I just wanted to wish all my SI friends Merry Christmas! I hope you are all well and enjoying life.
I am OK, but my left arm is in a sling after shoulder replacement surgery December 5. It's hard to do the simplest stuff one-handed, like tying shoes, pulling up pants, and so forth.
Because of this, I'm going to copy this same message in two or three of my favorite subjectMarks.
I finished Seasons one and two of a Starz Series called "Outlander." It is based on a series of novels of the same name by Diana Gabaldan. I stumbled across the series and started watching a few episodes in the middle of the series. At first my reaction was: "What a preposterous premise!!! Nobody believes in time travel."
I quickly fell in love with the acting and the quality of production and directing. Few motion pictures are as captivating.
Luckily, Comcast had "Outlander" in its archives and I was able to begin at the beginning and watch all of Seasons One and Two in sequene. Each episode ended with a hook that demanded I watch the following episode, and I did as soon as possible. I eagerly awaited the final episode of Season Two and watched it on schedule. I thought that was the last season to be offered, and I wanted to know how it ended. Then I learned that there would be a Season Three next year.
I liked the what I had seen so much I wanted to own the entire set. Amazon made it available to me on DVD, so now I can watch the first two seasons with my wife.
Normally I do not like productions that are excessively violent, or have too much explicit sex. Outlander without excessive violence would have been pointlessly vague, and would have lost some of its appeal without the explicit sex. Explicit does not mean it was pornographic, in my view, though I would blush to watch it in mixed company.
So, I recommended the series to both of my sisters, and they both gave me the same answer! "Yes, I have read all the books and they are indeed fantastic!"
My oldest sister Maggie told me today that she had researched our family genealogy and found that it leads directly back to the Celtic culture depicted in the Outlander series. In fact, one of our ancestors turned out to be a Scottish Earl, who was also a veteran of the Battle of Culloden. en.wikipedia.org. She also said there were similarities to the parts of the story that I know nothing about yet because I haven't read the novels. They say Jamie and Claire ultimately settled in South Carolina, where ancestors on my father's side owned lands granted to them by King George III. And, by the way, where the first "ManyMoose" is buried. I looked into this several years ago and sure enough there's a gravestone in the Dothan Cemetery with my name on it, dated near the beginning of the nineteenth century.
I am not at all surprised to learn that I descended from the Celts, as their realm and environment and customs have long interested me. Even the landscape appeals to me like no other, even the wilderness that I've known all my life.
Anyway, I look forward to digging into my genealogy again.
Merry Christmas, each and every one of you! |
