Nature Seems To Come To Me

   I sat in silence today in a folding lawn chair no sounds other than the leaves that had fallen from the trees and were being swept here and there and gathering in clumps in the yard and along the fence lines. I was sitting there thinking to myself many thoughts of nothing really just random blips of this and that all jumbled up together in my mind. I was relaxed and for the most part in my own little world. The farm fields have all been harvested around me leaving behind open fields and other than a corn stalk here and there that had been missed by the machines the fields look so bare. The trees around here have just about dropped all their leaves and look like nude soldiers standing guard at the edges of the fields. It is not warm out today but it is not cold it is just right the temp hovering around 45. I look up at the sky and the grey and white puffs of clouds cover as far as the eye can see just small spots were the sun shines through in streams of light reaching down to the ground. In my own little world I do not notice what is going on to the right of me I am focused on the sky and lost in thought.

   I am brought abruptly from my little world with the sound of something scampering through the leaves. I turn and watch three squirrels darting back and forth chasing each other up a tree and down again. I watch as they jump from branch to branch like little trapeze artists. I find it amazing how they can move so fast. I watch them for some time as they hunt for acorns and fight each other over them. I am not sure how long I had sat there and I had even dozed off for a bit it was just so relaxing and calm. My cat nap was interrupted by a snorting sound coming from behind a large tree that borders the south side of my yard. I turn my head to see five dear slowly working their way along the property line. I had just a few days earlier dumped a large bag of apples in that area for them to eat. I check each day to see if they had found them but everyday there they lay in the same spot I had placed them. This was a strange time of day for them to be moving around and I was surprised to see them.

   They had found the apple pile and were munching away as I watched being very still as not to spook them. As I sat there one of the deer became curious of me and started to inch its way closer and closer to me.  In the summer they would often hang along the property line and watch me as I did my gardening and my movements etc seem to not bother them. I had assumed they had gotten so used to me being in the yard that they had determined I was no threat. It is not uncommon for them to be as close as eight feet or so to me while I am in the yard. This one deer seemed very interested in me and kept inching closer and closer  until it was about two feet from me. I was thinking how cool it was and tried not to move just as it was inching a bit closer a car went by with a loud muffler and sent them all darting and running in a panic. In no time all I could see of them was their white tails bobbing behind them as the ran into the woods at the edge of one of the fields. I sat there in awe and wondered to my self  just how close that deer would have come if not for that damn loud car going down the road. 

   I must not have a threatening vibe it seems animals sense something in me and are not afraid of me. About 10 years ago I lived in a trailer park and would sit in the small back yard and watch the birds and squirrels. I started feeding them peanuts and had them so used to me that they would take them out of my hand. There was one I called Buddha Mamma because she would eat and eat until her belly stuck out then climb up the tree and sun her self on a branch. One day I was feeding them and a cat was in the yard so they all ran up the tree. The cat was batting and pouncing on something in the grass so I walked over to see what it was the cat took off and left what ever it was laying there in the grass. At first I thought it was a mouse but when I got closer I could see it was a chipmunk. It ran over and perched itself on my shoe and and looked up at me as if to say thank you. It stayed on my shoe even as I started to walk. It at last leaped off and scurried away. With the cat gone I started feeding the squirrels again. I felt a twinge on my right legs and I thought it was a muscle spasm but as I reach to rub the spot I felt something furry on my hand and it startled me. When I looked down it was the chipmunk I could tell because it had a distinct marking on its head. I must have startled it as it had me it let out a chip and took off.

   Not to long after I caught a glimpse of the chipmunk popping its head in and out of the grass. It was picking up the peanuts I had tossed out for the squirrels. It did not take long until this little chipmunk had me under its spell and I could not sit outside without peanuts or she would chirp at me until I went in and git some for her. She moved in under my trailer and each morning would sit under the area where my bed was and chirp until I got up and got her some peanuts. She lived under there for a few years and would climb all over me and often fall asleep on my shoulder when I was outside in the lawn chair.

   After a few years living with my little peanut hoarder I found a house and was moving. When I removed the skirting from the base of the trailer I found mounds and mounds of peanut shells. She had shells stashed in the cinder blocks and the ground underneath was covered with them. I hated to leave her but knew if I trapped her and took her with me she may not like the new place or be harmed not knowing the dangers of the new area. The last day when I pulled the trailer out of the park she sat on a stump and chirped at me as I pulled away. People who did not believe me about my pet chipmunk I would just put in the movie I have of her climbing on me and collecting peanuts, they then become believers.                    

Hints on Family History

   So my last post I talked about researching family history. I am still at it and have made some great finds. By joining some of the many Facebook pages that have groups of people related to or from the areas that my ancestors came from I have been able to see photo's of faces and get info I may have never found on my own. I had joined a few of the pay for sights years back and although it was helpful I found many of the people on those sights to be very stingy with their research.I can understand some of their feelings as many people who did research for profit were accessing their info and then selling it. I have found the Facebook pages to be much more like a family sharing our ancestors and their info. I have also found that I get stories about the people from those that knew them or have a parent uncle aunt etc who knew them. I find I am getting a much better look at who these people were from these groups than I ever did with the pay sights.

   Find A Grave is a new free sight that has tons of info.photos,obits and locations of burial paces. Also on this sight there are links to others like wife,parents, and children. It is a great sight to check out if you have not heard of it before. The sight covers graves all over the map Europe,USA etc and i was able to find some graves in England I would have maybe never found else where.

   I have also had luck with a new trend called found photos that have many sights and blogs popping up. These blogs and sights are where people load up pictures they have found in the trash, garage sales,flea markets etc. Some of the photos have info written on the backs others have no clue as to who the people are or where they where taken. They post the photos in hope a family member will see them and be able to put a name to the face. I found two ancestors by scrolling through these sights one photo at a time,

   I have also found that if I have a name and a birth date etc I have had luck when entering that info into google and was surprised the info that would come up on said person. I have also lucked out with google finding photos of people by just entering their names in and looking around at what comes up in the search area.

   Never underestimate the hord of pics etc that Mom Grandma Uncles Aunts have stashed away. If you ask they may share and often you can find a wealth of info hidden away in a box. Also never forget to ask the older people in the family to tell stories about the ones they knew often they will give you a hint that can unlock info for the past.

  Many people do not understand my need to know who I came from and I find it hard to put into words to those that do not have the same addiction to delving into the past that I do.I am sure they have hobbies or things they like that I just can not fathom why so I tell them the same way I tell people bungee jumping you have to try it before you knock it.