Out On A Limb With Jean

  A CONVERSATION WITH TWO 2 ND COUSINS (WITH THEIR PERMISSION)                I apologize for not publishing any posts for awhile; time just seems to fly!   Craig and I enjoy traveling in our fifth-wheel trailer, getting away from Wisconsin winters and visiting areas of the country we haven’t seen before.   We left home mid-February, 2022 and headed to the Southwest – New Mexico and Arizona.   While in the Phoenix area we visited with my 2 nd cousin, Mary Ellen VAWTER KUN, and her niece (my 2 nd cousin once removed) Susan S. (deleted for her privacy).   We met at Mary Ellen’s Senior apartment building and enjoyed lunch together and then went up to her apartment, where she showed us the beautiful blankets and smocks that she makes and sells.   She has won many ribbons at the local fairs, including “Oldest Participant,” which she pretty much has sewn up (pun intended!), since she just t...

            In "My Fair Lady," Professor Henry Higgins pondered the question: Why can’t a woman be more like a man? Why is thinking something women never do? And why is logic never even tried? Straightening up their hair is all they ever do. Why don't they straighten up the mess that's inside? Why can’t a woman be like me?                            I can only speculate on the women the professor had encountered in his life, but he apparently hadn’t met any of the women like these ancestors listed here.   They were anything but illogical, and could hardly be described as only concerned about their hair!!           Take Sarah (WINSTON) WOODSON (?-?) for example; she was the wife of Dr. John WOODSON, Sr. (1586-1644).   Both born in England and married there, they immigrated to the American Colonies in 1619.   In her book, “...

                   Valentine’s Day was a few weeks ago, but I thought the month should not go by without mentioning an ancestor named Valentine.                   Valentine VANHOOSER was born January 16, 1726 in Clavernack, Albany County, New York.   The VANHOOSER immigrant was Valentine’s great-grandfather, Jan Franse VAN HUSUM (1608-1667), who was born in Husum, Germany, in the region of Schleswig-Holstein, a region that moved back and forth between Germany and Denmark, and immigrated to “New Netherland,” present-day New York state.   New Netherland was established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624.   (see https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-amsterdam-becomes-new-york#:~:text=Following%20its%20capture%2C%20New%20Amsterdam's,Island%2C%20Connecticut%20and%20New%20Jersey .)   Valentine was christened on February 3, ...

                 This time of year, our thoughts turn to love, and one way to express love is through songs.   This may not be what you expect in a blog about love songs, but these are songs my parents loved to sing.   Other than hymns at church, about the only song I remember my dad singing was Mockin’ Bird Hill.     MOCKIN’ BIRD HILL by Vaughn Horton   Chorus Tra-la-la, tweedlee dee dee it gives me a thrill To wake up in the morning to the mockin' bird's trill Tra-la-la, tweedlee dee dee There's peace and goodwill You're welcome as the flowers on Mockin' bird Hill   When the sun in the mornin' peeps over the hill And kisses the roses 'round my windowsill Then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill Of those birds in the treetops on Mockin' bird Hill   Chorus   When it's late in the evenin' I climb up the hill And survey all ...