the Utah passes, so unlimited laser tag for a year! We're not waiting long to go again)
I'm a Disneyland freak. A pretty huge one in fact. My whole family is, but then is there anyone out there who isn't? Disneyland is a pretty awesome place. Last month while visiting our Grandfather, we decided to reserve one day for a quick visit to the happiest place on Earth. Ventura is only a couple hours away, which means we did the wake up early and get home around 3 a.m. deal.
Traffic in Southern California is never fun to navigate, but we must have over planned, because we got to the park an hour early. That was a good thing! When we pulled into the parking garage, we went to the far left ticket booth. I was sitting in the passenger seat, $20 bill hanging out the window several feat before we got there. I was excited!! Then this really nice guy said to the other worker "I've got this." And then he told us we didn't have to pay for parking, and that we were Mickey's guest for the day. He grabbed several buttons, hopped in a cart, and we followed him to Pinocchio's parking.
With all the gazillion times we've been to Disneyland, nothing like this has ever happened before. We didn't even know this sort of thing happened at all. He gave us buttons indicating we were honorary citizens of Disneyland (this I really geeked over). So after all that we had to give this nice gentlemen a hug!
It was amazing, really. Disneyland sure knows how to make people feel special. It's that Disney magic, after all. And we wore the buttons the whole day! What's fun about Disneyland is how they give out buttons to people, and there's a huge assortment of buttons they give. The one we got must have been rare, because during the entire day, hopping between Disneyland and California Adventures, I only saw one other person wearing it. So cool, and memories forever made:0)
About a couple years back my brothers, Steven and Robbie, and I had a fun-filled day at Magic Mountain California. It's one of those places where I find myself wishing I'd stick with contacts and stop defaulting to glasses, because roller coasters are not glasses friendly. Steven learned that the hard way.
It was towards the end of the day, an hour till closing, when we decided to ride Goliath. I had already decided to wear my glasses for this ride. As we were climbing the first hill of the coaster my brothers, Robbie sitting next to me and Steven positioned in the seat in front of him, were passing the time playing a rousing game of Jyan Ken Poo (Jan Ken Pon/Poi, or translated "rock, paper, scissors).
I was looking around admiring the view when I heard my name called. I looked at Steven and he was pointing at his face, glasses free. I thought he was trying to tell me that he took off his glasses, turns out he bumped his glasses off and they fell to the trees below. We then spent 2 hours at the lost and found, no luck, and then several hours the next day at the Ventura mall waiting for Steven's new pair of glasses to be made. Ah! Lesson learned. Rock, paper, scissors is a dangerous sport.
(My brother just sat down at my laptop to write this part, wanting to set the record straight.)
(Here is the experience in Steven's own words: "It was a fine day at Six Flag's Magic Mountain. A place that I have particularly enjoyed since mine own childhood. Since coming home from serving a mission in Japan, I had picked up a few new ways to pass time. Jyan-Ken-Poo, or the Japanese version of Rock Paper Scissors (wow that's a spelling mistake waiting to happen) Just happened to be the perfect solution to waiting in line for a few moments of roller coaster bliss. I taught the game to my brother Robbie and we spent the day with people staring at us with wonder and awe while others had only wished that we had stopped. Sarah just so happened to be one of those people. I'm sure you can only take "Saisho Guu!" so many times. "The day was also spent with an epic conversation about glasses. Sarah had insisted for most of the rides that wearing them was not the brightest of ideas. I defended, stating that I have never had a problem before, and I was not about to start. As the day was coming to a close, we decided to ride Golieth, a particular favorite of mine, if not my all time favorite roller coaster. As expected, Robbie and I played Rock Paper Scissors while waiting. It was finally our turn to ride. Robbie and Sarah sat together, as I sat directly in front of Robbie. While we were making that first epic climb up to the top of the coaster I hear Robbie yell "Saisho Guu!" That beautiful initiation call to battle, and without hesitation I gave the courageous reply "Jyan-Ken-Poo!" and swiftly thrusted my fist into the air barely knocking the edge of my glasses as I went. "That knock, however, was a one-hit Fatal Blow that ended it all. My glasses flailed in the wind and fell to the trees below. Try as we did the frames could not be recovered and thus ends the tale of Jan-Ken and the Glasses.")
In truth Japanese rock, paper, scissors is quite fun to play, and wonderfully epic. Of course they invented the game back during the Edo period (about 19th century). Now the game is used for a whole lot of reasons: passing time, determining who cleans what, deciding order, etc. Somehow they can play the game with a room full of people and whittle down to a single winner within a minute.
Below are several groups, different ages, playing Jan Ken Pon. There's a long introduction by the Australian host:
Here's my brothers explanation on how to play the game. There's several variations, but this is the one he was taught.
The Basic Script
Saisho gu
Jyan ken poo (Jan ken pon)
Aikode-sho
(and a bonus game Acchi-muitte-hoo!)
Translation
First comes Rock!
Then sword and paper!
It's a tie
(You're gonna look that way!)
The video shows a couple variations, but in the version I was taught, by my bro, everyone says "Saisho-gu," and on "gu" everybody throws down "rock" to get the game going. Then everyone says "Jan Ken Pon" and on "Poo/Pon/Poi," depending on preference, everyone throws down what they wish (rock, paper, scissors). If you're playing with a group, those who lost go into their own game to determine 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc, place. And winners keep playing with each other. If there's a tie everyone involved says "Aikode-sho," with "sho" being the word in which you throw down your next choice. If there's another tie, you keep repeating this step until there isn't a tie.
You keep playing all the way through until there is a winner.
There is a mini game option if you wish to play with a decided, obvious winner. After someone wins a round of Jan Ken Po, the winner says "Acchi-muitte-hoo!" and on "hoo!" they point their finger in one of four directions (up, down, left, and right), and the loser looks either up, down, left or right. If the loser looks in the direction the winner points, then the winner is the overall winner. If the loser looks in a different direction, the whole game starts all over with Jan Ken Pon. This can go on for quite a while until someone wins both games (rock, paper, scissors and the looking game) in a row. It's pretty funny to watch.
I hope I explained that right, and this could be different then what a native teaches, since there are a few variations, and it's different in different regions, but it's a lot of fun.
Of course if you're too cool for Jan Ken Pon, there's always the geek version "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock:"
Leave it to the Big Band Theory to introduce us to this
scissors cuts paper
paper covers rock
rock crushes lizard
lizard poisons Spock
spock smashes scissors
scissors decapitates lizard
lizard eats paper
paper disproves Spock
Spock vaporizes rock
and—as it always has—rock crushes scissors
And this is for the clinically insane. Looking at this chart makes my brain hurt! So, I guess if someone can figure this out and memorize it, it makes them a genius. Good luck finding someone to play with!!
On the way home from California we stayed at the Virgin River hotel in Mesquite Nevada. It's very affordable, and located around the midway point on the long 12-13 hour drive to California or back. This time around we got some visitors in our hotel room: Crickets. I've never seen one before, but the chirping sound this little guy was making brought us easily to his location, which was next to the door. Another cricket ended up in our room that night, but thankfully it chirped very little. The sound of crickets at night is quite romantic, but boy they are ugly.
So a couple days ago I was in the car with my Mom and brother Steven, who was sitting in the back seat. He made a startled sound. On his backpack was a large, tan colored praying mantis who had climbed up to let Steven know it was there. My Mom rolled down the winder, and the mantis flew up, waiting for the window to be completely lowered. Then it flew out of the window . . . where it hopefully wasn't squashed by a car.
How many times have you found a fly in your car buzzing every which way? I have many times, and no matter how many of the windows are down, the fly magically manages to bounce off every surface, except where the window is down. Fly's . . . Mantis, on the other hand, are a little more aware.
Last Summer I became obsessed with Ancestry.com. The show "Who Do You Think You Are" helped with that, because I wanted to find historical stories that my family's connected to. So on the Internet I went, and a few months later I came up for air.
During that time I found a lot of ancestors, but the further back I got, the more questions would pop up. The problem? I was pulling from the research of other people, and the more people who are involved, and the more research being done, the more opportunity there is for disagreement and misinformation. Now and then I would look at census records, but I was more concerned with how far back I could get without a thought of proving any of those names, or whether parents and great-grandparents of any name I was looking into were even right. How many John Smiths are there? And how do you know if that John Smith belongs to you or not?
So in the end I've managed to find a bunch of ancestors, 697 of them, complete with stories and pictures, that I may or may not actually be connected to. But the problem is emotional investment! There are individuals currently sitting happily on my tree that I've grown to love, and I don't want to push them off only to be replaced.
These particular individuals I lovingly call Hypothetical Ancestors. I'm hypothetically related to them until further research is done to clarify or disprove the fact.
One such individual is a man by the name of James Patrick (1730 Virginia -1835 Kentucky). Just looking at those dates makes you want to scratch your head. Hypothetically I come into his line through his hypothetical grand-daughter Mary Polly Patrick who married a Richard H. Stufflebeam, and her father was a Hugh Patrick. Tracing a Stufflebeam line isn't terribly hard. How many Stufflebeam's do you know? I had to prove to google that Stufflebeam was a real surname! They didn't believe me at first. The problem comes from the way census records were kept in the 1700's and 1800's. Head of households were mentioned, but the names of those living with the head of house, plus relationships were left out. That makes tracking difficult. So there is much debate on whether Mary, Hugh, and James are Grand-Daughter, Son, and Father/Grandfather.
Why do I even care? Because James Patrick was heavily involved in the Revolutionary War, and claims in his pensions that he knew President George Washington long before the Rev. War, having fought with him in Braddock's Defeat near Fort Duquesne, and he served as one of Washington's scouts during the French and Indian War. Then during the Revolution James was in and out of the war, constantly reenlisting, First joining March 2, 1776, and the last time February 12, 1781, with many enlistments in between. It would be cool if I could call him my 5th Great-Grandfather, but I don't think I'll ever find the proof to do so.
I can just hear all the true genealogist moaning out there! Oh the sloppiness of my research! It has been sloppy, and now I must start back with myself and question everything.
(Day 45 of the 365 day photo challenge 02-16-2012)
This quote is found on the side of the Idaho Utah Map store, which, after living here 10 years, I finally checked out! It's amazing how many gems exist here that I've never even bothered with. It's such a fun place! The maps are interesting, and the lower level is nothing but toys and learning material. Also, I love this quote. Ralph Waldo Emerson is my 4th cousin, 10 times removed. The only famous individual I can find any claim to. I like to think my love of writing poetry stems from my connection to him.
(Day 46 of the 365 day photo challenge 02-17-2012)
I was practicing my 5k training, which, on this date, I was keeping up quite well . . . currently I have slacked a little. This was taken underneath the bleachers at a football field. The angle is interesting, and I love the light and shadows.
(Day 47 of the 365 day photo challenge 02-18-2012)
I attending this event, and it was quite enjoyable. I'll write about it in a blog post tomorrow, my thoughts on Austenland, and how I feel about book signings in general.
(Day 48 of the 365 day photo challenge 02-19-2012)
This is a picture of my Great-Great Grandmother's Angeline Dee's autograph book. I was over at my Grandma's working on genealogy, and decided it was about time I photograph the pages. Unfortunately the battery died in the middle of this endever, so I need to return and finish the job. Here are a couple of the pages:
(Written June 24, 1889)
(Written June 24, 1892)
I really, really want to know the stories behind what is written on the left side of the second photo. Whatever it was, those would have been fantastic stories. What was the "note" that was passed around at a party? And something about a braw??!! If pages could unleash their secrets.
I thought it would be fun every Sunday to share some of the things I'm finding in my families genealogy. Below is a poem my Great Grandfather wrote about a trip he took. He even got it published in the newspaper around 1926. Below was what was published:
Lizzie's Last Run
(Forest Emerson, who went to California two months ago with Ray Ebersole, Charles Walker, and Burton Whalin in a Ford, gives his version of a perlious trip--no they were in the Ford, but he tells about it in poetry.)
Coming down the mountain, there is lots to be told,
About a Ford with brakes that wouldn't hold.
And this is what I want to tell thee--
Razz ran her up against a big tree.
Lizzie sure did look awfully sad.
With the front end smashed up pretty bad.
We took all five tires,
Spark plugs and even the wires.
We took the lights, I'd hope to shout,
But not the connecting rods, because they were burned out.
Then some other things we didn't want anybody to steal,
Were the radiator and guide wheel.
So, we brought everything with us,
In the back of Clifford's bus.
So now she lays with a broken heart,
You can crank but she will never start.
Because we never left a single coil,
Not even gas, but all the oil.
If we only had a car with brakes that would hold,
This story to you would never have been told.
~Forrest Emerson.
(Picture of the Ford)
He was 18 when he traveled from Toledo Iowa to California with three of his friends, and this story is of a random side trip he was talked into up to Oregon and back. The Ford crashed on the way back.
