Too Much Fun

I am truly having a blast with this whole genealogy thing! I got a lot of fabulous information from one of my father's first cousins today. And in addition to that, he sent me the e-mail addresses of many family members, and also wrote to them himself, asking them to contribute any information they may have. The family tree I am creating over at My Heritage keeps on growing. I think soon I will have all the vital statistics I have been hoping for. Maybe I will get lucky and begin to gather anecdotes and family stories, too.

As Sue pointed out, I have been slacking on the sock knitting! Today whatever knitting I managed to get done was on my sister's sock. And tomorrow we're going to Jerusalem, so of course that means plenty of sock knitting in the car. We'll see if I can finally get this sock done and get the pair in the mail to my sister. Then I will need to psyche myself up for those toe up knee socks. Egad.

With all the family research I have been doing, I've had a certain song stuck in my mind. I first heard it many years ago (in the mid 1980s) at the Sebastopol (California) Apple Blossom Festival (and by the way, what a charming and delightful experience that was! If you've never been to a local festival featuring a particular flower, fruit or vegetable, I highly recommend it. The Gilroy Garlic Festival is also wonderful - as long as you love garlic. Be sure to check out that website, and tell me if you agree it looks like those ladies are knitting with garlic - or if maybe I've become delusional). But I digress. Here are the lyrics I can't get out of my mind. I think they are marvelously appropriate:

I'm My Own Grandpa
Lyrics: Dwight Latham, Moe Jaffe
Music: Dwight Latham, Moe Jaffe

Played by Jerry Garcia with David Grisman

Oh, many, many years ago
When I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow
Who was pretty as can be
This widow had a grown-up daughter
Who had hair of red
My father fell in love with her
And soon the two were wed

This made my dad my son-in-law
And changed my very life
For my daughter was my mother
'Cause she was my father's wife
To complicate the matter
Though it really brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy

This little baby then became
A brother-in-law to Dad
And so became my uncle
Though it made me very sad
For if he was my uncle
Then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter
Who of course is my step-mother

Chorus
I'm my own grandpa
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
Oh, I'm my own grandpa

My father's wife then had a son
Who kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild
For he was my daughter's son
My wife is now my mother's mother
And it makes me blue
Because although she is my wife
She's my grandmother too

Now if my wife is my grandmother
Then I'm her grandchild
And every time I think of it
It nearly drives me wild
For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandma
I am my own grandpa

[chorus]