Extended family discoveries

One of the down sides of living far from relatives, as we did in Hawaii, is that our children missed knowing what it was like to be around cousins while growing up. I'm sure they understood it vicariously, in that many of their friends in Hawaii were surrounded by cousins.

After we returned to Utah for a brief period following our 16 years in Hawaii, our kids still didn't get to know their cousins, even though some were literally in the same town. Perhaps the closest connection was Michelle Malquist and Julie both going to Provo High. They were 2nd cousins, and probably felt some connection owing to their relatedness. Alan and Neal have been around Patricia Potts (1st cousin) and her kids enough to feel some connection there. They also probably feel a little bit of a connection to a few of their Aunt Linda's kids in Idaho. I don't think our kids feel any connection whatsoever to Fred's, Norma's, Carolyn's, or John's kids on my side of the family, and probably have no desire nor feel any reason to make a connection.

As I am gathering information the William Thomas Tew/Clara Elizabeth Snow Tew (WTT/CST) descendants, presently depending heavily on facebook and blogspot, I am struck by the obvious strong connections that exist at the cousin level in many of the family lines I am working on. I have found this project to be so fascinating. Even if this project falls well short of my expectations in obtaining all the information I am soliciting, I have already discovered so much about the WTT/CST descendants, my relatives, that the journey itself has been well worth the effort expended.

Here's just a tiny sampler of relatives (name, relation to our children, claim to fame) that caught my interest:
Kathryn Haynie (12/19/08), 2nd cousin, U. of Utah women's volleyball star on a nationally ranked team; was on the MWC All-Conference Team.
Sheldon Fisher, 2nd cousin, candidate for U.S. Congress from Alaska (Sheldon's family shown above).
Risa Tew Jorgensen, 2nd cousin, Mormon Tabernacle Choir member.
I also discovered that we have relatives, descendants of WTT/CST, in Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Finding out where your surname is most concentrated

If you have never run into the website, MapYourName, that shows where your surname and surnames of your friends and relatives are most concentrated, not only in the U.S. but also in country of origin, you might find it to be quite interesting and educational. You might be in for a surprise, as I was. I thought that the name, Tew, was going to show up primarily in the Inter-mountain West, but it is as common in Alabama and North Carolina as it is in Utah. Of course, if you have a name as common as Smith or Jones, this website may not be very interesting or useful. On the other extreme, you may have one of those names that is so rare that it doesn't even register. However, most of us have names that fall in between these two extremes. Not surprisingly, Cajun names commonly heard around here, such as Arceneaux, Breaux, Boudreaux, Champagne, Leblanc, Robichaux, Savoie, Thibodaux, and Zeringue lit up Louisiana. I was intrigued that the names in my home town of Talmage, Utah, names like Allred, Burton, Christensen, Ericksen, Lindsay, Frandsen, Jensen, Sorensen, and Thacker were more Utah-specific than I would have imagined. Surnames are not as diffuse as I thought, even over many generations.

Kayaking to the Intracoastal Waterway

I took advantage of Washington's Birthday, a federal holiday, and crisp clear weather to kayak down Minor's Canal (approx. 2 mi. each way) from Bayou Black to the Intracoastal Waterway. It's still a little too early to see the brilliant springtime colors, but I went ahead and took a few pics anyway. The trees on the left side of the canal are mostly of the bald cypress and those on the right with the emerging brilliant-colored red male flowers belong to the swamp maple, draped with spanish moss. Here is a website that has some great pictures of Louisiana's wetland region.

Mardi Gras live!

Mardi Gras has arrived on a cold February day. But the cold temperatures will not dampen the spirit of this year's Mardi Gras. The major parades today include the Zulu and Rex, both of their Kings, Jimmie Felder and Hunter Pierson having been revealed, along with Rex Queen, Katherine Duncan. Zulu's president, Charles Hamilton, Jr., hand delivered a specially painted coconut to President Barack Obama in Washington D.C. on Monday. Handing out painted coconuts along their parade route is one of the traditions of the Krewe of Zulu. The Krewe of Bacchus had a very special king this year, namely Drew Brees, who everyone knows, has deservedly achieved the status of royalty in New Orleans. The printed coverage of Mardi Gras is nola.com, and live coverage is WDSU, if you care to follow some of it today, to get of flavor of what it is all about.

Pigs can fly and its freezing down here

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From Superbowl weekend to Mardi Gras

The excitement of the upcoming events has all of southern Louisiana in a frenzy. It's really quite a phenomenon! We had a Black and Gold Friday pizza luncheon at work today with background music appropriate for the occasion, starting off with, "When the Saints Go Marching In." I forgot to wear a Saints T-shirt, but fortunately, wore a tan work shirt, so I wasn't too far off. Someone thought it might be a nice touch to take a picture of the USDA Who Dat Nation. They forwarded it to everyone, so I am posting it here. I can't even imagine what this area is going to be like if the Saints win the Superbowl. It will be total non-stop craziness from the win until Mardi Gras has passed. Geaux Saints!!!

Mardi Gras parades will be rolling tonight in many areas besides New Orleans. In Houma the Krewe of Hercules will begin rolling at 6:00 PM down and will go through downtown. Parades will continue to roll all the way up to Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) on February 16 this year. Win or lose, there will be an added parade to pay tribute to the Saints this coming Tuesday (Feb 9).

USDA's New Sugarcane Crossing Complex

Today, I finally had a chance to get a close look at our brand new crossing complex, made up of a 6-bay photoperiod facility (PF)(Pic 1); a 3-compartment crossing facility (XF) (Pic 2); 12 mobile crossing carts of which four can be rolled from the PF into the XF; and finally an isolation pad (Pic 3). I was excited, in part, because I had a lot to do with its design. The concept behind the crossing facility is novel in the sense that it does not follow the model of any other sugarcane crossing facility in the world that I am aware of. To see something that you and your associates draft on paper actually come to fruition and exceed your expectations is very exciting indeed. There are bugs to be worked out, but all in all, I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome.

Tomorrow, Argus will be showing us how to use all of the controls. The 3-compartment XF has 1) a room for rolling in two-sets of carts (= 4 carts) with sugarcane plants on them, 2) a crossing room where crosses are arranged and fertilization occurs in one of 99 isolation cubicles (Pic 4), and 3) a maturation room where tassels are maintained while being somewhat isolated from one another until the seed fully matures and can eventually be harvested from the tassel (Pic 5).

In the past, our seed production has varied greatly from year to year, ranging from roughly 100,000 to 1,000,000 seeds. With the much greater temperature control, we should be able to maintain optimum conditions for pollen production. I anticipate much better seed production from now on, and will be disappointed if we cannot consistently produce at least 1,000,000 viable seeds per year from now on.

By the way, if you look at the greenhouse (XF), you will notice the super-structure that supports it. It was designed to withstand the wind force of a Cat 4 hurricane, as I understand.