IF YOU CAN'T GET UNDER IT....

Have you heard of serendipity...the accidental discovery of something wonderful? Emphasis on the accidental aspect of the discovery. This has been a time of some serendipitous events as well as serendipitous memories and experiences.

Genealogy has been my passion since I was twelve. I've done research for hundreds of names in both the Whitby lines and the Kennedy lines. It's a fulfilling hobby--rich in choice experiences. The past week or so, I've been sprucing up some information, so that I can send it to Dad's cousin who is writing a book on Dad's maternal line--the Perkins family. In combining our two sets of information, I've had some serendipitous reminders of why genealogy is sooo addicting. The Perkins were a hard-working, tough lot of miners who immigrated from the coal mines of Aberford, Yorkshire, England to the quartz mines of Montana where they became ranchers and farmers and prison guards. As I've entered their names into my database, I've felt their presence...in the sense that I've been able to envision their homes, their ranches, their love for the land. One lady wrote that they would have starved to death as children had it not been for their aunts and uncles bringing them food from their gardens. I've felt an overwhelming love for these true pioneers. I've become acquainted--slightly--with an English lady, Sally Popplestone, who has sent me pages of information and delighted me with her wit. Serendipitous indeed....

Just a week or two ago, at church, a lady sat down in the pew in front of me, handing me a small, purse-size notebook. She asked, with a smile, "Remember this? I've had it in my car for three years now. I found it in your desk at school and have meant to bring it to you, and I finally remembered it today." The small notebook was my Thought Book. Every day, throughout most of my teaching career, I wrote a thought for the day on the board for my students. The question most often asked me by students coming back to visit was, "Do you still put up a thought for the day?" I've collected small poems and sayings, again, since I was 11 or 12. What a choice experience to browse through my old notebook. Here's just one week's entries under the title: "Things we can Learn from

Children"

Nobody can pedal the bike for you

If you wait until you're really sure, you'll never take off your training wheels.

Nobody notices when your zipper is up, but everybody knows when your zipper is down.

Sometimes you have to take the test before you're finished studying.

If you're going to fight, use pillows.

Before you trade sandwiches, check between the bread.

You have to eat a lot of cereal before you find the free toy.

If you want a kitten, start out asking for a horse.

And there's this picture I snapped the other day. Tom has spent most of his retirement working on our home, especially the outside of the home. He's made tremendous improvements, and 99% of the work, he's done on his own. So, he had this little gem in the corner of our new lower deck. Wonder what it's for? So did I. He hemmed and hawed, then walked me around to the front of the deck....My ant attacking his own rubber tree plant.

No wonder we continue to stick to our hobbies and interests. The lower deck is nearly finished, pruning and planting is next, and two grandkid quilts are begun. Hmmm...what serendipitous events will be ours as we work on them???

Happiness for all of you!! Mom