There were a few...interesting...things that came up in my three-day time travel adventure. I didn't post them as part of yesterday's blog because that was more about unearthing family history than wondering about these peculiar little bits...
1. As a teenager I used to haunt Powell's, a bookstore in Portland, before they went mainstream, and in the heaps and piles and stacks of old books, I discovered a man who wrote perfect, succinct stories that always ended with an unexpected twist. His name was O. Henry. At some point in my twenties I began writing short stories and am still inspired by his style today.
One day I wrote a story about a man named Thomas Barrow. He lived in the 1800s and was a caretaker at a cemetery. He was in love with a ghost. That's all I remember of the story and I'm not even sure I finished it; I haven't given it a single thought in years. Until Thursday, when I discovered that my 6th great-grandfather lived in the 1800s. His name was Thomas Barrow.
2. A branch of my family came from Kent, a home county in England. They lived in various villages from the mid-1500s into the late 1600s. Time and the centuries roll by. Their descendants--having landed in America and moved ever westward--set down their roots in a small community south of Seattle. Called Kent.
3. I share my birthday with four of my great-grandmothers and one great-grandfather. I don't know if that's just a matter of the odds and numbers, but looking over the whole list of 148, there are no other shared dates.
4. Rarely do I pay attention to my horoscope, but for some reason I read it this morning...
Your family life has taken priority over just about everything else for the past few days. Try to find a little peace and quiet for yourself today. Take the chance to relax and recharge your batteries a bit.
And on that note, I'm going to do just that...
Enjoy the holiday weekend everyone!
