March Madness Wandering Thoughts

The Ides of March have passed and we are now on to March Madness.

My March Madness thoughts start with St. Patrick’s Day and my Irish heritage.

Absalom Leeper, Mount Pleasant Iowa, Preacher, Christian Church, Pioneer Preacher, Mad as a Hatter - Hat Maker - Trenton, Iowa, Scotch-Irish, IrishSt. Patrick’s Day always makes me think of an Irish ancestor who worked as a hatter. Was Absalom Leeper as Mad as a Hatter?

Hamburg, Iowa, Wildcats Basketball, Corner ConferenceOf course, March Madness today is all about the NCAA Basketball tournaments.

It is good to see the tournaments again this year after the last moment postponement last year.

2014, highest UF, NCAA TournamentI will of course be tracking how upsetting the tournament is, and writing a few posts that hardly anybody will look at. See: How Upsetting?

Will it be an upsetting year?

There will be at least one big upset with #2 Ohio State being upset today.

chanceford twp PA, Trenton Iowa, Leeper MigrationBack to Family History. I usually think about my Leeper family in March, and I am thinking about writing another post about the family later this month.

I did do a bit more research tonight in preparation for the post.

Oh, the map above comes from a post I wrote back in 2019: A Leeper Migration

Pennsyvania, West Virginia, Leeper, strip mining, eldersvilleThis may be about where the Leeper family lived back in Virginia.

Wait, this is the border between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. How could this be Virginia?

Virginia included parts of Western Pennsylvania until 1780, so when the Leeper family first moved there it was Virginia.

The place where they lived was right on what became the border between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Unfortunately, the area has been strip mined and the foundations of the house no longer exist.

Keep your eyes open to find out who they lived near.

Now I am tired after a long week so I think I will wander to sleep now.

Steven

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Waiting Thoughts

Today has been a day of waiting from afar.

Wedding, Bride, ParentsMy sweet little Niece will be a mother soon.

The last time I saw her was at her wedding, and because of the last year have not been able to get back to the Midwest to visit family since.

The next time I go back to Iowa or Missouri I will get to see my great niece.

I am having memories of the first time I saw my niece. I was living in Kansas City and took a flight up to Michigan to see her on her first Christmas.

Today is really putting time in perspective and I am realizing how long we have been socially distancing.

Christmas Market, Jena Germany, snow, Christmas TimeI have only made one trip since I was back to the Midwest for my Niece’s wedding.

I made a trip to Germany just after in December 2019. Who would have thought that we would be sheltering in place a couple months later?

It has been a year of waiting for a vaccine, and for numbers to drop.

We are still waiting, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. A month from now I will have had my second shot and perhaps thinking of future trips to catch up on some of the things that have been left undone this year. Especially a trip to go see my great niece.

Steven

 

 

 

 

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