When I wrote my Newsletter for May, as well as an accompanying blog post and yet another article for another newsletter for a group to which I belong, how would I have known that one’s ancestry and genealogical composition would take center stage in the World. I have seen various Persons of Color of all ethnicities (there is a difference) stand in unison in protest for the recent deaths of those in police custody. This is the...

          “What a difference a day makes Twenty-four little hours Brought the sun and the flowers Where there used to be rain My yesterday was blue, dear Today I’m part of you, dear My lonely nights are through, dear Since you said you were mine” Dinah Washington – “What a Difference a Day Makes” 1959   Today is sunny and windy, nice considering a thunderstorm blew through...

  Grandma and Grandpa Graves had passed some time ago. They weren’t really my grandparents; they were friends of my Mom and my then stepfather at the time, and they became my babysitters when I was growing up. They lived across the street from the house we rented on Vermont Avenue, and theirs was the best manicured lawn on the block. Grandpa had been employed in the carpentry trade and Grandma was a homemaker, He was a tall,...

  It is Thanksgiving morning and the Sun has not even thought about getting out of bed. I am up and answering e-mails with a cup of tea, as this is a mellow day for me and I do not have to go straight to Cafe Bustelo to face the World. The early morning chill can be felt from the windowpane but not so much that it is alarming, but more like the breath of a child that just ate a peppermint patty candy. Later, I will be making a nice...

  You have been deemed the scapegoat in the situation. What do you do? What DID you do? This happens far more often than you think; when a group of individuals that you have professional, friendship, or family connections with, decide that everything that has happened is because of you. Despite that not necessarily being true. It just happened that you were chosen to be the “It” person. In my readings, the Five of Earth...

  “Went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends. A chance to share old memories and play our songs again When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name. No one recognized me, I didn’t look the same But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well. You see, ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself” – Ricky Nelson  I am currently in California on a mixture trip of...