Archive for June 2010
Chicago!
The team that I spent most of my youth loving to hate, the NHL Chicago Blackhawks, have won the 2010 Stanley Cup trophy. I couldn’t be more pleased. With my home team not even achieving the playoffs, I easily shifted my current allegiance to the team representing the city where my son has lived while attending college. It is also the favorite city of a couple of my floorball teammates. I was rooting for them the whole way and thoroughly enjoyed witnessing their team accomplish the championship.
We are riding a massive wave of accomplishments around here lately. I am very proud to report that my son has received a generous offer for employment at a Minneapolis based web technology company called Ratchet. The young man is putting his college education right to work.
Meanwhile, I learned just yesterday that he and his buddies have found a house to rent together in Bloomington. This comes on the heels of our daughter finding a new place of her own to rent in Minneapolis. The best part about that situation for me is that she believes there will be room to take the cat!
There are so many blessings to be counted around here lately, that I have run out of fingers and need my toes just to keep track of them all. It is interesting how the family issues tend to minimize the significance of the Blackhawks’ winning the Cup, but yet that victory really sweetens an already precious time we are enjoying around here lately.
Do I dare hope the streak continues all the way into the US soccer team’s competition in the 2010 World Cup that starts in a few days? I certainly don’t mean to be greedy. Why, I’d happily reduce my expectations down to just hoping for dry weather next week for my bike trip.
Congratulations, CHICAGO! Enjoy it fully for me, would ya?
Genealogic Gem
About that new relative that contacted me, which I made mention of in yesterday’s post… She shared a most interesting tidbit in subsequent email exchanges.
First, let me say that the whole reason I started investigating my family history was because I wanted to learn why the surname, “Hays,” in my family, is spelled without the “e” that people so commonly choose to insert when writing my name. “Hayes” is more often than not, the default spelling. The short answer to the question of why the two similar names have different spellings is most likely related to the place of origin. Spelling without the “e” aligns more with an Irish or Scottish source, while the spelling with the “e” identifies as more English. The root of the Irish name goes back to “Hay.” If the spelling had stayed at that, it would have simplified everything.
When I received the message through Ancestry.com a couple days ago, the very first thing I noticed was that the name of the ancestor in question appearing in the subject line was spelled, “Hayes.” It is like finger nails on a blackboard irritating. Of all places, in my own family tree!
I did a little quick research to clarify that the “Charles W. Hayes” being referred to, matched my data collected thus far. I found a record of the 1910 United States Federal Census in which Charles’ entire family, including his mother –my great, great-grandmother– were listed with the last name spelled, “Hayes.” Charles was definitely part of my family tree, but why in the heck the “e” in the spelling?
I queried my new contact and was more than intrigued at her response:
“Yes, according to my grandfather he and his brother John had a falling out when they were very young and grandfather added the e to his name. He and his brother never saw each other after that.”
I never would have guessed at something like this. Family drama aside, the discovery that family members were choosing to insert the “e” when I am on a quest to identify why we don’t spell it with an “e” just boggles my mind. Meanwhile, what could my great-grandfather and his brother have been at odds about that would lead to such animosity?
It’s enough to inspire a person toward genealogy research. It’s not all just about names. There are stories connected to all those people.
Brothers John Waters and Charles W. were the two who had a falling out.
Long Term Growth
The first day back at work after the weekend always feels a lot like a Monday, doesn’t it? Yesterday morning I found myself sitting in my car for an extra ten minutes outside the front door of my workplace, delaying the inevitable. It was a beautiful morning, and I had a beautiful weekend. I was able to enjoy it for a few extra minutes.
One of the highlights of the day was entirely unrelated to work, and directly related to relatives. I received a new message via Ancestry.com from a descendant of my great, great-grandfather, Stephen W. Hays. This person discovered my records at Ancestry.com, where I have uploaded some images of our ancestors. She had the very same pictures and was able to name people in one of them that I had only been able to guess about. My guess was wrong, according to her. Now I know.
One of the low points of the day was also entirely unrelated to work. I guess that’s good. I discovered another broken finger nail. That’s 2 in the last few days. I keep my nails long on three fingers and the thumb of my right hand for fingerpicking guitar, even when I haven’t been playing for a month or two. I have had a very good run of long, strong nails until, ironically, I finally actually want to use them to play guitar. Now, days away from my bike trip, I’ve had two different nails tear. I guess I’ll be relying on my flatpicking technique next week. 
If it is true that it takes an average of 6 months for a finger nail to grow from the base to the tip, does recent failure of my nails reveal a deficiency in my diet originating in January? When they are feeling solid and strong, does that mean I was eating a well-rounded, healthy diet 6 months before?
When you do this long enough, the changes in strength of the finger nails becomes noticeable, and if you pay close enough attention, it can offer an illuminating reference for the varying quality of your diet. If I were obsessed enough about it, I could log my food choices and 6 months later, match it with a grade on quality of my nails to see what I’m eating that is good or bad for them. My guess is that it would reveal the obvious. Healthy food choices are already common knowledge. If I just stuck with healthy food choices, I’m betting the quality of my finger nails would be high. It’s not rocket science.
I don’t do so well with taking action today for results 6-months down the road. It’s one of my downfalls in writing for magazine publications. Their lead time is so dang long, I have difficulty managing the time shift required.
How do you remain in the moment when it takes finger nails so long to grow? When they are strong and solid, I’m enjoying both moments; the current one and the one 6-months prior.
That Time Again
You may have noticed an absence of posts related to planning for this year’s annual summer bike trip. That is, unless you’ve been reading closely enough to pick up on my uneasiness of late. In 4 days I will be leaving for my annual week-long bicycle trip with about 150 of my good friends. I think I gave a little more attention to planning for the trip last year because I was plotting on having a song I wrote for the group memorized in time to share during the week. My goal this year is to try to develop callouses on my fingertips before I leave. My bike is ready. I am not aware of needing any change in tent / sleeping gear. I just need to be sure to have clothes clean to pack, and then check the map for details on getting to the starting point and I should be good to go.
The only thing remaining after that, if the previous couple decades of doing this serves any pattern, is to have a dream or two in which I find myself showing up without a front wheel or standing in my socks with no idea where any of my gear is, just as the group sets off for the day. You know the dream. I haven’t had any of those classic scenarios play out in my REM sleep yet, so I remain on guard for that unconscious release to drain some of the preparation anxiety that looms in the days ahead.
Pointless
I know it is the responsibility of the writer to make sense of the subject being written about, but under the structure of publishing something every day, there are moments when attempting to sort it all out becomes more than time allows. Maybe it is related to the ongoing nature of the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It defies mental capacity to fully fathom something that continues to soil at the rate and scope of what BP has unleashed on our world.
At the same time, something relatively inane, a baseball game, or more specifically, a “perfectly” pitched game, was foiled by an umpire’s error of perception. A moment’s decision with dramatically significant influence on the subset of people with interest.
A Gaza flotilla is attacked and people killed, followed by a duel by media, as both sides compete to persuade world opinions in defense of their position.
Simple and complex get entangled with important and unimportant, as well as with universal influence and personal impact. Little details of my plans, short-term and long-term, get tangled within the issues my children are facing, and then are painted by recent successes and failures of friends and families near and far, and even impacted by continued vagaries of the weather.
If I wasn’t venturing to write about my experience, I would pause, do some breathing (as much as my lungs allow) and just be in the moment. All which is, is right now. I don’t have to communicate anything. I guess the truth which that reveals is, regardless all the things newsworthy and not, I don’t really have a point. No wonder I find it difficult to sort out.
Much to Appreciate
The joy of celebration is all about! Yesterday was Cyndie’s birthday. In the past, I tried a few times to broadcast birthday news for friends or family and mostly come short of my intent of flooding their inboxes and voicemail with greetings. I made no mention of Cyndie’s day, and she was inundated with messages. My powers are inverse!
Today, celebration is all about our 2nd college grad. Open house this afternoon and evening means beaucoup food! The kitchen is being utilized, full tilt. Chocolate, sugar, salt and fats will be available in abundance! Imagine how great it would be if we actually needed those calories. Far be it from me to spoil the fun. When celebrating, we don’t eat for sustenance, we eat for pleasure.
I will try not to enjoy myself too much.
We’re not going to let gray skies and intermittent showers spoil the fun. The floor can be washed when it’s all over. Let it rain. We have much to appreciate today and we will do so. It is all combined, grief and pain along with joy and happiness. What a crazy world.
Happy Saturday!
Sports Fan Plans
I have no idea what it would be like to watch the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff series with my team playing, but I’m finding it incredibly exhilarating watching this year’s battle between Chicago and Philadelphia. I’m pretty sure I’d be a nervous wreck if Minnesota was playing.
In a little over a week, I’ll really be suffering anxiety as I try to watch the USA soccer team in the World Cup. It’s one of those things that I wish to happen, but then when it does, it’s almost more than I can bear. The World Cup tournament lasts until July 11. Before we get to the end of that event, the Tour de France bicycle race will be under way. It’s an embarrassment of riches for this sports fan.
It just occurred to me that I will likely be unable to watch the first soccer match between the US and England as I will be on riding on the 36th annual Jaunt with Jim bike trip that day. What’s a boy to do? I wait for years to see the World Cup, and then when the first game of the tourney for my team finally arrives, I am not available to watch. I don’t know what the moral of that story is, but I’ll learn something from it eventually, I’m sure.
If it weren’t for life’s little challenges, I’d only have major dilemma’s to learn from. I’m a fan of the more gentle approach to learning.
If it is true that people need to reach rock bottom before they are willing to choose to take on the hard battles of facing their demons, it might appear that the logical thing to do to help people is assist them in reaching rock bottom, no? That brilliant inspiration arrived courtesy of the character, Michael Scott, in a rerun episode of the television series, “The Office.” I know it doesn’t directly relate to what I was writing about, regarding life’s little challenges, but sometimes you gotta go with the flow of what pops into your mind. Free association. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is. Before you know it, you’ve got a ‘stream of consciousness’ exercise happening.
It’s like a little vacation adventure for the mind. One of the most affordable vacations imaginable. It also works as an aid in diffusing the mounting anxiety when your team is under extreme pressure in the biggest tournament in the world. Personally, I think England is under much greater pressure than the US. If they lose to us, it just might push their fans to rock bottom. It would be the least we could do to help them along with life’s more difficult battles.
Go, Chicago! Go, USA! Go, Team Radio Shack! I’ll be watching, in between a few mental vacations.
Routine Returns
After a mildly irritating drive home, we are here, safe and sound. It was incredibly difficult to leave when the weather was so fine, but duty calls. Man, there were a lot of drivers, the majority pulling trailers of some kind, that needed to pull over on the shoulder of the freeway. It created slowdowns and backups that made it very rare to be able to travel at the posted speed limit.
The yard was in dire need of attention, so it was out of the car and right into the chores. Just as I suspected, it was a cruel dose of reality following such a magical weekend in paradise.
One special moment for me, that occurred over the weekend of seeing all the great friends with whom we share the property up there, happened when I heard from someone who found the igloo my friends, family, and I made in February. They didn’t know who had built it. The excitement they expressed in describing their wonder over what they had found was just priceless.
The weather reduced the igloo to liquid a long time ago. This year the lake is both lower and warmer than we have ever experienced in all the years we’ve been going up there. It felt like a 4th of July weekend more than Memorial weekend at the end of May.
Before we left yesterday, Julian and I walked down to the tennis court to see of we could spot the eagle in its nest and I captured a distant glance with my little pocket camera. It is one part of many things about the weekend that I am taking with me this week. It’s the least I can do to honor the precious moments we enjoyed for three days up there.
Relative Something 