Who would want to know?

Have you ever wondered about what kind of lives your ancestors had? Take for instance long ago, how did they get around? They had to travel from place to place. We all know that many of our ancestors came to their new countries by ships or some kind of vessel. They could not cross the oceans by cars, there were no planes back then either. Imagine that you are back in the time of your ancestors who came to the new country. You are boarding some kind of ship or boat. You have a few personnel belongings with you. You are either leaving your homeland with your parents or with some friends. What is going through your mind at this time? Could they have thought to themselves hurray I am getting out of here? Or I wonder if there are any wild beasts there? They had to have been thinking about their new homes. Remember some of our ancestors were very young when they came to this country. Arriving at their destinations, it would have been all new to them, the people, the climate, the sceneries. Were they afraid? Or were they curious? If we think about these things, we have to also appreciate their courage in leaving their homeland to make new homes in mostly uncivilized lands. Once they arrived most of their travelling would have been by water and through beaten down paths in the woods. There were no paved highways trains back then. They also would have had to rely on horses, oxen, mules to use in their travels. And can you imagine an ancestor coming over from a warmer climate into some harsh winters? Can you imagine then surviving in blizzards? Many of them did not survive but those who did, learned ways to survive. They also learned to survive by using plants, and hunting and fishing for their food and growing gardens was a must. They raised animals for both work and for food. Back then Pork was their main meal,, and fish and shellfish . Now we cannot just go to the ocean or beaches and dig for clams or oysters or quahawgs, but back them can you imagine all the shellfish they would gather for their families and I am certain there were plenty of fish and shell fish around. Now many shellfish areas are polluted or contaminated it is such a shame. I remember when I was young, my family would all go to the beach and dig for clams, and it was so much fun, we would look for a hole like a pin hole and then we would dig and be careful not to break the shell of the clam and fill our pails. Then my Mom would steam the clams, mmm they sure were good. As the population grew our ancestors were learning survival, they helped each other build houses ,barns ,fences. Togetherness was very important back then, and sometimes I imagine the neighbors were quite far from each other. I wonder what they did when they first saw a bear or a coyote ? Can you imagine them seeing a big moose for the first time? They may have said “ Boy things grow big around here!” grin. Getting back to travelling during the winter many of our ancestors travelled on the frozen rivers and when the rivers thawed they travelled by boats. The native americans (once called Indians) were there way before our ancestors and they survived very well in the winters and summers. They taught a lot of their methods to many of our ancestors who then probably passed them down. Now the summer time, think about the summer time, the heat ,the black flies ,the mosquitoes? And our ancestors were surrounded by woods and water. Can you imagine the bites? I am itchy just thinking about it. I read somewhere that they used to put cold ashes all over their faces and hands and that protected them from the flies, mosquitoes etc. Can you imagine with our ancestors met their first redman?  Although they learned how to survive with their native american friends. We should be very proud of our ancestors no matter if they were white, black ,red or yellow. They suffered through many harrowing experiences that we could never imagine going through it ourselves. When you see a bee ,or mosquito buzzing around you, put yourself in your ancestors shoes. Then these little bees and mosquitos of today will be nothing at all.  Now changing the subject I want to share a few things with you. If you have time check out my new BootEEK, at http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek*  or see what there is new at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*  Have a great day. Allicor.

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