Entry for November 21, 2007 Moving Day 1974 !!

We started moving up here from the city on November 21st , 1974 with no snow on the ground at all ..... and then it began falling.... and falling..... and falling until the following morning the 22nd when I took this picture........big tent trailer with snow piled high on left in foreground with old snow-clad VW on the right. I was unable to make it home with my last trailer full and spent the night in a mall midway between downtown and our place..... too much snow and too heavy a load.........maybe lousy winter tires back then and steep hills to boot !! Once again we are supposed to get about 14 or 15 inches of the white stuff overnight . Happy Gobbler Day to our American friends !

P.S. Not one November 22nd goes by sincc 1963 that I forget the guy who uttered , " Ich bin ein Berliner ".

Entry for November 16, 2007 Bumpkins and Pumpkins !!!

Growing up at the tail end of the Great Depression and during the Second World War on Pokiok Road just north of Saint John , New Brunswick it would be an understatement to say that " times were tough " and leave it at that. We lived on the fine edge of outright poverty and were it not for my father's working longshore as a stevedore plus his intensive gardening in Summer and my Mom's making every wee bit count , life would have been far more onorous. It was in this setting that I grew to love squash and pumpkin in some form as they were part and parcel of our daily diet from September until supplies in our makeshift root-cellar ran out some time in early March or April of the following year. Folklorically speaking people usually refer to pumpkins and squash as vegetables whereas science classes them as fruit since they and cucumbers , melons , etc develop from a flower while veggies do not !! Even today ... many years later... I still remain a huge fan of these gourds , the generic term used to cover all these tasty items. In fact , I think I shall peel and cook up the small green Buttercup squash in the foreground of the title picture. Sufficeth to say I LOVE GOURDS !!

In the above image the Buttercup is in the foreground sentinelled or flanked by two Acorn squash , a type I eat very little of along with Spaghetti , Butternut and Turban squash. In the background on the left is our classical pumpkin and to the right is a " potiron " atop which I have placed a Turban Squash which I might just dry out , empty and make into an Easter bonnet for my friend , Cindy Anne.The " potiron " is very popular here in Québec .... even meriting a special word other than " citrouille " to set it apart from our everyday pumpkin. It is a great favourite among gourmets for making soup..... even bottled and sold in grocery stores. The " potiron " , as you can see below , is quite squat ..... flattened out...and deeper orange in colour than is its pumpkin kinfolk. My QUESTION to my esteemed and knowledgeable readers is DOES ANYONE KNOW A POPULAR WORD IN ENGLISH FOR " POTIRON " ?

Entry for November 15, 2007 Running Erands in Our Neck of the Woods !

About ten days ago I broke loose from Fluff and went out to run the routine errands.... the bank , post office and supermarket. While in the line up at the bank I happened to gaze over my shoulder and spied my friend , Boris ... It was a chilly day ..... maybe +1 Celcius ...but sunny . Boris is squat and stockily overweight and was barefoot in sandals and sporting soiled white shorts. Everybody else was muffled up and dressed for the weather. Now Boris and I go way back as we had lived in the same apartment building downtown some 35 years ago and we had moved up here to the boonies almost simultaneously so I blurted out spontaneously , " You just got off the plane , Boris ?" In his usual gruff voice Boris queried , " What plane ?"....... to which I replied , " From the Barbados !" Because of the silence everybody .... even the tellers....were tuned into our conversation. The place erupted in laughter... Boris too...

Anyways yesterday Fluff let me go it alone again. So I starrted out at the bank .... in a rather short line up. After a minute a raspy voice spoke up behind me , " Je vois que tu t' es échappé à sa surveillance encore une fois !". . " You' ve snuck out on her again I see!" . I swung around to see the usually scowly jowly face of my friend Boris transformed by a smiley one.... from ear to ear. It was his turn to get a few laughs so I let things be and played the role of stereotyped , bedraggled husband. I decided to let Boris carry the day and not cheapen myself nor him by making some stupid snide remark about his apparel as he looked as though he had just clothed himself at the local Salvation Army haberdashery and would have been easy pickin's. Joking around and humour such as ours should never lose sight of respect for the other guy.

I went from the bank to the post office where , of course , I ran into Boris once again....... complaining about some retarded Income Tax civil servant who kept sending unwarranted mail. From there on to the supermarket where , at Fluff's request . I am picking up items necessary for maintaining harmony between body and soul for the ensuing 48 hours. When I turned the corner near the dairy produce / products I was ambushed by a woman in a white smock , one of those people pushing a certain brand. She saw me put a liter of Lactantia milk in my basket and tried to entice me to try hers by offering me a 10% discount. I told the lady that I wouldn't dare bring anything else home but Lactantia milk ... otherwise my wife ....who is much younger and bigger than myself..... would beat the living daylights out of me. Since I said it with a straight face the woman froze like a doe in the headlights. Just then I saw Boris turn the corner too.... he had been listening to our conversation so he uttered to the poor lady as he wheeled his cart by us , " Il dit vrai..... je connais sa femme..... elle est costaude et méchante..... très méchante !" ....." He's telling the truth..... I know his wife......she's big and mean...... real mean ! He said this without breaking his stride nor cracking a smile........ that is until we both reached the check-out counter where we both had a good chuckle. Another day of routine errands ends.

Running Errands in Our Neck of the Woods !!

About ten days ago I broke loose from Fluff and went out to run the routine errands.... the bank , post office and supermarket. While in the line up at the bank I happened to gaze over my shoulder and spied my friend , Boris ... It was a chilly day ..... maybe +1 Celcius ...but sunny . Boris is squat and stockily overweight and was barefoot in sandals and sporting soiled  white shorts. Everybody else was muffled up and dressed for the weather. Now Boris and I go way back as we had lived in the same apartment building downtown some 35 years ago and we had moved up here to the boonies almost simultaneously so I blurted out spontaneously , " You just got off the plane , Boris ?" In his usual gruff voice Boris  queried , " What plane ?"....... to which I replied , " From the Barbados !"  Because of the silence everybody .... even the tellers....were  tuned into our conversation. The place erupted in laughter... Boris too...

Anyways yesterday Fluff let me go it alone again. So I starrted out at the bank .... in a rather short line up. After a minute a raspy voice spoke up behind  me , " Je vois que tu t' es échappé à sa surveillance encore une fois !". . " You' ve snuck out on her again I see!" . I swung around to see the usually  scowly jowly face of my friend Boris transformed by a smiley one.... from ear to ear. It was his turn to get a few laughs so I let things be  and played the role of stereotyped , bedraggled husband. I decided to let Boris carry the day and not cheapen myself nor him by making some stupid snide remark about his apparel as he looked as though he had just clothed himself at the local Salvation Army haberdashery and would have been easy pickin's. Joking around and humour  such as ours should never lose sight of respect for the other guy. 

I went from the bank to the post office where , of course , I ran into Boris once again....... complaining about some retarded Income Tax civil  servant who kept sending unwarranted mail. From there on to the supermarket where  , at Fluff's request . I am picking up items necessary for maintaining harmony between body and soul for the ensuing 48 hours. When I turned  the corner near the dairy produce / products  I was ambushed by a woman in a white smock , one of those people pushing a certain brand. She saw me put a liter of Lactantia milk in my basket and tried to entice me to try hers by offering me a 10% discount. I told the lady that  I wouldn't dare bring anything else home but  Lactantia milk ... otherwise my wife ....who is much younger and bigger than myself..... would beat the living daylights out of me. Since I said it with a straight face the woman froze like a doe in the headlights. Just then I saw Boris turn the corner too.... he had been listening to our conversation so he uttered to the poor lady as he wheeled his cart by us , " Il dit vrai..... je connais sa femme..... elle est costaude et méchante..... très méchante !" ....." He's telling the truth..... I know his wife......she's big and mean...... real mean ! He said this without breaking his stride nor cracking a smile........ that is until we both reached the check-out counter where we both had a good chuckle. Another day of routine errands ends.  

Mankind's Neverending Quest For the Big Answer !

¨Rethinking , revamping and putting the final touches on the Quantum Theory !

Entry for November 08, 2007 In 1973 We Played The Russians.....

............... AND LOST !!

Climbing Up and Down the Family Tree !!

When you stand under an appletree and shake it you feel pretty certain that apples ....  not peaches nor pears ......are going to conk you on the head.However ,when shaking your family tree the nature and quality of the fallout is not so evident and sure as in the latter . And thus it was for me. I have always been interested in family history and geneology but moreso these last few months...........even going so far as to drag poor Fluff through the back roads of Maine in early September to visit some old Swedish settlements and then , as though by serendipity , end up in nearby Mars Hill and Presque Isle , Maine where my great grandmother's decendants now lived. I renewed old aquaintances and met a few new ones with whom I have been communicating  with by phone and e-mail ever since ..... exchanging tidbits of info while hoping to clarify and put order into our mutually shared bloodlines.

I have been delving into the online federal and provincial records , passenger lists of ships out of Ireland between the years 1833 and 1852 and many other available sources such as my own good  memory and especially from a sit-down session back in 1985 I had with my mother and father who were well into their eighties and very alert and quite knowledgeable  about their origins.I wrote down the results of that meeting. I regret not making the rounds of Saint John City Archives , old newspapers and parish baptismal , marriage and death data while there on holidays last June. Might even make a quick trip with Fluff down that way before the snow starts to fly. Apart from my own interest for my ancestrry I am doing it mainly for my sons and as my wee contribution to the history of the McAnulty / McNulty clan in New Brunswick and elsewheres. The Irish Gaeilge way of writing our name Mac An Ultaigh  ( Son of the Ulstermen ) shows up mainly McAnulty or McNulty when anglicized in the North American records. For the moment my sons don't give a hoot about the question but I feel certain that some day they will rummage through my belongings , find these papers and deem them worthy of interest.

All in all it's been a rewarding quest for roots. I found a few cases of children born out of wedlock , cover ups where daughters are calling a woman  "  auntie " while in reality " auntie " was her biological mother ..... and this same daughter addressing her true siblings as nephew and niece whereas they were her biological brothers and sisters . And there is more !! At least I found nobody doing hard time in federal or provincial slammers ! BG .......... no hereditary ties to the Borgias ......... I hope to post my results in more detail here in Multiply some time soon.

Entry for November 06, 2007 Climbing My Family Tree !!

When you stand under an appletree and shake it you feel pretty certain that apples .... not peaches nor pears ......are going to conk you on the head.However ,when shaking your family tree the nature and quality of the fallout is not so evident and sure as in the latter . And thus it was for me. I have always been interested in family history and geneology but moreso these last few months...........even going so far as to drag poor Fluff through the back roads of Maine in early September to visit some old Swedish settlements and then , as though by serendipity , end up in nearby Mars Hill and Presque Isle , Maine where my great grandmother's decendants now lived. I renewed old aquaintances and met a few new ones with whom I have been communicating by phone and e-mail ever since ..... exchanging tidbits of info while hoping to clarify and put order into our mutually shared bloodlines.

I have been delving into the online federal and provincial records , passenger lists of ships out of Ireland between the years 1833 and 1852 and many other available sources such as my own excellent memory and especially from a sit-down session back in 1985 I had with my mother and father who were well into their eighties and very alert and knowledgeable about their origins. I wrote down the results of that meeting. I regret not making the rounds of Saint John City Archives , old newspapers and parish baptismal , marriage and death data while there on holidays last June. Might even make a quick trip with Fluff down that way before the snow starts to fly. Apart from my own interest for my ancestrry I am doing it mainly for my sons and as my wee contribution to the history of the McAnulty / McNulty clan in New Brunswick and elsewheres. The Irish Gaeilge way of writing our name Mac An Ultaigh ( Son of the Ulstermen ) shows up mainly McAnulty or McNulty when anglicized in the North American records. For the moment my sons don't give a hoot about the question but I feel certain that some day they will rummage through my belongings , find these papers and deem them worthy of interest.

All in all it's been a rewarding quest for roots. I found a few cases of children born out of wedlock , cover ups where daughters are calling a woman " auntie " while in reality " auntie " was her biological mother ..... and this same daughter addressing her true siblings as nephew and niece whereas they were her biological brothers and sisters . And there is more !! At least I found nobody doing hard time in federal or provincial slammers ! No ties to the Borgias !! BG I hope to post my results in more detail ........ the full unadulterated version .......in Multiply some time soon.

Entry for November 03, 2007 Be Watchful and Caring !!!

I woke up this morning , looked out the front window and instantly became quite angry. Overnight the city workers had come and installed the above sign smack in front of our house !!