I once again realized that in order to maintain a blog you have to have the mindset to maintain a blog. Christine and I went to see the movie Julie and Julia on Monday. What a great movie that is -- lots of good energy -- and what an endorsement for blogging. I came home with the thought that I hadn't posted anything beyond my "giant leap" and should get to it.
I've been reading the Mormon Perkins book regularly. There's a lot of density to the book, both in number of pages and information. I've learned that our branch of the Perkins clan cannot be specifically affixed to one location in Great Britain, and that our beginnings with Richard I (Perkins) have roots in Maryland. Each day I read I feel like I want to get out an enormous sheet of (plotter) paper and draw all the connections just to keep track. I'm sure Eugene (author) must have done this. There's just no other way to do it than graphically.
I'm not quite 100 pages (of 700+) in and the family has moved from Maryland into remote areas of North Carolina and some into Georgia. Looks like their path will next lead them into Tennessee, as soon as we get throught the 1790 census. One of the most remarkable things about this archive is how the history books I've been reading and my history and life are dovetailing. It is so awesome to place Perkins ancestors into the development of a nation, see them crisscross the paths of founding fathers, traverse the waters where Joseph Smith was baptized, and know Perkins people were present in significant places that are now known to this generation by way of books, movies and songs. Perkins represent Americana and the foundation of this country. Can't imagine that ever crossed their minds while they raised large families and struggled day-to-day to make end's meet.
I've read where Perkins family members lived on the Chesapeake Bay, crossed the Susquehannah, moved to the Shenandoah valley, had property on or near the Potomac, settled the wild country of the western Catawba river, and guided others into history. There were those among them who were courageous and valiant, while the occasional rogue makes me realize where I may get some of my own personality. And even as I consider their westward trek and revisiting the roots, what they left behind is now more a part of Christine's family than my own. The Catawba river valley into which they pioneered now sits at the bottom of Lake Norman in North Carolina where Christine's brother and sister have each had a lakeside home.
This reading is great. Makes the connection real. On to where reading connects me to the real and only truth.
I've been reading the Mormon Perkins book regularly. There's a lot of density to the book, both in number of pages and information. I've learned that our branch of the Perkins clan cannot be specifically affixed to one location in Great Britain, and that our beginnings with Richard I (Perkins) have roots in Maryland. Each day I read I feel like I want to get out an enormous sheet of (plotter) paper and draw all the connections just to keep track. I'm sure Eugene (author) must have done this. There's just no other way to do it than graphically.
I'm not quite 100 pages (of 700+) in and the family has moved from Maryland into remote areas of North Carolina and some into Georgia. Looks like their path will next lead them into Tennessee, as soon as we get throught the 1790 census. One of the most remarkable things about this archive is how the history books I've been reading and my history and life are dovetailing. It is so awesome to place Perkins ancestors into the development of a nation, see them crisscross the paths of founding fathers, traverse the waters where Joseph Smith was baptized, and know Perkins people were present in significant places that are now known to this generation by way of books, movies and songs. Perkins represent Americana and the foundation of this country. Can't imagine that ever crossed their minds while they raised large families and struggled day-to-day to make end's meet.
I've read where Perkins family members lived on the Chesapeake Bay, crossed the Susquehannah, moved to the Shenandoah valley, had property on or near the Potomac, settled the wild country of the western Catawba river, and guided others into history. There were those among them who were courageous and valiant, while the occasional rogue makes me realize where I may get some of my own personality. And even as I consider their westward trek and revisiting the roots, what they left behind is now more a part of Christine's family than my own. The Catawba river valley into which they pioneered now sits at the bottom of Lake Norman in North Carolina where Christine's brother and sister have each had a lakeside home.
This reading is great. Makes the connection real. On to where reading connects me to the real and only truth.
