One of the most meaningful things I did was care for the graveyard of my Ulster Scott ancestor (and his relatives) who came over in the 1700's (I have the boat log listing him and his children), having documents of him serving in 1776, starting a family farm (burned down at the Civil).
Stupid kids knocked down the gravestone of that first ancestor with a sledgehammer, as a kid my grandfather took me to the site and we repaired the stones the best we could.
I know who I am because I have felt the roots with my own hands. When people attack our history they are literally attacking me personally because those roots connect to me.
This is the exact kind of thing we should be doing. Everyone should make a habit of visiting the family plot once a year at least if it’s nearby. It’s all part of becoming *embodied* again. It’s a pilgrimage, as I like to say.
Growing up in the fifties and sixties I remember beautiful magazines devoted to our region and TV specials recounting episodes of local history and charming antidotes from the very old. Also museums and roadside attractions displayed the color and heritage of the locality. I devoured these with great interest and would enjoy seeing a revival. Children need this and we all will benefit.
Wonderful and timely post. There are ample opportunities in our present moment to work towards positive local identities (and even a shared American identity), which were assumed in the past, but put on hold since WWII or so. Time to press play once again on American history.
"Do YOU know who you are anon?"
This essay is a great example of why this question and it's answer are important.
As AA and Turley mentioned on a recent video: this is no longer a war of Ideology, but of Identity.
One of the most meaningful things I did was care for the graveyard of my Ulster Scott ancestor (and his relatives) who came over in the 1700's (I have the boat log listing him and his children), having documents of him serving in 1776, starting a family farm (burned down at the Civil).
Stupid kids knocked down the gravestone of that first ancestor with a sledgehammer, as a kid my grandfather took me to the site and we repaired the stones the best we could.
I know who I am because I have felt the roots with my own hands. When people attack our history they are literally attacking me personally because those roots connect to me.
This is the exact kind of thing we should be doing. Everyone should make a habit of visiting the family plot once a year at least if it’s nearby. It’s all part of becoming *embodied* again. It’s a pilgrimage, as I like to say.
Try and tax a man all you wish but don't you dare try and seize his precious honey or you get lyrical war poets coming after you.
The urbanite mind cannot comprehend why rural Missouri would kill for a good honey hive.
Lilburn Boggs (and another one of his wars) figures in to my book. Free. https://runatthunder.com/
Growing up in the fifties and sixties I remember beautiful magazines devoted to our region and TV specials recounting episodes of local history and charming antidotes from the very old. Also museums and roadside attractions displayed the color and heritage of the locality. I devoured these with great interest and would enjoy seeing a revival. Children need this and we all will benefit.
Wonderful and timely post. There are ample opportunities in our present moment to work towards positive local identities (and even a shared American identity), which were assumed in the past, but put on hold since WWII or so. Time to press play once again on American history.