Life has been so trying recently.
The painting, the repairs, the weather, the knees aching, all have been irking me.
So for two days I did nothing.
This has not helped in any way but I am enjoying it anyway.
Actually I did catch up on family research. An American, one of the more sensible ones, contacted me regarding an email from 8 years ago.
He moves at my speed.
Looking into my records I realised they were in a mess and have had to go through what little I have found and put it into some order. This has been effective as Robert had disappeared and I could not find any details about him. However I now know he died in 1898 and have sent off for the birth certificate (£24) to discover why he died at 24. It was rumoured he took poison and this is likely. His mother (my grandfathers first wife) ended up in a lunatic asylum, this guy apparently died by suicide and by the time she was 13 a sister of his was living in Whitley Bay with an aunt.
Something was not right in the house.
No wonder granddad took to drink!
The girl in Whitley Bay eventually married well, her sister in Edinburgh did also. Both died early from disease I think and the Edinburgh one was replaced by the elder sister. Keep it in the family I say.
One brother joined the Royal Navy and so some service during the Great War, not much I reckon. Another had moved to Canada just in time to enlist in 1915 and do the decent thing and get shot at Ypres in 1916. Now I need to know why Robert died!
Robert is a problem name as almost everyone with our surname made use of it, from father to son and on, brother, cousin, uncle all of them had Robert somewhere and there were many with that name in the borders! There are many false leads to chase here. However that took up much of my time and didn't involve walking anywhere. Today I have completed that part of the task and now need to check those one step backward, being 'backward' was an accusation often offered to my family, notably myself for some reason.
Remarkably it is 50 years since the great music festival of Woodstock!
Quite how those years have passed without me noticing is worrying.
Sadly we never made it to the USA for the event, we could not get time off and on £8 a week the travelling costs were beyond us. However we made it to the 'Caley' cinema in Lothian Road for the three hour film off the event which we enjoyed and I still remember of the acts.
Proper music, off its time and representative of a movement that was intended to change the world for the better. The 'establishment' did not like nor understand it however, it certainly did not suit the neat shirt and tie, short haired US image that so many had foisted on them, and still do in places. But it spoke to the youth of the world and still does.
Of course it was based on a lie.
'Love one another' but it forgot about human nature. Many of the acts were not loving to one another, human nature was seen all around even if the majority attempted to get along with one another you can bet there were hurt feelings abounding. Only Jesus can change us and while 'Woodstock' represented a movement of a sort it failed because of our natures.
The music was good, it still is, while today's shallow computer made ballads fronted by women who all look the same does not make any attempt to improve the world in any way. There was a desire for change, today's music only appears to reflect emptiness or selfishness. Maybe I am wrong.
