I ran the Race

Talk about goofy dreams!  And I don't even watch The Amazing Race anymore.    I got up at 4 with a splitting headache. Knew it was one of those that would disappear as soon as I got my head off the pillow so I came out to the living room to sleep for two more hours in my recliner.  At 6 I was still very tired so headed back to bed until 8.  Those on again, off again wake up calls can wear you out and make you groggy, and I'm already debating if a little nap in the recliner might help later this afternoon.

It's no wonder I'm tired.  I was in the Amazing Race last night. Linda Pederson was my partner and I opted to do the first obstacle which was to run from Port Townsend to Hadlock.  Once in Hadlock, I had to stop by this company called Gray Metal to pick up a silk head scarves.  And I had to do a "trick" with these scarves which I couldn't quite get the hang of until Joanne Gilles showed me how to do it.  The distance I had to run was much shorter than the actual distance between PT and Hadlock but there were walls and fences I had to get over and I took them like I was 12.  It's no wonder I woke up dead tired!

I decided to make an early morning run to Safeway while the coffee was brewing and you can usually be assured of having the store to yourself at that hour.  I'm going to make lasagna for supper but I needed some canned tomatoes.  Took a few pictures on the way home.

 Lincoln Street was pretty quiet at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning

 I never tire of stopping to take pictures of the mountains. I may have to invest in a new camera, though. I'm not getting the shots I really want.

 This is where the twins go to school. Stevens Junior High. Mary and Andy almost bought a house turning right on that little road ahead.

 Here's two photos of the old Lincoln School built in 1916 and closed in 1978. The historical society bought it and is fixing it up little by little. They have a fabulous rummage sale one weekend a year where several rooms in the school are FULL of just about anything you're looking for. I always make a point to stop and shop. The genalogocial society building is right next door and this is kind of "my neighborhood" as they're on 8th and I'm on 15th.

 

Picked up a morning paper and the funniest thing I read was a story on ways to keep deer from eating your garden. A motion-sensitive system called 'Scarecrow' was suggested where a sprinkler comes on when it senses movement nearby.  You do need to move the gadget, however, as the deer figure out it's there and use other spots.  It doesn't scare crows, however. They'll fly by on purpose to set them off so they can cool off in the summertime. Crows can be a nuisance but they're still very entertaining.

 

I was going to suspend my genealogy hobby for a while but after one day away, I decided the hell with it!  There's still too much I need to investigate so I'm back at it.  I wrote the Polk County Historical Society hoping they can locate an 1898 obit of my g. grandmother,  Jane Downs.  My plan is to learn more about her and her family.

 

She doesn't show up in the Delaware birth records for 1840 although Delaware births are available online for that period of time.  I'm guessing her first name isn't actually Jane although the references I've found for her are listed as "Jane M."  She named one of her daughters Martha so I'm going to start searching again. Her dad is supposedly 'Ben M. Downs' but I can't find a thing on him either except a listing in the 1850 census showing him, Jane and Jane's mother, Henrietta.

 

I can't find birth records for Henrietta  and you wouldn't believe how many Henriettas, Bens, and Janes there are out there.  A ton of Downs too!  I'm leaning towards thinking Henrietta's name might have been Dorman but there's also a chance she was Charles or Clark.  Unfortunately, the 1840 census doesn't name names, just marks for females and males a certain age.  It's driving me crazy!

 

And that will be my day. I'll stop long enough to throw dinner together and maybe...... I'll head outside this afternoon to pull a few weeds here and there.  We'll see.  If the sun comes out, it could persuade me to venture out and commune with nature.  First, though, I have to get some music going.  Turner Classic Movies is showing the 1960 flick, Where the Boys Are, and it's starting to nauseate.  Funny how I loved that movie over fifty years ago.  Ha!