In a Moment a Tattoo

Do you ever just, sometimes wish you had a punching bag, heavy bag, pinata you could just beat out your angst on. I do.

I sat down all excited to write but, on  a whim I opened my email....BIG mistake. Some people just have a knack for being  cold and unfeeling. Their words verge on threats and they write like they feel they are entitled to squash joy. My immediate reaction brings to my mind that line from A Knight's Tale when Chaucer is speaking to Peter and Simon in Rouen. Chaucer: "I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity."

Dear Heartless cold human creature. I forgive you. I feel sorry for you, that you lack joy. I hope you find it. In the meantime, none of it mattered anyway so why say anything to me. Be gone!

Speaking of angst.... why do some people turn their phones off or down as soon as they hit their seats or even the theater  and some continue to talk, text, and play games right up until the movie starts? Why? If you would rather do any of the above things please stay in the lobby until you are  done. It is bloody distracting especially if someone (me) is interested in the previews.

While I am on a tangent let me just fuss at the FedEx guy. Dear Mouth-breather FedEx male creature, That maneuver you made turning right into the parking lot, traveling through the parking lot,  turning left out of the parking lot, crossing five lanes of traffic to then turn right onto the street you were originally on just so you did not have to wait at the traffic light with the rest of us was unsportsmanlike like behavior or are you guilty of avoiding a traffic control device? Does your company know you drive their vehicle recklessly?

On a better note... there is a new Dr. Seuss book that was unveiled on July 28. I must have it!!! It is  What Pet Should I Get? Yes, it is really a new book by Dr. Seuss found in a box of stuff that had been stored away by his widow and his secretary.

 He is my favorite author. We had almost all of his books. I taught myself to read with these books. They also flash back into my mind when I am challenged by a situation sometimes. Our date ordered fish throats for a lunch starter. I was about to say ewww... NO but then I thought about Sam and Green Eggs and Ham and I tried one while imagining I was in a boat with a goat. Or, when my integrity is  challenged I can hear Horten, the elephant say "an elephant is faithful, 100%" and I am back on track. The Sleep Book never fails to put me to sleep.

I am all into living in the moment and pirating all you can from each moment. This could be why I have an extremely limited income. GOD knew that if I had access to an unlimited supply of money my moments would consist of incredibly outrageous things. My daughters grew up with this "free spirit" mentality of mine and my motto of Carpe Diem. I have two little girl children who while living in their moments with fists full of money have gone off and bought themselves some regrettable tattoos. Daughter number 3 called me yesterday and told me in an excited voice that she got a kitten. Well, she has two dogs, a cat and a daughter. She does not need a kitten. "Ha HA Mom just kidding I got a tattoo!"A spark of regret of my lifestyle streaks through me. This child is not the brightest in my herd. I take a deep breath while recalling the rest of her tattoos and am overcome with dread which quickly dissipates. I would not want her to be anyone other than what GOD intends her to be. I ask what it is. A verse she says. I did not ask. In her mind "dance like a stripper" is a verse as is "I can Dere-lick my own balls", "Turn down for what?" and "I'm ridiculously good looking".


I am off to eat breakfast and watch another episode of Americas Book of Secrets. I get these inspirations from somewhere you know....

Willie's Gold

I have a GGG Grandfather who had 7 children. My dad came from one of his daughters, Phoebe and my cousin Willie comes from another daughter named Harriet. Willie is actually William Wirt French and he was born in Curve which is a geographical location in  Pearisburg Virginia in 1858. 


In 1897 headlines in all the papers screamed "Gold in Alaska!" "Valdez Glacier — Best Trail!" Gold was being discovered in the Klondike Fields. Willie was intrigued and with his long time friend J. M. Hoagland at his side they set out for Alaska and gold. It was summer in 1898 when they left.Willie had a wife, Rose and 4 children all under the age of 6. He was 5'6" tall, had light brown hair and blue eyes. 

                                                              William Wirt French

On November 2 1898 Willie filed a mining claim above a canyon on Manker Creek. It was listed as claim number 7 and was named Alix. His friend J.M. Hoagland also filed a claim in the same area as claim number 8. They were witness for each other. The rest of the legend goes a little something like this.....

It was the first of March 1899 and the weather seemed to be letting up. Willie decided to cross the Valdez Glacier perhaps to get back to town for more supplies.  A late storm sprung up and caught Willie by surprise. He never made it to town nor back to his cabin. After the storm let up on March 8, his friend Hoagland went looking for him and found him. Willie had frozen to death while crossing the glacier. His dog, a Saint Bernard was curled up around him and barely alive. Hoagland brought the body to town and it was shipped back to his home in Pocahontas. He nursed the dog back to health and returned with the dog to Virginia. 

 Valdez, Alaska in the early 1900's. It shows a pack train associated with prospectors and mining working its way up the side of a snowy slope. One of the amazing things about the picture is that it appears that one man has a bicycle!

I was skeptical when I first saw Willie's death location as Valdez, Cordova Alaska. 

To be honest I thought I had stepped into a Jack London novel when I started researching  all the little bits, pieces and snippets of information across the web. I would love to happen upon a diary of their travels from their first few miles out of Virginia to Hoaglands journey back with the dog. 

View of men standing in cemetery, Valdez, Alaska. From information with photo: (Gravesites)? Marked with names: Adolph Ehrhardt, N.Y., Maximillion Miller, N.Y., August G.H. Schultz, N.Y., Alfred Ellermann, N.Y., [all] died Feb. 28, 1899. W.W. French of Pocahantas, Va., died Mar. 8, 1899. Valdez, Alaska." Photo is property of Cook Inlet Historical Society. 

Meanwhile, a couple of lifetimes later I came upon two enterprising young ladies with a lemonade stand set up in their front yard. I had just gotten in my hot car and was wishing I had brought some water. I gladly paid the fifty cents for the cold pink lemonade and traveled on. If only there had been a couple of enterprising young ladies with an Inn and a coffee shop set up near the Glacier back in 1899. 

Speaking of coffee it is time to start some breakfast. 

Honeymoon on the Doomed Arcadian

On February 10 1914 my Cousin Frank Easley and his wife Elizabeth left Bermuda on the SS Arcadian and arrived in New York 2 days later.

The Arcadian was built in 1899 and christened the SS Ortona. She launched July 10 1899 and was built as a passenger liner for travel to Australia. She could carry 620 passengers.

In December of 1902 she was used to carry troops back to England after the Second Boer War. On September 21 1910 after being sold and re-serviced she was renamed the SS Arcadian. She embarked on her first world cruise in January of 1912 as the world’s largest dedicated cruise ship.

In 1915, near the beginning of World War I the SS Arcadian was converted to an armed merchant cruiser by the British Admiralty. As the war continued she was put into service as a troop carrier ship in the Mediterranean. On April 15 1917 with 1335 troops and crew members on board the Arcadian was hit by a torpedo from a German submarine known as SM UC-74. She sank in 6 minutes with a loss of 279 lives. Most were kitchen staff and stokers who were working below decks at the time.

 Yes, that actually is her sinking. If you look closely those are men hanging on to ropes and scrambling down her sides.  

 I have included the story of events as told by Trooper Reginald C. Huggins. http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/torpedoed.htm

                                                         Dining Salon Arcadian 1913

On January 29 1914 Cousin Frank had married Elizabeth Tyler. They had gone to Bermuda on their Honeymoon. The Arcadian which was marketed as the most palatial liner ever in the Bermuda service, made this trip along with a sister ship called the Tagus every week.

Frank worked for the American Smelting and Refining Company which would later go on to have a very gruesome tale of its own.

Because this is a pet-peeve of mine I must share that the people that just named their new baby Madison Lane just named their baby Son of Maud’s Road.  Pay attention people!!!!!

Maybe tomorrow I will share my shark attack theory. 

All Spicy Buccaneers

I happen to be at an event. Not one of my events but another person’s event. He was giving calm precise direction whenever I saw him. Always smiling but still firm. After about an hour I happened upon a chance to speak to him. I told him he was doing a great job of organizing. I smiled at him and said he was directing things like Spielberg. 

 He stopped dead in his tracks and stared daggers at me. He grimaced, shook his head and stormed off. Uhhhhmmm….. Ok Dude your event looks more like Nero 

is in charge. Strange…..

I made a recipe the other day of plum bread and it called for crushed allspice.

 I complied and poured out the little wooden looking balls and proceeded to crush them in a mortar. When they were smashed to powder I added them. The bread is delicious. But what exactly are those little wooden balls known as allspice? They have an aroma, when ground that smells like a combination of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.

Allspice is also known as Jamaican Pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, and newspice and is the unripen dried fruit of a tree native to Southern Mexico, Greater Antilles and Central America. It grows very well and thrives with little help on the island of Jamaica.  When dried the fruit resembles peppercorns and is why the Spanish explores named the fruit pimenta.  Allspice is sold in the berry form because the flavor lasts longer and the aromas are readily released when newly crushed before use.

It is used as an ingredient in Caribbean jerk seasoning

 mole` sauces, 

and in pickling, also in many Middle Eastern dishes, 

sausage making, 

desserts 

and barbecue sauces.

The Mayans used Allspice in their embalming practices, and South American Indians to flavor chocolate.

Now for the part that caught my attention, you will soon know why. Remember I said it was known as Jamaican pepper. Let me tell you a story….

The natives, known as the Arawak, on the island of Jamaica used allspice berries, the wood and the leaves to preserve, smoke and cure meat. This cured meat was called boucan.  As European explores came to Jamaica they learned of the spiced, cured meats and took to curing their own meats this way calling the process boucaniering. 

The men who cured their meat with smoke and spice were called boucaniers and later buccaneers. These Buccaneers started trading with the Spanish who would stop for fresh water and supplies. This blossomed into trading with any and all ships including Pirates who sailed the Spanish Main. As a reference, the mainland of the North and South American continents enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was referred to as the Spanish Main. As business grew the Buccaneers expanded and moved to more areas and larger towns and cities. The Buccaneers became more powerful. This caused the Spanish to declare war on them. The Buccaneers moved to Tortuga which was very defensible and set up a fortress and began their new endeavor – to harass the Spanish and their ships.  

The Spanish in retaliation made it their mission to slaughter all the animals available to Tortuga and ruin their livelihood bringing them into submission. By this time there were English and French Buccaneers on Tortuga. 

 This “starvation” worked. The Buccaneers had to find a way to survive and so they did. Instead of hunting animals they started hunting Spanish Galleons and were labeled Pirates. Because of their skill at hunting which insured their livelihood the Buccaneers were expert shots and greatly feared.

One of the most famous of the Buccaneers to come from Tortuga was Francois L'Ololonnais. 

It was whispered among his crew that he cut out the heart of a Spanish captive and gnawed on it when the man refused to give the location of a trade route. His quickly became known as a “blood thirsty” Pirate.

Sail safe my friends!!

Dixie heard in Pearisburg

Every morning I go for my walk there is an older man who is walking his two dogs. Both bark and then one continues to growl and mumble. He attempts to shush them, but fails. It is a halfhearted attempt and that is fine. I have no intention of attacking him or his little mongrels. I pass on one side of the street, he on the other. I smile, he never does.  This has been going on for a few months and so today I looked over at him and said “you would think they would be used to seeing me every day by now.” He stops and says “what?” I repeat myself smiling the entire time and he just starts to walk off as I am speaking. He throws a “humph” back at me as he meanders away. One word grumpy man. RUDE!!!! No two words. Disrespectful and rude. What world did he grow old in where being rude and having no respect was acceptable? What happened to him in his life?

Is this the world we live in, where rude and disrespect are the normal and being nice, kind and polite are so rare they are shocking? Where gestures with good intentions are twisted into malicious intent and the do-gooder is left standing wondering what happened? How could my comment of concern gone so wrong?

On a less controversial note….

I had a great grand uncle named John White Easley who was a Physician and moved to Pearisburg Virginia during the 1850s to live. On May 23 1861, 1033 votes were cast by residents in favor of the ratification of the Ordinance of Secession. When the Civil War broke out he was a Physician for the Confederate Army maintaining his Practice in Pearisburg.

On May 10 1862 the 23^rd Ohio Regiment was in Pearisburg pushing south through Virginia where a battle was fought to save the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad which was a much needed supply route for the Confederate Army.

A young Lt. Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes who was in command, was wounded when a small piece of shrapnel was lodged in his knee during what has been called the Pearisburg Skirmish. Dr. John Easley was called for to treat his injury. This Lt. Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes is the same Rutherford B. Hayes who became the 19^th president of the United States.

Who was also there in Pearisburg with Uncle John and future President Hayes? A young Union Commissary sergeant named William McKinley who would become the 25^th President of the United States.

I don’t want to leave you with a happy ending so,  as they, the 23rd Ohio Regiment, were leaving town they burned down the Pearisburg Presbyterian Church which had served as the Regiment Commissary for a week and had been stock-piled with grains, vegetables, sugar and fruits.

When Union Col. Rutherford B. Hayes occupied Pearisburg, VA for a week in the spring on 1862, his regimental band often played "Dixie", to the delight of local residents.

Today is double coffee point day so I got to go… Cheers!!!!