Our Wander Years

George and Melissa (Freeman) Richardson

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Sparky

Headstone

I haven’t done much genealogical research lately, though I have been getting a lot of exercise walking cemeteries. This morning I decided to catch up on some accumulated Ancestry.com “hints.” In doing so I think I solved – at least partially – one of the great mysteries in my ancestry: how George Watson Freeman, a 2nd great-grandfather who was born in Ohio, met and married Melissa Jane Freeman, born in Missouri. They married, probably in Kansas but possibly in Colorado, in 1865 and settled in Wisconsin in 1873. They are buried together in the East Pine River Cemetery in Yuba, Wisconsin. I found and photographed their headstone in 2017.

See the mystery? Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Kansas, Wisconsin. How the heck did that all come about? That is a lot of travel at a time when railroads were just being established in the middle of America.

Today I dug into some records – both old and newly-discovered – and can now provide some details of these movements.

First, George’s father and mother, Zacheus and Sarah Ann “Sally” (Francisco) Richardson, 3rd great-grandparents, were pioneers in their own right. Both were born in the Northeast – he in Springfield VT (in the Connecticut River valley) and she in German NY, near Binghamton. Sometime before 1827 they both moved west, to Ohio, which was the “wild west” at that time. They married in 1827 in Mayfield OH, a town which he helped found. George was born there in 1840.

Apparently Ohio in 1845 wasn’t wild enough because Zacheus and Sally picked up their family then and moved even further west, to Illinois when George was just 5. They purchased 80.2 acres in McHenry County IL, just west of Chicago, on June 1, 1845. The farm grew to over 120 acres before Zacheus’ death in 1865.

George inherited his parents’ pioneering spirit and as a young man of 19 became a miner, first in Utah and then in Colorado. In 1862 he enlisted in the US Army, serving during the Civil War in Company G, Second Regiment of the Colorado Volunteer Infantry. He served there 3 years, after which he reenlisted in Company E, Second Colorado Cavalry. It was between those enlistments that he married Melissa Freeman. She must have been with him, based at a frontier fort in the west, until he mustered out, probably after 2 or 3 years. They lived for a while in Lawrence, Kansas, before moving to LaFarge, Wisconsin, in 1873.

I found a note that described the Second Regiment as “being raised by ‘Buckskin Joe.’” This apparently refers to Joe Higgenbottom, a miner who discovered gold in Colorado in 1860, leading to a gold rush. It is pretty likely that this gold discovery is what brought George to Colorado from Utah and why he later joined Buckskin Joe’s regiment.

I found the following account of his time in the infantry:

He served principally in the west and southwest, having first proceeded with his command to New Mexico, and later having been at St. Louis, Fort Scott, Kansas and Fort Smith, Arkansas, hunting for bushwhackers. He finally returned with his command to Colorado and at Fort Riley he received his honorable discharge May 12, 1865.

Fort Riley is actually in Kansas. He married Melissa Freeman in April 1865, just prior to his discharge, probably at Fort Riley. She was probably living in or near Fort Riley at that time.

I don’t have any description of his time in the cavalry, but I can imagine that he was involved in protecting the pioneer settlements in the west from Indian attacks. If he spent any time at Fort Riley then he probably met Major General George Custer who was in command of Fort Riley for a time starting in 1866.

So this answers the basic question of how a woman born in Missouri got into my family tree – she met a gold miner and soldier in the wild west. This is one of the more colorful leaves on my tree and Melissa Freeman is a critical link to our Virginia ancestors; all other branches came through New England or New York.

Categories: Family, Genealogy | 2 Comments

Air conditioning!

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Sparky

I bought an air conditioner for the shed on March 3, 2019 – just over a year ago. The intent, at the time, was to get it installed to keep the shed cool through the summer of 2019. Didn’t happen. And attempts to get it installed this year hadn’t gotten anywhere. But, finally, it got installed this week.

Ribbing

The major icebreaker was reaching agreement with the contractor on the cost of plumbing, insulation and carpentry – including installation of the air conditioner. A construction permit was pulled last week and a few days later two workmen showed up at my door (but stood 6 feet away) offering to begin work. The first step was to install “ribbing” in the ceiling, to make room for the required R-19 insulation. I dutifully cleared out some of the stuff to make room (most was on the shelving in the middle of the room which they said I could leave). I asked if they would be installing the air conditioner and they said they would. But not that day.

But they surprised me. I guess the ribbing work went faster than expected and by the end of the day the air conditioner was installed and operational.

But not remotely controlled.

After I bought the air conditioner I tested it to make sure it worked and configured it for remote control in the (vain) hope that I could get someone to install it while we were north last summer and could then monitor and control it from there. But when I took a look for the remote control app on my phone it was nowhere to be found. Don’t know why it disappeared, but it was gone. I would have to download and configure it again. Frustrating, but no big deal. It didn’t take much effort the first time and the second time should be even easier. Right?

So I downloaded the app and almost immediately hit a roadblock: I needed the password from the label on the right side of the air conditioner. But, now installed in the wall, the label could no longer be seen. So I had to call for technical support. That took three phone calls before I found a person who could help. Then I had to download a second app to get the MAC address of the air conditioner. But the tech support guy was able to use that to look up the password and I was then able to finish the configuration. I can now monitor and control the air conditioner from anywhere in the world where I have cell phone or WiFi access.

Yes, I wrote down the password in case I need it again.

All of this was done during mounting concern over the COVID-19 pandemic. I made it a point to keep as distant as possible from the workmen, to never touch them and, just once, when I was inspecting the air conditioner installation, getting within 3 feet of either of them. Later that day, when walking Rusty, I stopped by the newly-closed pool. If there is a photo that captures the impact of the pandemic in the RV resort, this is it. An empty pool on a beautiful “in season” afternoon. Sad.

Air conditioner, installed

Shuttered pool

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Gearing up for a blog upgrade

Posted on March 22, 2020 by Sparky

I am – or was – a professional software developer. I spent over 45 years developing commercial software, mostly of high quality. The term “development cycle” is one that I have heard so many times that it may be tattooed on my forehead. So why, in the 9 years since I started this blog, have I not upgraded the underlying blogging software?

Laziness, mostly. And a firm belief that if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.

But now it is broken. Well, it has been broken for several years, really. Those few of you who followed the blog in the early years might recall that the blog’s original theme included a graphic banner. That disappeared about 5 years ago. The feature that allowed a reader to filter by date or tag was lost two or three years ago. It is no longer possible now to scroll back in time further than the list of posts that are provided on the page. All of these features just disappeared, without warning, over time, as, I presume, parts of the underlying technologies became incompatible with each other. I am now getting warning messages that the WordPress blogging software that is the keystone to the whole operation is about to become obsolete.

I can no longer ignore all of these failures. Time to bite the bullet and try to bring the blog up to date. This is going to require some work on my part. That is okay – I am retired and with the coronavirus raging, what better time to stay indoors and work on a project like this? But there is a risk that I could screw it up and completely break the whole thing. I am hoping that the technologies that need to be upgraded are forgiving and “idiot proof.” But I think it is possible that the blog could go dark for a while.

My hope, however, is that the upgrade will go smoothly and the the blog will emerge with all of the original capabilities restored. And maybe some new ones added. The look-and-feel will certainly change.

If you have any thoughts about features to be added, let me know.

Otherwise, please just pray that I don’t mess this up.

Categories: Blogging | Leave a comment

Flooring!

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Sparky

After many months of inaction, there is now some movement toward getting a washer/dryer installed in the shed. The main goal right now is plumbing – can’t wash clothes without water – but I also have to get the air conditioner installed and get the walls insulated. I spoke to a contractor last week and a plumber before that and came to an agreement on price. The contractor applied for a building permit on Monday (yes, the county office was still open for business, unlike almost everything else).

And I confirmed that I could install the flooring without affecting any of the upcoming work.

So I worked this past weekend – in sweltering 90-degree heat and oppressive humidity – installing the laminate flooring that I had bought a year ago. The installation was not difficult – I just had to make sure the the tongue-in-groove boards mated tightly so there were no unsightly spaces – but I had no power tools and had to saw everything by hand. And the biggest job was moving everything out of the shed then, when done, moving it all back in again.

I think the job took about 6 hours spread over two days. And about a gallon of sweat. I haven’t worked that hard in years. Jett got a photo of me when I came in for a break – my shirt was SOAKED.

But I got ‘er done. And it looks great.

Nearing completion

Sweat

Completed

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“The Steel Kiss” by Jeffery Deaver

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Sparky

I like Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme books (this is 12 in a series of 14). Some of the puzzles that he has to unravel are among the most intricate – and perverted – of all the mysteries that I have read. His villains are among the most cunning, savage and brutal. I usually can’t put the book down.

I put this one down. Frequently.

A little background for those not familiar with Lincoln Rhyme. He is a quadriplegic, a former captain in the NYPD whose spinal cord was damaged beyond repair while working a crime scene. Since that time he has worked as a consultant to the NYPD, solving some of their knottiest cases. He is ably assisted by Amelia Sachs, an active NYPD detective and lover who is engaged to Rhyme. There are several other active NYPD detectives who assist. It is a formidable crew, dedicated to solving the crime(s) through thorough analysis of meager trace evidence.

The Rhyme books are not classic whodunnits – we know who the culprit is (mostly). He even gets his own first person narrative in parts of this book. The mystery is the motive and how he will be caught.

This book is complex in that no fewer than 4 – or is it 5 – separate stories are intertwined. The unsub – he is actually called “Unsub 40” through much of the book – is a tall, rail-thin man who is suspected of several heinous crimes. Sachs is hot on his trail at the inception, only to be thwarted as she closes in on her prey as he is eating lunch in a shopping mall by the intervention of a horrible accident – a man falls into the workings of an escalator and is chewed to death as Sachs tries to save him. But we soon learn that it wasn’t an accident – someone hacked the wireless controller embedded in the escalator, causing the cover plate on the gearbox to open while operating. I don’t think it will spoil much if I tell you that the hacker is Unsub 40 and he popped the cover while having lunch.

Lincoln, who in this book has terminated his work with the NYPD, takes on a task for the lawyer representing the wife of the chewed-up shopper. Eventually Sachs and Rhyme figure out they are dealing with the same perp and join forces. But there are still other subplots: the appearance of Sach’s old flame, an ex-cop who was sent upriver for a truck hijacking that he now claims he didn’t do, a drug dealer that another detective is trying to nail because he thinks it will get Lincoln working for NYPD again, and the actions of the unsub’s mysterious and somewhat pathetic girlfriend. It is all pretty confusing. It all comes together at the end, but you have to embark on a torturous ride to get there.

There are plot twists. Lots of plot twists. But, more than any other Lincoln Rhyme book, this one seemed to rely less on evidence and more on dumb luck and conclusions based on very thin evidence. The reader is asked to buy into some fairly far-fetched wrinkles in the plot. I didn’t buy into them and so had a hard time getting through to the end. It felt like a slog in some very thick quicksand.

5 out of 10.

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Life in the time of corona

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Sparky

Two weeks ago if you had said “corona” I would have said “beer.” Now? Maybe “death.” How quickly things can change!

I am not panicked. I think the extreme actions taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic – cancellation or postponement of sporting events, shutting down Broadway, closing Disneyworld – are probably overreactions. But appropriate overreactions. The downside of taking no action – death for thousands of elderly – is worse than the downside of taking action – economic disruption.

We had an HOA meeting on Tuesday to elect our first Board of Directors. That meant a gathering of over 200 mostly elderly people in one room. This is a group of very healthy elderly folks, but I have to admit that I was very sensitive to the sound of coughing. Fortunately there were very few coughs during the 90-minute meeting, but every time I heard one I was speculating whether Typhoid Mary was in attendance.

Even our senior softball games have changed slightly. Instead of the after-game high-fives it is now a line of elbow bumps. I guess we are fortunate in that we never have more than 10 spectators, so we aren’t running afoul of any “large gathering” restrictions.

Anyway, wash your hands, stay at least 6 feet away from me and hopefully we will both survive the next couple of months.

Categories: Health | Leave a comment

My last colonoscopy

Posted on March 8, 2020 by Sparky

HealthPark Hospital atrium

Yes, I had a colonoscopy on Friday. I was overdue – I was on the “5-year plan” and it was at least 7 years since my last one and perhaps as long as 9. I don’t enjoy colonoscopies any more than most; it is just something that needs to be done occasionally. Probably similar to breast exams.

As always the preparation was the worst part of the experience. Drinking 4 liters of what seemed like diluted antifreeze is not fun. But I got it down successfully, finishing it off 3 hours before the procedure.

Jett is unable to drive right now, so I asked my neighbor, Mark, to pick me up. He graciously agreed to do that and even more graciously offered to drive me there, too – 30 minutes each way. I thought this was asking too much and because I thought there would be perhaps a 3-hour interval between dropoff and pickup, it would mean 2 round trips. Too much to ask.

So Plan A was to take Uber. This would be an adventure as I had never taken an Uber anywhere before by myself. I downloaded the app, got the payment details set up and was ready to schedule the ride Friday morning. But when I tried to do that – about 8 times – I got an error stating that the payment could not be completed. Don’t know why. Something to figure out before my next attempt at using Uber. In the meantime, I have been charged $50 for my Uber account which is still unused.

Plan B was a conventional taxi. So I called at 8:30am to arrange an 11:40am pickup. I would meet the taxi at the gate to avoid the complexities of getting into the community and finding my site. So I was at the gate by 11:40am but by 11:45am had not seen a taxi. I called the company, asking if a taxi was en route. No, they said, but I would get “the next driver who was in the area.” The driver would call when he was on his way. As I had no expectation that any driver would EVER be “in the area” I had to move on to Plan C – call Mark.

Mark was at McDonald’s, but agreed to pick me up and drive me to the hospital. Which he did (THANK YOU, MARK).

Plan D, if it had been needed, was to drive myself and worry about recovering the car on Saturday.

I was a few minutes late getting to the hospital – and they called me at 12:32pm to see if I was planning on being there. I assured them that I was just a few minutes away.

The taxi driver called at 12:39pm – one hour late – and I told him that his services were no longer needed.

I got through registration and into my gown by 1pm and was immediately taken into the procedure room. The anesthesia was administered shortly thereafter with the warning that “this will sting a little.” It did and my last conscious thought was “how long will the sting last?” and then I was out. Some 30 minutes later I was suddenly awake – 1:37pm by my watch – and was informed that the colonoscopy was finished. Mark received a call at 1:39pm to pick me up. Amazing efficiency. I was in Mark’s truck, on my way home, a few minutes after 2pm – exactly 1 hour after I was rolled into the procedure room. Obviously my expectation of a 3-hour procedure was wildly off target.

Mark, wisely, had not left the area. He used the time to pick up dinner – lobster rolls – from the Cape Cod Fish Company. He had thoughtfully gotten lobster rolls for Jett and me, too. Delicious! And a nice way to break my fast.

So all of this was interesting in a “my, how things have changed!” sort of way. But the most memorable part of the whole experience was afterward, as the tubes and electrodes were being removed, when the nurse told me that I had completed my “last colonoscopy.” Because the colonoscopy had gone so well – no polyps – I was back on the 10-year plan. And because they don’t do colonoscopies on anyone over 80, I would never need one again.

She said this with a smile and I could see how she thought this was great news. But to someone my age, being told that this was, without any question, the last time I would experience this in my lifetime was quite sobering. It was like an official notification that I have entered the End Stage of Life.

As a memento of the occasion I was given a postcard-sized photograph of the interior of my large colon. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to possess such a thing and I certainly am not going to include it here (you’re welcome). But I haven’t completely ruled out using it as my 2020 Christmas card photo.

Categories: Adventures, FL, Health, Places | 1 Comment

Winter potpourri

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Sparky

Yellow hibiscus

New red flowering tree

Rusty back home

This has not been a winter season of great events. Jett has rarely gotten out of the RV for any reason other than to get to medical appointments. We haven’t had any visitors, with the exception of my softball buddies (see previous post) and a quick visit from son Josh, to return Rusty.

Yes, Rusty is back with us. If you recall, Josh drove all the way from VA to FL to pick up Rusty in advance of our cruise. I felt that it would be unfair to ask him to also make the trip to return Rusty, so my plan was to drive up to get him. The post-cruise cold killed that plan, however. Rather than delay the return, Josh and Cristina made the trip to get the boy back where he belongs. We are truly grateful. Thank you, Josh and Cristina!

When we returned from the cruise we met our new neighbors, Joshua (yes, another Joshua) and Gary, from Georgia. If you recall, they were in Ft Myers while we were still in MA and saved our bacon by starting the truck when the battery ran low. I was thrilled to meet them and thank them in person for that. I think we will get along great. We are blessed with two wonderful neighbors. While we like many of the residents of the park, we don’t like them all. We could easily have gotten neighbors that we would have a hard time being civil to. Not a problem we have to deal with, thankfully.

We lost both of our small trees at the front of our site – the purple bush that blew over in the wind before we arrived and the beautiful red hibiscus. Apparently the hibiscus was diseased. The purple bush has been replaced by a similar red bush and the red hibiscus has been replaced by a yellow hibiscus. The new hibiscus is small now, but I am assured that it will become fairly large – maybe 5′ tall and 5′ wide.

Mardi Gras parade

The park had a Mardi Gras parade this year. It was larger than I would have expected but consisted mostly of decorated golf carts. No lawn chair brigade, ala Rockport. Unbeknownst to us, it was associated with a pet shelter fundraiser so I felt a little bad when the truck with food donations rolled by at the end of the parade and I had nothing to give.

I tried to start a genealogy group at the park. It has sputtered and has probably died. Only 3 people came in the first 3 weeks, then I had the cruise and the cold, so it has been a month with no meetings (unless those 3 met without me). A nice try, but I will count it as a failure.

Much of my spare time, both before the cruise and post-cold, has been spent taking photographs in the Lee Memorial Park, a large cemetery for over 10,000 souls. I noticed that it had over 1,800 unphotographed graves and I took it as a challenge to cut into that number this winter. Walking this large cemetery is both good – and free – exercise and attaching photographs to the memorials in findagrave.com gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I believe I have photographed over 800 so far. Thankfully, digital photography is basically zero cost. I never could have done this with film.

Softball started in January and, with the exception of the 2 weeks on the cruise, I have roamed the outfield in every game. The team has not done well and my performance has been spotty, at best. But, again, good exercise.

Add in the medical appointments and that covers much of what has kept me busy since we arrived in Nov. Not exciting, but better than shoveling snow, right?

Categories: FL, Friends, Places, RV Living, RV Parks | Leave a comment

Spring training, 2020

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Sparky

Mike, me and Dave at JetBlue Park

My old softball buddies from Massachusetts, Mike and Dave, once more came to Florida for Red Sox spring training. As has become our custom, we each hosted one game. The schedule this year:

Mike – Phillies vs Red Sox, Thu Feb 27
Me – Red Sox vs Twins, Fri Feb 28
Dave – Atlanta vs Red Sox, Sun Mar 1

Two games at JetBlue Park, the Red Sox home field, and one at CenturyLink Park, the Twins home field.

The weather didn’t exactly cooperate. Last year we got to just two games as one was rained out. This year we got to all 3 games, but it was very cold – especially for the first game. The temperature for that game was low 60’s with a strong breeze. It wasn’t just chilly; it was COLD. The stands were empty by the 9th inning, a combination of the cold and the Red Sox playing so poorly. Final score: a 12-5 loss.

JD hitting a triple

JD in the dugout, right in front of us

The game at CenturyLink was a bit warmer, about 68 degrees, and we sat in the sun. The Red Sox pitching was better, but the hitting wasn’t (except for JD Martinez who hit a triple and a home run), so they lost that one, too, 4-1. The seats were great, though – right behind the Red Sox dugout. And in the sun.

The third game’s weather was just slightly cooler than normal, about 72 degrees. Apparently the Red Sox pitching liked the warmth and they ended up winning this one 4-2. It should have been 4-0 but the excellent pitching melted down in the 9th, giving up 2 walks, 2 hit batters and a single. The game ended with the tying run on second base. Our seats for this game were right down the right field line – an interesting perspective on the game. We were kind of hoping to get a foul ball, but no such luck. Perhaps we should be careful what we wish for because the foul ball that came closest hit a woman on the arm. EMTs escorted her away, probably for X-rays.

Our view from right field at JetBlue

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MSC1 Day 15: Disembarkation

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Sparky

Getting off the ship was a lot easier than getting on. Maybe a bit too easy. We were assigned to the first group after the elite Yacht Club folks to disembark. We were told to be in the theater by 8am. We got there at 7:45 and then I went out, hoping to get a final itemized bill (which they said would be delivered to me by 8pm the previous night, but which never appeared). So I was at the other end of the long shopping mall when our group was called and I had to hustle back to find Jett, fighting against the flow all the way. She was a bit miffed when I got there, feeling abandoned, I guess. But all was well. We were escorted to the front of the line (thanks, wheelchair!) and were through customs and in a taxi by 8:30 and at the truck before 9am.

The hardest part of the trip back was finding fuel. I probably had enough to make it, but running out of fuel in Alligator Alley (50 miles without a gas station) was something to be avoided, so I wanted to fill up. The first place I tried had diesel at a reasonable price, but accepted cash only. The second place was a RaceTrak advertised before an exit on I-75, but I couldn’t find it. The third place turned out to be nearly 3 miles from the exit, so I got back on and kept going. The fourth try was the charm, sort of. But I pulled in behind two utility trucks who proceeded to occupy the only 2 diesel pumps in the place. I was cursing a blue streak by that point and it must have worked because one of the trucks pulled out without refueling. I pulled in and loaded up with 22 gallons. That meant that there were 8 gallons left in the tank, which would have gotten me to Naples, but I would have been gnawing on my fingernails.

The rest of the trip was uneventful.

Jett went in for a nap (she felt a cold coming on) while I went out and bought $82 of groceries. I came back, unloaded and then went to meet our new neighbors, Joshua and Gary, a gay couple who were enjoying their new tiki hut which was constructed while we were away. I enjoyed meeting them. Nice guys.

That evening I started getting the “coming down with a cold” feeling. That led into a stretch of 3 days in which I was as sick as I have been in many years. Running nose, cough and profuse sweating. 3 miserable days. Jett was pretty sick, too, but she got on Tamiflu on Monday and that seems to have helped a bit. But because she was ill her infusion was delayed for a week.

Anyway, it is now Thursday and while I can’t claim to be fully recovered, I have concluded that I am going to survive.

Hell of a way to end a vacation.

Categories: FL, Health, MSC1, Places | 1 Comment