Why Pumpkins Shouldn't Indulge in Adult Beverages

My friend, Kim, from Best of Sanibel Captiva (BOSC) message board posted this on the board and gave me permission to use it. Enjoy!!

Aloha Friday #4

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that everyone takes it easy (kind of like it is here on Sanibel). I found this great meme on several blogs that I read and it looked like fun--so here goes. I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Then when you've answered my question, go on over to An Island Life for other fun Aloha Friday questions and to play along!

My question is:
How many US Presidents have you seen in person?

I have seen 4 that I remember. The first one was President Eisenhower. Admittedly he wasn't president anymore but I still saw him. My roommate and I were in Gettysburg at a gift shop which overlooked the Eisenhower farm. The lady who owned the shop told us to stand by a certain window because her husband, who was Ike's driver, had just gone to get him. And sure enough, he drove right by us.
The second one was John F. Kennedy. I'm not totally sure I saw him but I think I did. We were on the sidewalk outside of the White House and saw two men in suits walking near the Oval Office. I'm pretty sure one of the men was JFK.
The third was Gerald Ford. He was campaigning in Findlay and gave a speech from the steps of the Elks Club. When he made his way through the crowd, he shook my son's hand.
The fourth was when Bill Clinton ran for his second term. He and Chelsea were campaigning from the back of a train and they stopped in Bowling Green, Ohio where he spoke. My friend and I had chosen a really good spot to stand in until all of the press corp got in front of us. Believe it or not, Brit Hume came by and offered to take our cameras and get better pictures than what we could get. Obviously we let him. So there you are. Who have you seen in person?

I Am My Family Part 2

I thought you might be interested in what the original pictures looked like which Rafael used as his reference. Top middle is Sarah Gitel Goldberg Ryten, mother of the other 4. Bottom left is Malka Ryten who became a Yiddish actress. Bottom right is Julius Ritten who immigrated to the US and was Mr. Snowbird's birth grandfather. Top right is Chaja Golda Ryten Precelman, Rafael's great grandmother. Top left is Menashe/Menasze Ryten who perished in the Holocaust together with his daughter Hannah, her husband and two sons.

Below are the original pictures not in the collage.

Malka Ryten

Sarah Gitel and Chaja Golda Ryten

Menashe/Menasze Ryten

Another picture of Menashe/Menasze Ryten

Julius Ritten when he was older and living in Detroit.

I Am My Family

This post probably belongs on my genealogy blog but I thought more people would see it here--so here it is!

My husband is adopted. He had amazing adoptive parents. I am a genealogy nut. My daughter wanted to know her roots and where she got her nose. Also, where did Mr. Snowbird get his ears. So the search began.

I had done extensive research on my family so decided to do Mr. Snowbird's adoptive family. Adoptive family went back to Lithuania and England. This was all well and good but didn't explain where Karen got her nose and he got his ears. Luckily he had a copy of his adoption history which gave his natural mother's full name, her parents names, her grandparent's names, places etc. So, tracing that part was easy. We received pictures of his birth mom and a half sister. We found out where Karen got her nose and Mr. Snowbird got his ears.

Not so easy when it came to the natural father. We had his first name, his sibling's first names, his parent's first names (you get the picture.) We knew they lived in Detroit and were Jewish. Still not an easy task. But, then we had a stroke of luck. I wrote to Michigan for his birth certificate which had his adoptive name on it but said he was born in Ohio not Michigan. So, I wrote to the state of Ohio and lo and behold got his real birth certificate and lo and behold it had his natural father's full name. From there everything fell into place. We corresponded with and met relatives he never knew he had. One relative was a second cousin by the name of Rafael Goldchain. I corresponded with him a couple of times but my daughter took up the challenge and pursued this side of the family even more than me--and in doing so, traded information with Rafael on the family.

While Karen and Rafael were corresponding, she discovered that he was working on a book of photographs. But not just any photographs. The book is a family album of photographs with a twist: Rafael is the only subject. After extensive research and planning, he transformed himself into some of his ancestors (and Mr. Snowbird's)and then took pictures of himself as that ancestor. The outcome was amazing. He also included parts of his sketchbook which he wrote for each character in his book. On the page he wrote about his great grandmother, (Mr. Snowbird's great aunt) he included my first letter to him. Also, in the acknowledgement page, he thanks my daughter. We were really surprised by this.

Anyway, with permission from Rafael, I am reprinting the pictures here of Rafael as some of Mr. Snowbird's ancestors. Enjoy.

Self-Portrait as Sarah Getl Ryten (nee Goldberg) b. Lublin, Poland, circa 1860 d. Poland, early 1940's.

Sarah was Mr. Snowbird's great grandmother and Rafael's great great grandmother. This was taken from a real portrait of Sarah of which I have a copy.

Self-Portrait as David Ryten. b. Ustilug, Ukraine, 1845 d. Poland, early 1900's.

David was the husband of Sarah above and Mr. Snowbird's great grandfather. There is no known picture of David so Rafael did considerable research on what he might have looked like.

Self-Portrait as Chaja Golda Precelman (nee Ryten) b. Poland, 1880's d. Poland, early 1940's.

This is Rafael's great grandmother and the sister of Mr. Snowbird's grandfather, Julius. This was taken from a real portrait of Chaja with her mother, Sarah.

Self-Portrait as Malka Ryten. b. Lublin, Poland 1884 d. Tel Aviv, Israel, 1974

This is a sister of Chaja and Julius. Malka was an actress in the Yiddish Theatre. I have a copy of the picture that Rafael used for his portrait. It is amazing how close he comes to looking like her.

Self-Portrait as Dona Aida Precelman Ryten de Goldchain. b. Warsaw, Poland, 1902 d. Southfield, Michigan, United States, 1986

Aida was Rafael's grandmother. She immigrated from Poland to South America in the 1920's with her husband and then moved to Chile in the 1930's. After the death of her husband, she moved back to Buenos Aires then to Israel where she remarried. After her second husband's death, she moved several more times finally moving to the US where she met and married Manuel "Manny" Ritten, her first cousin. They were in their 80's when they married. Manny was the brother of Mr. Snowbird's birth father, Don David Ritten.

So, there you have it. If you want to learn more about this book, all you have to do is google Rafael Goldchain or I Am My Family. It is really a fascinating book and one our family will treasure.

Ruby Tuesday--Red Leaves and Berries

When we were up in Stone Mountain, Georgia last week, I was hoping to see some fall colors. There wasn't much but I did manage to find this.

OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet.

Congratulations from a Proud Grandma

I just want to congratulate my oldest grandson, Sam, and my only granddaughter, Erin, for getting straight A's on their report cards. Way to go guys. Grandpa and I are soooo proud of you.

Sunday on Sanibel

Today I got to meet some blog buddies for the first time--Tink, Tootie and Gary. We met at the Sanibel Grill for a late lunch.


Tink has her own blog, My Mobile Adventures, where she blogs on the move through her Blackberry. Something happened today and she wasn't able to blog as we went. Bummer. Tootie has a couple of blogs. One is called Turtle Talk with Tootie and the other is Sanibel Toot's Lazy Days.

Tink explaining her Blackberry to Mr. Snowbird.

After lunch we decided to head to Casa Ybel to their pool bar. Danny Morgan performs there on Sunday afternoons. We got there just in time to hear his last two numbers. Oh well. Since it was Happy Hour and drinks were two for one, we still had a great time!

From there, we headed to the Pool Bar at the West Wind. Luckily Tootie had packed her bug spray in her purse as the No See Ums were out in full force!

As we started to leave, Tootie noticed that it was about sunset so we headed down to the beach.

Tink shed her shoes and headed down to look for shells.

Actually in between taking pictures and looking at the sunset, some of the rest of us looked for shells too.

And others of us just enjoyed the sunset.

It was great meeting you guys and here's to more Sanibel Sundays.

Camera Critters #5-Dueling Dolphins

I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I should join in but before I do, I must tell you to hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my pic for the day.

Every year we take one or two day cruises on Captiva Cruises. We either go to Cabbage Key or Useppa. On each trip we are promised that we will see dolphins. I have learned that the best place to see them is at the back end of the boat on the lower level. I have taken many, many pictures of the dolphins but this is by far the most amazing picture that I have ever taken of the dolphins.

Aloha Friday #3

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that everyone takes it easy (kind of like it is here on Sanibel). I found this great meme on several blogs that I read and it looked like fun--so here goes. I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Then when you've answered my question, go on over to An Island Life for other fun Aloha Friday questions and to play along!

Today, my friend Diana and I had a "girl's day out". We went to the Edison Mall in Ft. Myers. She had heard a lot about the Elephant Bar restaurant in the mall and wanted to eat there. We checked out the menu and thought it looked pretty good. The food is Asian and "Pan Pacific".
So, we decided to give it a try. Oh my!! Yum, yum, yum!! She had the Mongolian Beef and I had a special with coconut shrimp, tempura shrimp and veggies over rice which were to die for! I will definitely be going back again. Unfortunately, it is a very localized restaurant--locations are mostly in California but a few others around the country.

OK, so getting on with my Aloha Friday question.

What restaurant have you eaten in lately which you would recommend to your friends?

Obviously, I am recommending the Elephant Bar Restaurant.

Ruby Tuesday-Budding Chopins

This was taken a few years ago but I caught my granddaughter, Erin, and grandson, Noah, side by side at the piano. Erin was taking piano lessons and was attempting to teach Noah a little of what she had learned.

OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet.

Stone Mountain 36th Annual Scottish Highland Games Scottish Festival

So, we attended the Stone Mountain Scottish Highland Games Scottish Festival this past weekend. Usually we make this a stop on our way south to Florida for the winter. This year, as most of you know, we migrated to Florida the lst of September. So we had to travel north 604 miles and 10 hours (with stops) to attend for the 5th year in a row. We always stay at the Stone Mountain Inn because it is so accessible to the sights of Stone Mountain and is walking distance to the Games. Our main draw to the Games is to meet up with and be entertained by our friend, Alex Beaton, but also to join our friends and family from Clan Montgomery.




Now, you must understand, most Highland Scottish Festivals are called Highland Games because of the Games. Although, I have observed some games at various festivals, I tend to spend most of my time at Alex's tent or at the Montgomery tent. So, therefore--no pictures of the games or Highland Dancers. I do, however, have pictures of various things from the weekend. So here goes.

After the rain out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were crisp but sunny. Here are a few of Alex's faithful bundled up for his 10:00 performance.

You see all kinds of dress at Scottish Festivals.

There are always Clan Tents. This year there were about 100 clans represented.

Every Games has an opening ceremonies where dignitaries are introduced, bands march, speeches are given and national anthems are sung. And of course, crowds watch.

Stone Mountain always has LOTS of Pipe and Drum bands. This year, the featured band was the Royal Canadian Mountain Police Regimental Pipes and Drums all the way from Alberta, Calgary, Canada. (BTW, regimental in terms of kilts, means, nothing is worn underneath the kilt. All together now, Oooooo, Ahhhhh.)

Of course, every Pipe and Drum Band has pipes.

And drums.

And men in kilts. (Ok, so there are ladies in kilts too.)

And when bands get together, they are known as Massed Bands.

Also at the Games are Heeland Coos. (Translation--Highland Cows.)

Falconry. This is a Red Shouldered Hawk. Gorgeous, huh?

Vendors, crowds and bands.

And of course, Clan MacMedic.

Then we have the Atholls. The Chief of Clan Murray is known as the Earl of Atholl. Alex has a whole litany of jokes and comments about the Atholls. BTW, our favorite pub in Glasgow, Scotland is the Atholl Pub! Gotta love it. Sorry to all the Murrays out there.

And then there is Rhu, the future Earl of Eglington, the hereditary Chief of Clan Montgomery. I love little boys in kilts.

This was the about the only fall colors we saw but at least we saw some.

This is Stone Mountain--the view from the hotel parking lot.

The Stone Mountain carving of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee

I caught a glimpse of the carving through the trees on our way back to the hotel. So, goodbye to Stone Mountain and to the Games. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year's festival.