The stories of Genesis are a family story. It is amazing to see how the thought that the eldest daughter must marry first carried down through the ages. In a family of seven children I always knew I was number four. It was an interesting place to be actually. All the emphasis was on the two eldest (a daughter and a son) although the third child, the brother next to me in age had a special spot in the family because he was named for a young man who died in the Second World War. I was the listener in the family I think (actually named for my grandmother Blake's mother (Elizabeth Rawlins)) and perhaps in every family there is a listener; since I have kept to myself on a personal level that is unknown to me but simply a suspicion. I was really freer to pursue my life I think than my older siblings as they had the position of eldest daughter and eldest son to fulfill so had much expected of them. The next was named for one who died in the Second World War as a young man, Douglas Haig McAlpine, just 24 years of age in 1942. Douglas Haig McAlpine was one of the Rovers (Scouting) known to my parents also heavily involved in Scouting/Guiding during the 1920s, 1930s and into the 1940s in London, Ontario.
The Bible is a powerful book read by many the world over and much of the Old Testament is the basis of the three major religions of the world - Christianity, Islam and Judaism. What do I accomplish in re-reading once again the entire Bible from cover to cover? I am not sure what I am looking for but the desire to re-read is powerful in my mind and I will read to the end of Revelations. I already feel calmer in my mind as if it is something that I need to do at this age of nearly 81 years. I am mostly withdrawn from the world around me except for my blog which is on a public forum.
Today is cleaning day and it is the top floor. Shortly I will clean the bathroom first and then vacuum and dust. The usual order as that is the way that I live in an orderly fashion. The tree is now gone from next door and the tomato plants are growing much quicker as they are getting more sun in the morning now. They would have grown anyway but perhaps not quite as fast or as large as they are now. There is too much shade in the yard now for that type of plant to do well. The walnut tree dominates and blocks out all the sun through the afternoon but contributes nothing as it is a tree weed rather than a favoured greenhouse tree. It poisons the ground around it trying to grow more walnut trees!
Yesterday was a quiet day and actually very warm but we spent most of it indoors working on our projects. The special Indigenous Prayer Service at Church also included a tribute to Father's Day and the last day for the Choirs to sing as a block until the Fall return. The hymns will now be many of my favourites as one must count on the members of the congregation to sing and less common hymns are not generally chosen in this Common Time of the Church Year that is the Trinity or the Pentecost as it has been named these last years. It is the time of Jesus taking on his Ministry and ends with Christ the King Sunday just prior to Advent One. It is the way I live my life now following the Church Calendar just as I did as a child.
I am working on the First Chromosome for the Blake file and it is slow work. Parts of it are known to me and it includes a number of common areas that are probably looking at areas in the British Isles so I might need to regard that thought as I work my way through. The preponderance of matches early in the length are shared with individuals having early Colonial ancestry in the New England States. The Blake grandparent includes both Blake and Knight. The Blake from Andover, Hampshire, England area and the Knight from the area to the west and south of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. Both groups are known to be colonials with Blake being primarily in New England and Knight primarily in Newfoundland. Separating Blake and Knight is the object and it will take a while to sort through the First chromosome. All the other chromosomes are ready to look at the small number that I could not separate into Blake or Knight. Phasing the great-grandparents is simply bringing my known lines squarely back into the 1800s beginning with 1837 (the eldest of the eight great-grandparent was born (William Robert Pincombe) and the youngest great-grandparent was born in 1859 (Ellen Taylor). Seven of the great-grandparents appear on the census of the British Isles (six of them died and are buried in the British Isles). One great-grandparent was born in Canada (parents from Holme on the Wolds, East Riding of Yorkshire and Bewcastle, Cumberland) as my first Canadian born ancestor (Grace Gray, 1839) and one migrated as a child with his family William Robert Pincombe in 1850 (coming to what became Canada from England was thought to be just migrating to another area that was part of the British Empire rather than emigration). Both of these individuals are buried in Canada.
Time for breakfast, tea all drank and solitaire puzzles to do.
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