REFLECTIONS

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Last night in class we went over the point that genealogy is not just a set of dates copied onto a chart or tree. It's the family events and stories associated with our ancestors. It also puts a perspective on how the family fits in with the events of history.

Image by SMU Central University Libraries via Flickr Last night was the first class and the instructor asked the nine members of the class about their ancestors.  As I expected, most had English backgrounds from relatives who settled in the USA. One man had a relative from the "Buffalo" soldiers, a nickname given to the African American regiment which fought against the Native American "Indians".  Supposedly the Native Americans called the black cavalry troops "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat. I was the only one with roots in Italy, being the first generation born in this country.  This may make my search a bit more difficult yet in a way more interesting. For now I'll have to look over my notes and start the search.

That's the title of  the course I'm taking tonight.  It's at The Center for Lifelong Learning (local adult continuing education).  I am curious about who my ancestors are.  I've never met my grandparents on either my mother's or father's side of the family so I don't know how far I'll get. My roots will probably be traceable only back to my grandparents. Maybe I'm just a "mutt from the pound".  But they say some of the best tempered and healthiest dogs come from pounds. It should be very interesting.

I enjoy watching these wolves as they were meant to live, out in the wild. This video gets to me every time.

I came across this video while I was surfing on YouTube.

Image via Wikipedia The other day when I was looking again at my post The Spinning Dancer Illusion I found a way to control the direction she is spinning. Click on link below to see the dancer in motion: REFLECTIONS- The Spinning Dancer Illusion If you read any text below the dancer and watch her from your peripheral field of vision she will change direction back and forth then change more slowly if you look directly at her. Let me know how this works for you.

I saw this illusion a few years ago.  At first I suspected the animation caused the girl to alternately spin clockwise then stop and spin counterclockwise.  I tested this suspicion with my wife. We both watched at the same time.  At first I saw the girl spin the way my wife saw it.  Then the girl changed the direction of her spin for me while not for my wife.  Then she changed again.  Sometimes we saw the same thing other times we saw the opposite. This difference in our view of which direction she was spinning proved it was a real optical illusion and not a trick in the animation. Here she is: Image via Wikipedia  From Wikipedia: The Spinning Dancer is a kinetic, bistable optical illusion resembling a pirouetting female dancer. Some observers initially see the figure as spinning clockwise and some counterclockwise. Additionally, some may see the figure suddenly spin in the opposite direction. The illusion derives from an inherent ambiguity from the lack of visu