Two friends have jumped on my Bandwagon (with suggestions). I learned of Zephyr Hills yesterday and studied their website. It looks nice but I’m thinking “too ritzy for this country girl.” Look, not a tree in sight. Probably unlikely I’d attract birds to feeders. I suspect they have CC&R (covenants, conditions & restrictions).

“Time” is on my side. I have a yard sale to prepare, and facilitate. Much “downsizing” before I relocate. Via email, and Internet, I’m following Fellowship of Intentional Community. All suggestions welcome!!  Jump on my Bandwagon??

Another link if the reader is also planning for their future. Yet another link.

My situation isn’t quite this severe but I never know when my landlady, or her step-son, will attack me. Watch the Dr. Oz show. “Avoid the situation entirely” according to Dr. Oz.

“Substance abuse” plays a role, in many cases, according to Dr. Oz. That plays a role in my “neighborhood dispute.”  (Truth, not speculation!)

Oops! You may have to search for the video titled What Would You Do If Confronted By a Nasty Neighbor? because an advertisement seems to “hog” the link.

Now, the pile of paperwork is skinny but “yours truly” feels overwhelmed with “What do I do with this?” (More decisions tomorrow.) So I escaped into Ancestry.com. I’m an expert when it comes to “filing” individuals in family trees, on branches. If the weather wasn’t “yucky,”  I would vent my frustration by working in the yard. I’ll spare you a picture of indoor/outdoor thermometer. It is 45 degrees outdoors at 3:00 PM (95 percent humidity) and several more days (predicted) before we have warmer weather. Frankly, being the end of the month, first of the month, I wanted to fertilize the plants (but I’m NOT going outdoors). I hope for lush growth when the plants go on display en route to a new home.

Click on the link for an introduction to Intentional Communities. I’m researching… and hope to find my “eventual new home.” At my age (84) life is “too short” to continue to live next door to a nasty landlady!!

What are the different kinds of communities?

Every single day 1,400 people visit the online Communities Directory. That is about 2 unique individuals every single minute! About 40,000 people per month — About 1/2 million every year! People are searching for communities to learn about and to be inspired by. They want to connect to and visit places that have changed the rules and developed their own cultures. They want to find their next home or adventure. They want to find other founders to build community together. From over 1,000 intentional communities of a variety of types, focuses, philosophies, geographies, and methods, people are finding ways to gain perspective on and to act on sustainability, cooperation, and possibility.

Afterthought: I did my research regarding emissions from cell towers. I don’t want to live a very short distance from a tower.

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Half a day with limited time on the computer. I took time to prepare a large salad with organic spring greens, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and bell pepper. I cleaned celery, and carrots. Tasks I neglected because I was (previously) “glued to the computer” (Ancestry.com). I emailed messages to folks I had neglected. Returning from the mailbox (snail mail), I picked up armfuls of limbs blown to the ground in recent wind storm. Added another ear of corn to the “twister“ for the squirrels. ~~ A step in the right direction as I accomplish additional projects this afternoon and evening.

An entire day without time on Ancestry.com. I feel like I’m half a person!! Compare this to a smoker without a cigarette, an alcoholic without a drink, a drug addict without drugs??

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The “help” cartoon is an exaggeration. My pile of paperwork wasn’t quite that high and I don’t need help. I just need to spend less time “climbing the family tree.”

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Yesterday, I received this email request (abbreviated for this blog message):

We are second cousins, connected by the most wonderful…

However, it occurred to me that we might be connected geographically and genealogically.  There was a fellow in the next town over, named Johnny Frantz.  He was a farmer’s kid and I roomed with him in college for a year.  He was great guy and I just wondered if he might be related to you.

He lived in Hartley, Texas in the Texas Panhandle in the 1960’s.  His family were farmers and that’s all I know.  They were pretty well off (at least compared to me.)

“Yours truly” laughed and said (to herself) “No suggested birth year? I’m supposed to search on this limited information?” I went to my Ancestry.com database and found seventy-four men named John Frantz. Going down the list, I found one man born in Kansas (not too far from Texas). Clicking on his name, I made the assessment “Too old.” Next: Check for his immediate family, and search Google to see if Hartley County, Texas, is in the “panhandle.” Location OK, and son named John Ray Frantz. (Bingo!) Shared the information with “cousin” and received this reply:

Dear Shirley, (because I referred to myself as “Shirley [Sherlock] Holmes”)

That was him!  He was an only child of a farming family in Hartley, Texas.  I remember that when I roomed with him in college, he didn’t know how to act in a group setting.  He wasn’t exactly spoiled but it was easy to see he was accustomed to the life of the only child.  It was great that you have been able to find an 8^th cousin.

Cheerio, Dr. Watson

Curiosity prompted me to THEN look at the Frantz ancestry of John Ray. To my astonishment (seriously!) he is on the same branch of the “tree” I was currently documenting for the “cousin” who contacted me two days earlier. What are the odds of such a “coincident”? Her pedigree chart was (at that moment) “up” on my second computer.

Wow, Lorraine that is eerily cool! Two requests for the same lineage from two separate locations. I bet you felt like you were in the twilight zone, same thing showing on both computers. Talk about synchronicity!

“Taxed”–but in a good way. I’m not billed for property or income, I’m “taxed” energy-wise by requests for family information. I thought about “Not Invisible Today” for the title of this blog but decided on alternate. In my mind’s eye, I see “cousins” lined up in the yard waiting for my time and attention (lol).

Of great concern for me: “Aging alone.” To my delight, this morning an email message from a dear friend (maybe a “cousin”?) with a link to this article. “Not invisible today” because someone listened to my concerns. I try to banish the fears but I sense my frailty more every day. Confession: Today I don’t have the energy to walk to the refrigerator/freezer (in the laundry room) for ice cream.

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Sometimes I say one thing but do another. I wasn’t “too tired” to go out in the rain and wind to take two pictures. The wind tossed a lot of things around; it created a lot of noise. I walked the yard and no damage (at brief inspection). ~~ At this rate, it will be a while before I’m able to burn those limbs and leaves. Another deferred project!