Bloodlines and Tribe
My birthday was the end of May. My friend and co-worker -M got me two gifts; one was "the funny one" she said, and the other a bit more serious. The "funny" one was a life sized resin sheep, which I found standing on my desk the morning after Memorial Day, when I came into work. I screamed -- thinking my Gaia Tribe had somehow infiltrated my office but no...it was -M, who knows nothing of my history with the conspiratorial sheep --which has recently turned into the conspiratorial penguins. -M just happens to find it endlessly amusing to hear my stories of lambing and sheep shearing at Holly's farm. She bought this oddity so that I wouldn't 'forget' between visits. I placed it in the front yard where it has succeeded in startling the hell out of the neighborhood dogs, not to mention Drake and Steven -- who just shake their heads.
The second gift was a bit more serious. It appears that National Geographic, in partnership with IBM, has this genographic project going on. It's a globe spanning effort to collect 100,000 DNA samples representing a worldwide range of human diversity. -M bought me the kit to participate in the study. You get two little vials and scrapers, you do a cheek swab test, scraping of the inside of your cheek, send it off and several weeks later you receive your genetic map.
Of course we all begin in Africa but the journey from there can be quite diverse. I belong to Haplogroup U - U4. Here's the short version...
My line begins with my "Mitochondrial Eve" in east Africa about 170,000 years ago. We apparently headed north, about 80,000 years ago and ended up in Egypt for awhile hanging out there for about 30,000 years or so before moving north again and ultimately ending up in the Russian Steppes, near the Baltic Sea around 50,000 years ago. From there it looks as though we went directly to Ireland -- around 10,000 years ago and the line ends there; something I find utterly fascinating and yet a little frustrating. They can only trace back to about 10,000 years ago.
I find the Ireland piece fascinating because I know that my ancestors lived in Ireland, in the 18 - 1900', and I've always been drawn to the culture but we came there from Italy; where my great-grandmother still lived well into the 1960's. My family has always considered itself to be of Italian descent.
The story goes that we were builders; woodscraftsmen and stone masons. My great grandparents left Italy for Ireland in the late 1890's. My grandmother was born there. They hooked in with other 'family' who were already established in business there, never really settling in, but moving around the country, building homes and rock walls for the farmers, wherever help was needed. It took me well into adulthood to understand that my people lived a gypsy life. When my great grandfather died, my great grandmother moved back to Italy to live with her brother. I met her in Italy when I was 7 years old, in a small village just outside of Palermo. I was there with my Mother and my Grandmother and I remember they all cried .. four generations of women all in one room -- each the youngest daughter of the youngest daughter. She was almost 100 when she died in 1968.
In the interim, my grandmother chose my grandfather from the Tribe of Italians in Ireland and in 1923 they immigrated to the United States. My grandmother was pregnant with my mother at the time. My mother always pointed out that she was conceived in Ireland but born in New Jersey. So it looks as though we landed in Ireland and then over the next 10,000 years we went to Italy, by way of who knows where, then back to Ireland briefly before coming to America.
And so it goes that I discover the Russian connection in my blood -- and the Egyptian one. I truly regret that this test was not available before my great grandmother died. It would have been exciting to see her results-- although as I think about it, they probably would not have been much different than mine.
I think I need a reindeer hide.
Speaking of Tribe...
It's been a good week. I did a fast fly by into PSG to give a speech at the Lights of Liberty celebration. It was good to see everyone, if only briefly, and I think the speech was well received. I really do miss the boys. So -- today I cooked and ran errands. The house is spotless. I laundered all the winter draperies and put them away. The lighter sheers are up. I made tuna salad, potato salad, baked macaroni and cheese. a big pot of rice and some bbq ribs in the crock pot for meals next week. I stocked up on all their favorite stuff, from Dove ice cream bars to beer, cheese and donuts; the fridges are full. I picked up Drake's dry cleaning and a headset for Steven's phone and gassed up the cars. Beds have fresh sheets, dog's been bathed. I'm looking forward to having them home on Monday morning and to hearing all the stories.
Life is good.
The second gift was a bit more serious. It appears that National Geographic, in partnership with IBM, has this genographic project going on. It's a globe spanning effort to collect 100,000 DNA samples representing a worldwide range of human diversity. -M bought me the kit to participate in the study. You get two little vials and scrapers, you do a cheek swab test, scraping of the inside of your cheek, send it off and several weeks later you receive your genetic map.
Of course we all begin in Africa but the journey from there can be quite diverse. I belong to Haplogroup U - U4. Here's the short version...
My line begins with my "Mitochondrial Eve" in east Africa about 170,000 years ago. We apparently headed north, about 80,000 years ago and ended up in Egypt for awhile hanging out there for about 30,000 years or so before moving north again and ultimately ending up in the Russian Steppes, near the Baltic Sea around 50,000 years ago. From there it looks as though we went directly to Ireland -- around 10,000 years ago and the line ends there; something I find utterly fascinating and yet a little frustrating. They can only trace back to about 10,000 years ago.
I find the Ireland piece fascinating because I know that my ancestors lived in Ireland, in the 18 - 1900', and I've always been drawn to the culture but we came there from Italy; where my great-grandmother still lived well into the 1960's. My family has always considered itself to be of Italian descent.
The story goes that we were builders; woodscraftsmen and stone masons. My great grandparents left Italy for Ireland in the late 1890's. My grandmother was born there. They hooked in with other 'family' who were already established in business there, never really settling in, but moving around the country, building homes and rock walls for the farmers, wherever help was needed. It took me well into adulthood to understand that my people lived a gypsy life. When my great grandfather died, my great grandmother moved back to Italy to live with her brother. I met her in Italy when I was 7 years old, in a small village just outside of Palermo. I was there with my Mother and my Grandmother and I remember they all cried .. four generations of women all in one room -- each the youngest daughter of the youngest daughter. She was almost 100 when she died in 1968.
In the interim, my grandmother chose my grandfather from the Tribe of Italians in Ireland and in 1923 they immigrated to the United States. My grandmother was pregnant with my mother at the time. My mother always pointed out that she was conceived in Ireland but born in New Jersey. So it looks as though we landed in Ireland and then over the next 10,000 years we went to Italy, by way of who knows where, then back to Ireland briefly before coming to America.
And so it goes that I discover the Russian connection in my blood -- and the Egyptian one. I truly regret that this test was not available before my great grandmother died. It would have been exciting to see her results-- although as I think about it, they probably would not have been much different than mine.
I think I need a reindeer hide.
Speaking of Tribe...
It's been a good week. I did a fast fly by into PSG to give a speech at the Lights of Liberty celebration. It was good to see everyone, if only briefly, and I think the speech was well received. I really do miss the boys. So -- today I cooked and ran errands. The house is spotless. I laundered all the winter draperies and put them away. The lighter sheers are up. I made tuna salad, potato salad, baked macaroni and cheese. a big pot of rice and some bbq ribs in the crock pot for meals next week. I stocked up on all their favorite stuff, from Dove ice cream bars to beer, cheese and donuts; the fridges are full. I picked up Drake's dry cleaning and a headset for Steven's phone and gassed up the cars. Beds have fresh sheets, dog's been bathed. I'm looking forward to having them home on Monday morning and to hearing all the stories.
Life is good.