Jolly leap - jolly day

UPDATE: Brandon went to see the doctor for the last time on Wednesday. His foot has finally healed and so that means he can go back to work next week. Let me tell you, he's so thrilled to finally be able to get out of the house, he can hardly stand it.

But while he's been home, he has managed to do an impressive amount of work on the genealogy and has found some very interesting, beautiful and strange things on my family. Something that Brandon presented to me last night was a beautiful poem from one of my ancestors who was a Deputy U.S. Marshall at Ft. Arbuckle. His name was James Harris Guy. Here is the poem:

Fort Arbuckle
By James Harris Guy
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The day has been long and dreary;
I halt with the sitting sun
To gaze on the open world
And the work the years have done;
And a vision rises before me,
Of the past as it hath been,
And all the rolling hills have heard,
And the bright-eyed stars have seen.

Full many a thrilling story
Could the echoing rocks repeat,
And methinks I hear in the forest
The tramp of hurrying feet.
The yells of the great Comanche
Ring once more in my ear
And files of the ghostly warrior
Appear and disappear.

I see the dusky phantoms
Rise from their graves to-day,
With the war paint still upon them
As they started for the frey;
They scorned the white man’s promise
And refused to be his slaves,
But their ranks were few and feeble,
And the sun sets on their graves.

Once more from the hills above me
The painted warriors ride,
And fall upon Ft. Arbuckle
Like rocks from the mountain side;
But now the bow and the quiver
Give place to the plodding plow,
A bible, a hut, a handful of corn
And a Christian’s broken vow.

Oh, Mystical Ft. Arbuckle
The sun is falling aslant,
And a friend stands out in his doorway;
God speed thee Thomas Grant;
For thou hast ever a seat at thy board
And thy heart a place,
For him who would sing the wide world o’er
The songs of a ruined race.

Jim Guy, as he was also called, was considered the leading poet of the Chickasaw Nation. In the book “Leaders and Leading Men of Indian Territory” by H.F. O’Beirne, 1891, it is noted that Guy wrote this poem shortly before his death. James Harris Guy and two of the Roff brothers were killed in a shootout on May 1, 1885 in the Yellow Hills near Baum by the Lee brothers. And as I investigated on my own, I found that Thomas Grant (mentioned above) was the first appointed Postmaster at that fort who later came to rest in 1904 near the fort. That, my friends, is very cool family history.

Wee-bit is doing well. But I believe the true test/challenge will be when Brandon goes back to work. I'm hoping that this time spent with him has been very positive and that she'll continue to do well. I mean let's face it, she has 4 months left to go to get out of 1st grade as well as this school. If she can just hang on a little bit longer......she'll be out of there after that.

Brandon and I have been discussing our relocating - AGAIN. Our goal is still our relocation to Washington but we've also agreed that if that doesn't pan out this Summer, we're still relocating. And so with that, we've agreed that we'd buy a house in Roseville - approximately 16 miles East of where we currently live. We're both tired of the area we live in and the school district here SUCKS! We want wee-bit to be in an area where she isn't alienated for her race and unfortunately here, she is. Very strange to be a white person who is a minority in the crowd. The thing about relocating to Washington is the uncertainty. Here, I have a good job and it pays me well. Brandon's job is predictably stable - meaning we can predict the down times with ease regardless of the current economic crisis. To remain here, we know what to expect. But up there, it's not so easy to predict. I mean, sure Brandon would have a job to go to and it would pay him better then here. But we do not know what the down times are or how long they last. Nor do we know what the economic climate is like. And with my profession, it may not be as easy to get a job and I do not know that I can count on the pay that I currently receive. These are the things I constantly think about because the decision we make will effect us deeply and for a long time. But let's face it - if it weren't for the variables, there would be no second guessing. I truly love it up there. It's the only place (besides Monterey) that I have visited and said, "I'm at peace here". I'm sure that one day I will visit another place and feel that way but until then, I want to make Washington my home rather it be this Summer or 5 years from now.

PLUG: So I got this e-mail asking me if I'd be interested in linking to a spot on the internet called DoingFine.org. I inspected the site and from what I can make of it, it's a forum to discuss positives in life rather then negatives. I figured, "Well why not? No harm in positive, right?" However, "Being happy, or calm, or serene, or positive is not a prerequisite for posting on DoingFine". And the forum leader, Mr. M also says, "It felt a little like the blogosphere is turning into the bansheesphere, and I just figured it'd be nice if there was a place where people didn't complain." Sounds like Mr. M has not visited the Wand of Wonder lately. Anyway, if anyone is interested, swing by and check the place out.

And so in summary, the state of my union is: Doing Fine. Until next time, I'm off to "leap" the day away. Cheers to you all!