Thursday, March 24, 2005

Human Migration

Early Human migration, I read in the paper, has been traced from archeologists discovering the bones of pigs killed for eating. First the bones were those of a wild boar, then as the migration continued, and the pigs bred for the most useable meat, left a trail of evolved pig bones.  


For no rational reason I've been embarrassed by the migrations of my family. And even at that I know the migrations of only one side of my family. Everyone knows that America is a nation of immigrants, yet, in my case, that fact is somehow awkward, as if there was shame in my family that came from it's comparative rootlessness. My grandmother for example was Australian born and bred, became unusually prosperous and died alone, fairly early, from diabetes. She left no trace of her family history. It's quite possible that her family had been 'Transported,' and originally came to Australia as convicts. Generations of Australians gloried in their convict past and made a point of boasting of their convict 'Aristocracy,' in a typically humorous, Aussie, upside down manner. But not my Grandmother who hungered for propriety. After all, water going down the bathtub drain spins in the opposite direction in Australia from how it spins in Merrie England.


I'm my dear grandmother's grandson. I'd liked to have been 'Proper,' but it just didn't turn out that way.  I was virtually an urchin migrant, alone, born almost by accident in Fresno, California partly as a result of migration caused by the Great Depression.


Oh the war stories we all could tell! Ha!


Barry


   

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Cherry2sweet2eat, "embarrassment," and blushing that sometimes omes with it is usually outside of our control, mine anyway. But I get your point. Any reminder to count one's blessings is a good reminder. Thanks!   - Barry