Day 56, Year 11: West Virginia to Tennessee
Date: Thursday, December 17, 2015
Weather: Rain and Fog, Clearing Late Afternoon, High in the 50’s F
Location: At Home with Patsy and Joe Kerwood, Mt. Juliet, TN

We made it to Mt. Juliet, about 20 miles east of Nashville. We are so happy to be here with my sister Patsy and brother-in-law Joe for the holidays. Their daughter Janet lives close by, so we are delighted that we will be seeing her as well.

The drive here was a rainy one and it took us all day as we stopped twice to do a little more Christmas shopping. Our last stop was at a Tanger Outlet Mall in Sevierville, the hometown of country singer Dolly Parton. We could definitely tell that we were Tennessee. We had a great dinner with Patsy and Joe and I wrapped up the last of the presents to be sent out tomorrow. Once that is done, it is time to kick back and relax a little . . . really!

Day 55, Year 11: Walk Down Memory Lane
Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, High in the 50’s F, 30’s Tonight
Location: Turnpike Motel, Princeton, West Virginia

What a delightful day! We started the day in the little town of Union in Monroe County, West Virginia. My mother’s family has lived in this little corner of the world since the late 1700’s. My father grew up in this same county, just over the mountain from Union. But we have never known just when my father’s parents moved to Monroe County from Giles County, Virginia. The purpose of my quest today was to try and pin down just when the Martins came into Monroe County and to find out just where they lived in Virginia before moving there. I didn’t expect to find all the answers today, but I made great progress. So not only was the day fun, it was successful. And we managed to fit in a lot of visiting between the research sessions.

Having lived in Monroe County from 1979 to 1984, we were very curious about how things might have changed. The answer from what we saw today . . . not much. The little town of Union looked just like it looked in 1979. The drive from Union to the hilltop ‘village’ of Wikel hasn’t changed much either. Wikel, itself, the specific place where my mother’s family lived and where Mark and I lived, looked much the same with the addition of a hugely tall water tank supplying the residents with city water. We stopped to see good friends Jean Mason and Betty ‘Mom’ Comer. Both have been widowed in the past few years, but both are strong women who are carrying on. Jean’s son Scotty now keeps his beef cattle on her farm. Betty ‘Mom’ did daycare for Heather and Justin. Heather was only with her for one year, but Justin was with her for three. She potty-trained Justin by putting a flower print feed sack (soft cotton, not burlap) on him as a diaper one day when I forgot to send the Pampers. He thought the blue-flowered material was so pretty that he refused to soil it and instantly became potty-trained. I knew from that day forward that I would always be indebted to Betty ‘Mom’. We also visited the log home we built there. That was the downer of the day. The people who own it separated a couple of years ago and neither is living in it. Vines have covered the log walls and last winter they didn’t turn the water off resulting in broken water pipes on the top floor that flooded the main floor as well as the basement. No one checked on the house for a long period, so the water just kept running through the house. The guy they have hired to try and “fix” things was there today and he let us roam through the house. The three sets of French doors leading from the great room out onto the deck have not been painted or stained in 35 years and the wood is rotting. The beautiful Ash wood floor had to be ripped up. And all of the dry wall in the basement had to be removed. The one thing that still looked beautiful was the side door that Mark built out of walnut. The owners want to do a quick fix and try to sell the house and 40 acres for $189,000, but I don’t think they will ever get that much money for it. It was heart-breaking to see such a beautiful home that was built with so much care look so lonely. If I had an extra $100,000 on hand, I’d offer them that and try to restore the home to its original state. Unfortunately, I have neither the money nor the time. So hopefully someone who does will buy it and treat it with care. After leaving Wikel, we stopped to see Richard and Sarah Jane Bowers. Sarah is my first cousin and she is one of those people who never seem to age. Her husband, Richard, is almost 78 and we found him hard at work getting a load of logs out. He’s done this for so much of his life that I don’t think he can stop. It is hard work, but it has kept him healthy and happy. So I salute him for continuing.

We drove from Monroe County, West Virginia across the border to Giles County, Virginia. We found the land deed for my paternal grandmother’s home place and we drove to the area indicated to make sure it matched with what my mother had showed me years ago. It did, so now the challenge is to find the exact location. Reading a deed that indicates location by the number of chestnut trees doesn’t help much since there was a blight of the American chestnut tree in the early 1900’s and no chestnut trees are left standing today. But eventually I can trace forward from owner to buyer and find more modern survey indications. The drive to Clover Hollow where my father was born and spent the first four years of his life was gorgeous. The area is half way up a mountain to a modern day resort called Mountain Lake. The views of the sunset from on high were magnificent.

The funniest thing happened this morning when we were in the Monroe County Courthouse. Mark and I had gone in and asked if we could look at the land deed records. We were escorted to a back room, given a brief overview of where to find things, and then left alone. Then the young woman who had taken us back there returned and asked if we were Mark and Judy Handley. How did she know? When we said we were, she gave us a phone message she had just received from David Bowers asking us to call him. David is the son on one of my first cousins, but how did he know we were there. I have talked to him a couple of times in the past five years, but how would he know we were in the Court House this morning? I kept researching but sent Mark out to call him. David reads this blog and read last night that we would be in Union this morning. He lives about 45 miles to the west in Princeton and he invited us to come to Princeton to have dinner with him. That worked out great with our schedule so we agreed to meet him. We had dinner with David, his daughter Jennifer, her son, and her boyfriend. It was great to see them. Thank you, David!

This is a beautiful part of the world and Mark and I both want to come back and spend more time here visiting. There is a song I learned in elementary school called “The West Virginia Hills” and I think the words sum things up nicely.

Oh, the West Virginia hills! How majestic and how grand,
With their summits bathes in glory, Like our Prince Immanuel’s Land!
Is it any wonder then, that my heart with rapture thrills,
As I stand once more with love ones on those West Virginia hills?
CHORUS:
Oh, the hills, beautiful hills, How I love those West Virginia hills!
If over sea or land I roam, Still I’ll think of happy home,
And my friends among the West Virginia hills.

151216 Day 55 Visit in Monroe & Giles; Dinner with David Bowers

Day 54, Year 11: New York to West Virginia
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, High in the 50’s F, 30’s Tonight
Location: Motel 8, Lewisburg, West Virginia

It was a long driving day from New York to southern West Virginia. We made a couple of stops and somehow our eight hour day turned into ten hours. So although we’re tired, we arrived safely, and that’s the important thing. We are staying about 45 minutes from our morning destination of Union, West Virginia. As far as we know there are no motels there, so we stopped in the town of Lewisburg, had dinner in a little Irish Pub, and headed to the Motel 8 we booked on Hotwire.

Tomorrow I’m headed to the Court House in Monroe County, West Virginia, to do a little family history research and then we’ll drive to Pearisburg, Virginia, to continue research there. When we drive between the two locations, we’ll make a little side trip to Wikel where Mark and I lived in the early 1980’s. We are curious to see how things have changed . . . or not. Then on Thursday morning we head to the Nashville, Tennessee area to spend time with family. Can’t wait to get there.

Day 53, Year 11: Shopping Our Way to Nyack
Date: Monday, December 14, 2015
Weather: Foggy All Day, High in the 60’s F
Location: At Home with Ed and Lynne Kirwin, Nyack, NY

Today we said our farewells to Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, and Oliver. We had a great week with the boys and are sure going to miss seeing them over the holidays. After the farewells, we got in the car and started the drive to Nyack, New York to visit with good friends Ed and Lynne Kirwin. We did, however, make a few stops along the way to look for specific items for Christmas gifts that we can only afford to buy at outlet prices. If we ordered these small things online, they would cost twice as much. But our first stop ended up being a very expensive wild goose chase. The only Columbia Sportswear Outlet we could find was at the Tanger Outlet at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashuntucket, Connecticut. This was nine miles off the highway, but we decided to give it a try. When we finally got to the outlet store, we found it to be very small with nothing that we wanted. So it was back in the car to drive the nine miles back to Interstate 95. I had to take a country road and then I 395 back to 95. When I was switching from 395 to 95, I saw a police car lurking on the shoulder that pulled out right behind me. Then the lights and siren went off. I was going 74 in a 50 mile per hour section of the highway. I had no idea the speed limit had changed, but there was no denying that I was going 74. The state policeman “gave me a break” by only recording my speed at 60 miles per hour, but still the fine was $157. I guess that will be my Christmas present for this year! Upset as I was, the show must go on. So we traveled to the next outlet mall on our list. It was located just off the exit and the stop was a little more successful. The last stop was at IKEA in New Haven to buy Christmas wrapping paper. They usually have beautiful paper, but not this year. It was just not a great Christmas shopping day. But the day got decidedly better once we arrived at Ed and Lynne’s in Nyack. We had a nice visit before dinner, and while we were talking, Lynne prepared a fabulous dinner of wild-caught King salmon, Brussels sprouts, white and orange sweet potatoes, and a salad loaded with goodies. We continued to catch up on happenings as the evening progressed and are now headed to bed. We need to hit the road early in the morning as we have an eight to nine hour drive tomorrow and Ed and Lynne have to trek into New York City to meet with Ed’s oncologist. Onward we go to southern West Virginia to do a little family history research . . . and no Christmas shopping.

Day 52, Year 11: Oh My . . . Christmas is Coming
Date: Sunday, December 13, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, High in the 50’s F
Location: At Home with HJSJ&O in East Falmouth, MA

Oh, my! I woke up this morning in a panic realizing that Christmas is coming and I have done zero shopping. Since we sailed away from Quissett Harbor on October 23rd, I haven’t had more than a few minutes to stop and think about what comes next. We sailed to Little River, flew back to Boston, flew to Puerto Rico, and then flew back here to babysit while Heather and Jed were in Europe. It has been a busy seven weeks. So this morning panic set in. Ordering things on Amazon to ship to Puerto Rico needed to be done today as even the Prime delivery date on some items is already as late as December 28. So we scrambled and got things ordered. In the middle of the afternoon Mark and I took Ollie and headed to Hyannis to do a little shopping for the gang here. It was only a partially successful shopping expedition. So most everything will have to be ordered by week’s end and sent to Maine, as that is where the Goldstones will spend Christmas. But Christmas or not, it is time to for us to switch gears and get ready for the next leg of this adventure.

Heather and Jed must have both been terribly jet-lagged today, but they didn’t show it until late evening. Heather got up and fixed a pancake breakfast and tonight she and Jed cooked a fantastic dinner. It was the last night of Chanukah and the boys all got presents from their parents’ travels. Sam got a hat just like his dad’s and Jonah got a very dressy vest, both from England. Ollie got new, shiny black boots from France. They look like they lace but have zippers on the side, so they are easy on and off. All three boys were thrilled. This was our last night together for a while and it was a very nice evening. Thank you, Heather and Jed!

151213 Day 52 Cape Cod, USA–Farewell Dinner with the Goldstones

Day 51, Year 11: Heather and Jed Home from Paris
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny and Warm, High 60 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldpebbles in East Falmouth, MA

Heather and Jed returned home from Paris tonight. They got here in time to see the boys before they went to bed, and all three boys were so excited. There were presents and Parisian chocolate for everyone. We each got a sample of the exquisite little dark chocolate truffle cubes from Michel Chaudun. Yummy. Our gift was a Parkinsonia Ammonite fossil. These creatures died out some 65 million years ago at the same time as dinosaurs. The fossil looks like a small nautilus shell and this is because Ammonites share many characteristics with their modern day relatives–squid, octopus, and the chambered-nautilus. This one is from Madagascar which makes it even more special. Heather knows how much I love this sort of thing. What a treat! We got to hear a little about the Climate Conference and hopefully we’ll hear more tomorrow. Heather said it was overwhelming for her, but a wonderful learning experience. And thankfully it ended with a landmark climate accord. Now each of us need to do our part to curb carbon emissions.

151212 Day 51 Cape Cod, USA–Saturday with the Goldpebbles

The weather has been extremely mild while we have been here. The thermometer hit 60 again today and when the sun was shining, it felt like a Cape Cod summer day. The neighborhood kids were running around in barefeet and shorts. Jonah and Ollie wore shorts, but I insisted that they wear shoes . . . which did not make them very happy. Tomorrow will not be as warm, but still delightful December weather. We have really enjoyed our time here with the grandkids and we will be here tomorrow. But on Monday we leave to start our car trip to Nashville to spend the holidays with my sister Patsy, her husband Joe, and their daughter Janet. We’re heading to Nyack, New York, on Monday to see our good friends Ed and Lynne Kirwin, and from there we are heading to southern West Virginia to do a day or so of family history research. We should be in Nashville by Thursday evening and will be staying there until after Christmas. My niece who lives in Nashville emailed today telling us that we will be going to the Nashville Symphony’s Handel’s Messiah and to The Grand Ole Opry to see their musical presentation of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Can’t wait.

Day 50, Year 11: Close to the Finish Line
Date: Friday, December 11, 2015
Weather: Partly Cloudy, High near 60 degrees F
Location: At Home with the Goldpebbles in East Falmouth, MA

We are getting close to the finish line as Heather and Jed arrive home late tomorrow evening. We did a Skype call with them tonight and the boys really enjoyed seeing mommy and daddy. They haven’t mentioned how much they miss Heather and Jed, but it is obvious that they do. When it was time to go to bed tonight, Ollie did tell me that he REALLY misses mommy and daddy. And after I thought he was down for the night, I heard him banging on the wall upstairs. When I went up to see what was going on, he said he had a bad dream and needed me to lay down with him and tell him some ‘happy thoughts.’ When he says things like that, it just melts Oma’s heart. As I listed ‘happy thoughts’ for him, he commented on just how happy each thing would make him. I listed all sorts of exotic things, but just playing in the backyard was his favorite. Hopefully we’ll get to do that tomorrow. The weather is incredibly warm for December, so backyard play should be delightful.

I met Jane Woodin and Olivia White in town for coffee this morning. It felt so good to take the time to talk to adults, especially good friends. Mark has been busy working on his consulting job this week, so I have mostly talked only to the boys. But as much as I love them, I still need adult contact! I’m hoping tomorrow goes as smoothly as the rest of the week. At this point, I’m feeling like the week was a grand success. We’ve had no major breakdowns or confrontations, all three boys seem happy, and we’ve had the time to make progress on their school projects and some of Oma’s Christmas projects. However, today was cop-out day on eating healthy food. Sam and Jonah bought school lunch (pizza) and tonight we had dinner at McDonald’s. Happy Meals for all! (And Happy Oma who didn’t have to make food decisions and cook dinner.)

Day 49, Year 11: Projects, Projects
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy but Warming Up, High in the Upper 50’s F
Location: At Home with the Goldpebbles in East Falmouth, MA

Mark and I made it through another day with the Goldpebbles. Having to take Ollie to Woods Hole every morning and then heading back to pick him up by 4 pm only leaves us with five and half hours and that time flies by. Today I spent my time getting things out of our storage unit that we want to take with us when we leave here next Monday. Mark went to Hyannis to pick up my computer that crashed on Friday the 13th (November) and I am writing this log on that computer tonight. I am so happy to have it back. I gave Mark the new computer with loads of memory and a touch screen. I like it, but he likes it more, and having the old, familiar computer back is great. I am definitely a creature of habit. I picked Sam and Jonah up from school at 3:30 pm and we came home to mix play . . . with homework . . . with projects . . . with making Christmas cookies. We are making Christmas cookies and freezing them so that they can be retrieved from the freezer a little at a time between now and Christmas. Jonah’s book report is to pretend that his book is going to be made into a movie and create a poster to promote the movie. He loves funny things, so he chose a humorous book. That project is moving along. Sam’s science project is a space project with two parts. First he had to create a model of his topic and then write a one page report or create a Power Point presentation. He chose the latter. His topic is Voyager 1 that was launched in 1977 and is now traveling outside of our solar system. He built a Lego model of Voyager I, quite impressive, and has been working with Granddad on his Power Point presentation. Sam’s other project is making items to sell at a school craft fair next week. The craft fair is an annual event that third and fourth graders are encouraged to participate in. The hope is that they get some practical experience in economics. Sam is making winter sports team scarves out of fleece. He has fleece for the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Bruins, and the New England Patriots. If anyone would like to pre-order a scarf, just let us know! I think they sell for $3.00.

Tomorrow will just be more of the same. Even though it is Friday, Sam has agreed to come home from school tomorrow and work on his craft fair project. We’ll try to finish things up on Saturday and get ready for mommy and daddy to return from Paris. They get in late on Saturday night, so the kids won’t see them until Sunday morning when we will all give them a hearty welcome home.

Day 48, Year 11: Over the Hump
Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and Cool
Location: At Home with the Goldpebbles in East Falmouth, MA

We have made it over the ‘hump’—four days down, three to go before mommy and daddy get home late on Saturday night. Right now I have nothing but praise for the parents of young children. As Mark said this evening, “Even when they are being very, very good, dealing with kids 24/7 is enough to drive a person to drink.” He was joking, or maybe half joking, half serious. We have been reminded this week of all of the demands placed on parents—getting kids up, dressed, and fed for school, packing their lunches, getting them to school on time, coming home to cook, clean, organize, and plan some special activities, going to get the kids from school, overseeing homework, overseeing special projects, playing with them, cooking dinner, getting everyone cycled through baths, reading bedtime stories, getting them to bed, and then collapsing while you wait for the cycle to start over again. Of all of these things, I find packing healthy lunches that the boys will eat to be the most challenging. Sam eats mostly meat, Jonah eats almost no meat, and Ollie used to eat everything but is starting to get a little pickier. Sam’s new love this week is my best attempt at duplicating Subway’s Italian BMT. I bought some sub rolls and put on ham, salami, and pepperoni with a little lettuce. He loves it. But Jonah and Ollie only take bites of their subs with only salami. Jonah and Ollie will eat fresh fruit, but Sam won’t touch it. The only common denominator seems to be yogurt. I started the week packing Sunny Butter sandwiches, but no one was eating them. Mark remembers being sent to school with a peanut butter sandwich five days a week. Thankfully I ate school lunches because I really don’t like peanut butter and that was about the only choice for packed lunches in the ‘olden days’. Anyway, I can see that packing lunches is a constant challenge and I congratulate Heather and Jed for persisting in trying to provide healthy choices. From my experience this week, it is really not easy. I now know why so many parents buy all of those pre-packaged choices at the grocery store. And I also praise Heather and Jed for their bedtime training. The boys just know that after dinner we either take a bath or have some quiet play time. Then we read, go to the bathroom, brush teeth, and tuck in. Sam and Jonah are both asleep by the time they hit the bed. Ollie needs a little more attention, but he has been sleeping through the night (something he doesn’t always do) and not getting up until 7:30ish. He is often up much earlier. He told me last night that he wakes up in the middle of the night but doesn’t call out for me. He said he just rolls over and goes back to sleep. I suggested that he do this all the time, not just when Oma and Granddad are here. I know Heather would appreciate that!

Mark has spent his days working on his public radio consulting job. He is searching for applicants for general manager of Hawaii Public Radio. But thankfully his schedule is flexible and he has been able to help out with all of the above. And even though the boys have had a few spits and spats, they have really been great. Heather called via Skype video on Sunday and Jed called on Monday. I had to laugh when Sam said, “Why are they calling? They haven’t been gone that long.” I know all three miss mommy and daddy, but not one of them has ever mentioned that. So far, they have been real troupers. So Heather and Jed, keep enjoying your time away. After eight years of constant parenting, you deserve a little time to yourselves.

Day 47, Year 11: Happy Birthday to Jed
Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Weather: Rainy and Cooler, High and Low in the 40’s F
Location: At Home with the Goldpebbles in East Falmouth, MA

Today is our son-in-law Jed’s birthday and we sure hope he was able to take time to enjoy his special day in England. Tomorrow afternoon he will be taking the train to Paris and it would be my guess that he and Heather will have a birthday dinner in Paris to celebrate the occasion. If it were me, I know that’s what I would do. But however he chooses to celebrate, we just want to send along our birthday wishes.

Today was definitely a bit crazier than the last couple of days, but we’ll blame that on the weather. It started raining early this morning and continued the drizzle until late evening. Sam and Jonah were home from school by 12:45 pm, so it was a long afternoon with no outside play. By the end of the afternoon, Jonah was bouncing off the walls, but Sam was actually doing okay. I guess there is something to say for maturity. When Ollie got home from preschool, he was really wired, so he and Jonah continued to be a little crazy all evening. But we survived and they are all sleeping like angels right now. Sam will be up by 6:30 or 7:00 am, but he reads quietly in bed while the rest of us sleep a little longer. Ollie has been getting up at about 7:30 and Jonah follows around 7:45. Normally Ollie is up much earlier, so we have been counting our blessings each morning that he is allowing us to sleep a little longer than expected. It is much more civilized to rise at 7:30 am rather than at 6:00!

We accomplished a few things today despite the craziness. We got a good start on Sam’s science project and Jonah’s book report and managed to make a couple of batches of Christmas cookies as well. Hopefully tomorrow will be a low-key, regular kind of day.