Posts Tagged ‘Upshur County Texas’
After Action Report – Father’s Day
After Action Report
Father’s Day
by Samuel E. Warren Jr.
Sunday, June 19, 2011 – Father’s Day
spend the day at a rock show.
A city park in Ozark, Missouri, in Christian County, hosted the rock show.
My cousin, Donna is a “rock hound.
My wife, Christy is a “rock hound.”
Me, I’m just an old country boy from Stone County, Missouri, who likes rocks, but, isn’t worthy of the “rock hound” label . . . yet.
The white banner announced in big red letters to motorists and passerby : Gem Fair. There were several vendors from throughout Missouri who came to display their minerals, stones and gems. KCGemDude from Kansas City had some display cases of Ruby, Sapphire and even lesser publicized gems like: Apatite, among the numerous gems.
I was in my “ Father’s Day – holiday “ mode, rather than my usual Joe Reporter mode – I took my trusty camera, but, my wife, Christy, shot most of the photographs of the day. I spent most of the day looking at the gems and minerals.
I’ve always been a people watcher, so I watched people looking at the minerals.
Donna and Ken had their tables set up with displays of Amazonite, Adamite, and Hematite, – to mention just a few of the minerals that come quickly to my mind. Plus, amid the packets of Apache Tears and the small samples of Galena, naturally there was the State of Missouri’s Official Stone – Mozarkite.
Ah, but do you know, the State of Missouri’s Official Fossil ? Suffice to say, Donna and Ken had Missouri’s official fossils on display.
I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a retired United States Air Force photographer, who shared some of his photography stories from his active duty days and told me how he became interested in rocks and minerals as a child.
Once you retire, it seems that you find yourself surfing the Internet and watching the TV news only to learn that “retirement” is an idea that seems to belong to previous generations as the global economy seems to remain in a nose dive toward oblivion.
Real estate is usually considered a sound investment, but when you see the For Sale signs sprouting up like weeds in the countryside – you wonder if the Real Estate market will recover at some time in the future.
What about jewelry and gems ?
Platinum, gold and silver prices seem to rise faster than temperatures on a July day. People say that gems and jewelry are investments – then, again, people once swore that real estate was a wise investment. Curious fellow that I am, I have been listening and trying to make sense of information that is being released on gemstones and jewelry.
Burmese rubies and jade seem to be extinct on the world market thanks to embargoes and bans. Gems like Tsavorite, Kunzite, Morganite, Alexandrite, and Tourmaline are being talked about as investments, which means I have to research these gemstones because I am from the 1950s and 1960s generations that thinks the word, gemstones, relates to Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds, Opals and Topaz.
At the Gem Fair in Ozark, I was surprised to see Kunzite and Labadorite – two minerals that I have been hearing a lot about lately. I saw some small Kunzite stones that could be used for pendants or rings.
One artistic vendor had a display tray of Labadorite that he had cut in many different shapes that could be used to wire wrap the stones to make pendants. One of his unique offering is what he smiled and referred to as, “Detroit Agate.” More commonly known as “Fordite.”
Fordite is a unique . . . stone. Apparently, layers of automobile paint from a body shop is allowed to runoff and collect in a designated area. Then, someone who knows how to work with the hardened paint material apparently cuts it into stone shapes. It does produce some beautiful designs that reminded me of picture jasper. I forgot to ask if there is a mineral known as “Chevyite.”
I enjoyed watching people shop at the various vendors. One serious woman shopper walked into the show with her softcover book on rocks and she would look at the specimens and refer to her book. It is interesting to watch boys and girls look at the minerals.
The youth study the minerals like a customer, who takes his or her time to closely examine gems in a jewelry store. The youth study the minerals and go back and forth looking at other minerals. More often, than not, a youth will return to the first mineral and either ask questions or buy the specimen that has caught his or her eye.
The intent that a boy or girl looks at the minerals is remarkable because they seem to block out everything around them as they study the specimen. I wondered how many of these young boys and girls would go on to become future geologists, miners, mining engineers, jewelers, or just continue through the years to enjoy their lifelong hobby of “ rock collecting” ?
The show was a wonderful way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. Several dads spent some of their Father’s Day by shopping with their sons and daughters who browsed intently at the various stones on display on the vendor’s tables.
My wife, Christy loves to look at the stones and minerals – and given enough time, Christy will be browsing through cabachons for natural stones to wire wrap for pendants and earrings.
Naturally, on Father’s Day, you think of your dad. Several times during the day, I thought about my dad.
Near the end of the show, a smiling young man picks out his specimens of Galena and thrusts a bill in my face. I smile and wrap the Galena for him. As the young man walked away smiling at his Galena specimen, I remembered my grandfather in east Texas.
Joseph Samuel Warren and Elizabeth Warren, of Simpsonville, in Upshur County, Texas, in 1960, made the trip to visit their grandson, Samuel E. Warren Jr., in Stone County, Missouri. When “Mr. Sam” and “Miss Ellie” returned to the flat lands of east Texas, he enjoyed telling neighbors about his trip – and with a smile, “Papa” Warren would add, “The whole time I was in Missouri visiting my grandson I never set foot on solid ground. I kept stepping on the stones of Stone County.”
Sam
Jewelry by Christy http://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelrybyChristy/
Gold
Gold Price Org http://www.goldprice.org/
Wikipedia – Gold http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
Austin Gold Prices http://goldprices.com/
Platinum
Run To Gold. Com http://www.runtogold.com/metal-prices/platinum-price-and-platinum-prices/
Wikipedia – Platinum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum
Silver
Wikipedia – Silver http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver
Silver Price http://silverprice.org/
Gemstones
Gemological Institute of America http://www.gia.edu/
Gems. Com http://www.gems.com/
Wikipedia – Gemstone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone
Burmese Ruby Ban http://www.jckonline.com/2008/10/27/burmese-ruby-ban-begins
Jade Ban http://www.eyeonjewels.com/cgi-bin/StoreSearch/StoreNews.cgi?storeid=4461&ArticleId=59
Blog – The Daily Jewel http://dailyjewel.blogspot.com/2010/05/burma-ruby-embargo-who-really-suffers.html
Wikipedia = Tsavorite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsavorite
Wikipedia – Spodumene – Kunzite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunzite
Wikipedia – Beryl – Morganite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl
Wikipedia – Chrysoberyl – Alexandrite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl
Wikipedia – Tourmaline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourmaline
Salute To The Ancestors
SALUTE TO THE ANCESTORS
by Samuel E. Warren Jr.
Memorial Day, without a doubt, proved to be Uncle Richard’s favorite holiday. He had been a gravedigger at Yocum Pond Cemetery, in Stone County, Missouri, in the days before backhoes were used.
The approach of Memorial Day always brings Uncle Richard to mind. He taught me the protocol of how to act in a cemetery.
Like one of the 12 Disciples, he always stressed the importance of remembering the family members, who had lived before you. The bottomline is – without them – you wouldn’t be here.
Like a U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant, Uncle Richard reminded me time and again about having “Respect For The Dead.”
Memorial Day evolved from Decoration Day. The original celebration honored the Union War Dead of the Civil War.
The approach of each Memorial Day brings to life Uncle Richard’s memory and teachings. I find myself trying to remember family stories and get them into some form of print that will last after I am dust.
I find myself trying to see how far back I can go to find my ancestors. I can go back to my Great Grandmother C.J. Bellamy on my mother’s DeLong side. I can go back to my paternal Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother Joseph S Warren and Georgia Warren on my father’s side. I can also go back to my maternal Great Grandfather John H Warren and Great Grandmother Mollie Warren on my father’s side.
My branch of Warren’s are big on J and S names like John and Joseph. There also seems to be a passion for the S as in Samuel that keep rockin’ and rollin’ through the ages.
While I should probably be able to sit down and trace my heritage back to the first man and woman, alas, on the DeLong side, I can go back to Grandma Bellamy, December 17, 1853 and on the Warren side to both Grandpa Warrens with birthdays of March 14, 1851 and October 17, 1859. Basically, I can trace my DeLong and Warren ancestors to lives within the era of the American Civil War.
The challenge of tracing my wife’s ancestors is a work in progress. Saldana is the family name in the Republic of the Philippines. The devastation of World War II in the Pacific had an impact on trying to keep family histories in one piece.
How far should you be able to trace your ancestors ?
I believe the correct answer is how far back do you want to trace your ancestors.
We all have interesting lives. Not all of us wind up being the President of the United States or a four-star general, but our presence on the world stage, allows the human race to survive.
There are things in our life that we may not be proud of, but, it makes us who we are. No doubt, the same can be said for our ancestors.
Not everyone is going to be related to George Washington, the King of England or a Chinese emperor. Probably, many of our ancestors were just normal people doing the best they could to live their lives.
Along the way, some of those ancestors might be Texas Rangers and U.S. Marshalls or they might be horse theives and cattle rustlers. Regardless of their successes or failures, they contributed to the groundwork that would one day be you.
Without them, you would not be.
Memorial Day is the day that should remind us whether we know the names, birthdays, death dates, or stories, about these ancestors; the important thing is to be grateful that they faced the challenges of their day to give us the opportunity to face the challenges of our lives.
Granted, Americans will fire up the barbeque or hit the road to being summer vacations this weekend. We are Americans, this is what we do with time off from the gerbil wheel insanity of earning a living.
In the hulabalu that is the activities associated with Memorial Day Weekend; will time be found to visit the family cemetery and place flowers on the headstones?
Is it too much to ask that we take a moment to honor and remember our ancestors ?
Sam
Ancestor links
United States US GEN WEB http://www.usgenweb.org/
Texas TX GEN WEB http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txgenweb/
Warren
Upshur County, Texas http://www.txgenes.com/txupshur/
Wood County, Texas http://www.txgenweb2.org/txwood/index.htm
Missouri MO GEN WEB http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mogenweb/mo.htm
DeLong
Stone County, Missouri http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mostone/stone.htm