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All Souls Tradition in Tucson

June 1, 2013 — 3 Comments


The All Souls Procession each year in Tucson is a community event that takes mass coordination and will now cost more.  Our new trolley system will complicate the planning and add to the expense.  The volunteer organizers work all year to make it better all the time.  In November another new and amazing, creative expression of this tradition will take place downtown.

Steve Miller, Gangster of Love, Ace Contractor

May 31, 2013

The windows in my house leaked badly although the contractor, Tucson Window and Door,  reinstalled them 3 times.  Faulty workmanship is not covered by insurance, and if more than 5 years pass there is no recourse at the registrar of contractors.  I had a big problem that would only become worse if I requested a 4th reinstallation.  I met Steve Miller in my neighborhood while I was walking my dog.  I talked to him in his own front yard about how nice his home looked, and then I saw his truck with his contractor’s license on the side.  I explained my problem and asked him to bid the repair job.

I am extremely pleased with his work because in the process I became aware of other basic problems I needed to correct.  Now my condo walls are actually anchored to my foundation!!!  I am the only one in my neighborhood with a second floor that is no longer blowing in the wind.The stucco job looks excellent, and the way they solved the window problem was brilliant.  I am ready for a rainy season this year with no leaks at all. If you need a construction expert in Tucson who is professional, punctual, and polite, call Steve at SHM Construction.  He is creative and smart about building and materials. His talented sidekick Geraldo does fine work and is lots of fun to have around the house.  I have done many construction projects, and have never worked with such an amiable crew.

Boundaries for the Victim

May 29, 2013


All of us have the victim archetype in our personalities. We may not see it, but we all have suffered and caused others to suffer. What the victim archetype teaches us in life is how to draw boundaries.  While we can’t go through life without any suffering, we can recognize the causes and address them.  Yoga is a complex system that offers a path to enlightenment and soulful living.  Physical practice of asanas and breathing is a powerful and effective way to begin to draw the appropriate borders and rules for yourself and others in your life who may take advantage of you.  The above explanation and remedy are simple to understand and practice.  Bend over backwards to find your own limits and expand on what you have now.

Heidi and the Goats

May 28, 2013

My neighbor Heidi loves to farm. She and I both enjoy vegetable and flower gardening in Tucson. She took me to the goat pen this morning to bring home a big load of goat manure for fertilizer.  Heidi has her own chickens at home, but her goat coop arrangement is a shared experience with the owners of the goats, a Waldorf School, and other goat lovers.  She does her duty at the goat pen weekly, and takes home all the milk she gets during her shifts.  I had a French Alpine goat for years, and I made this same arrangement with a friend to do goat care and milking when I went out of town. Fresh goat milk is worth the work.  Heidi makes incredible cheeses from hers.  It was fun to meet the animals who have provided all those fabulous cheeses to our house.

Iron Chef Competition Heats Up in Tucson

May 27, 2013

I had the pleasure of spending some time yesterday with Tucson’s Iron Chef, Ryan Clark. His kitchen at Lodge on the Desert pumps out cuisine that is much adored by my highly evolved and somehow still carnivorous partner Bob and me. We are farmers in our own tiny right and both enjoy dining, although we eat at home or carry out from home 98% of the time.  We go to Lodge on the Desert for our special occasion and holiday meals, when we feel particularly festive.

Recently we attended a Slow Food tasting set up for 250 guests to try local wine beer and food.  It was fun for us and did expose us to new places we have tried since the event.  Now Chef Clark is preparing to host twice as many tasters to Lodge on the Desert this Thursday as part of the Iron Chef competition for this year.  The challengers will bring samples and vie for the chance to try to take the title from Chef Clark in July.  The chef with the most votes from the public will be the challenger, so there is a lot at stake.  Stella Artois is the sponsor, so the blonde Belgian beer will flow freely.  The challengers are not too shabby, and chef Ryan exceeds all expectations as a host in my experience.  This $5 tasting will be a happy hour of outstanding opportunities for those who want to find out what is happening in the kitchens of Tucson chefs.

Christopher Lynn Foster, 13th Great Grandfather

May 25, 2013 — 6 Comments

Forster Coat of Arms

Forster Coat of Arms

My 13 Great Grandfather was born in England and died in Long Island. He came to America at the age of about 35.  He was a founder of the town of Lynn,MA before moving to New York.

Christopher Foster — He came from England in the “Abigail”, in 1635, age 32, with his wife Frances, age 25, and children Rebecca, Nathaniel, and John.  The “Abigail” embarked from London, June 4, 1635 and arrived in Boston about Oct. 8, 1635 with small pox aboard. He was made Freeman in Boston, April 17, 1637.  In the same year, he was a resident of Lynn, MA, where in 1638, sixty acres of land were alloted to him. He came to Southampton in 1651. He had a previous spouse name unknown who died in 1628.  Sally’ s Family Place-Wheeler  Christopher Foster was born in July 1603 (Ewell, Surrey, England);  He married there 24 Dec 1628 Frances Stevens, born 1 July 1610 daughter of Alice Stevens (will 1645) of Ewell in Surrey, England.  Chrostopher Foster styled himself a husbandman on his shipping, embarked in London, June 17, 1635 in the “Abigail.”  “In the Abigail from the minister of their conformitie and from the Justices, that they are no susidy men.  Christopher foster ae 32, Bxofr ffrancis ffoster ae 25, Rabecca ffoster ae 5, Nathaniel ffoster ae 2, Jo, ffoster ae1, Alice Steevens 11, Tho Steevens 12. New pp.  C. E. Banks in the book Planter of the Commonwealth, “which traces 2,646 emigrants to America for whom there is a clear record says that Christoper Fostrer was a “husbandman (farmer) of Ewell, County Surrey,” and that Alice Stevens was “probably sister of Mrs. Foster.”  He adds the following about the “Abigail” on which others of the passengers were John Winthrop Jr. age 27 and his wife Elizabeth and son Deane.  “Abigail of London, Richard Hackwell, Master.  She listed passengers fo New England from June 4 until July 24, and sailed from Plymouth as her last port of departure about Aug 1, with two hundred and twenty persons aboard, and many cattle.  She arrived in Boston about Oct. 8, 1635, infected with smallpox.  among those coming in this ship, but not listed, were Sir Henry Vane, son and heir to Sir Henry Vane, Comptroller of the King’s Household, traveling incognite, the Revernd Hugh Peter, pastor of the English Church at Rotterdam, and the Reverend John Wilson, who was returning to Boston, with his wife, hr first appearance in New England.  They were part of the Puritan migration and Hugh Peters, later Cromwell’s chaplain, was on the same ship and helped form the church congregation to which Christopher belonged.  Some of the passengers with Christopher Foster are also connected to Sir Thomas Foster.  Sir Henry Vane’s son who is the Comptroller of the King’s Household is connected to Sir Thomas Foster household because of the Comtroller for King Henry VIII is entombed next to Sir Thomas Foster.  This is amking a clear connection to the royal family especially with Governor Winthrop’s son aboard also and Christopher Foster with them.  Further Info on Christopher: He was made a freeman at Boston (or Lynn) April 17 1637.  In the same year he was a resident of Lynn where in 1638 sixty acres were allotted to him.  At one time, the Fosters lived in Nahant St., Lynn.  In 1647, he went to Hempstead, and then to Southampton in 1650, both in New York.  In October of 1650, we find him as a townsman or selectman to manage the affairs of the town, being one of the 41 propietors.  He mny have been part of the originlal Lynn group that setled Southampton LI; Christopher first appears in records of Southampton in 1651 and he was living there in 1670.   His son Nathaniel removed to Hungington LI and their resided.  Christopher Foster died 1687; he resided Lynn, MA. and Southamptoin LI (Long Island, NY).

Christopher Lynn Foster (1603 – 1687)
is my 13th great grandfather
John Christopher Foster (1634 – 1687)
son of Christopher Lynn Foster
Rachel Foster (1675 – 1751)
daughter of John Christopher Foster
Abraham Sr Reeves (1699 – 1761)
son of Rachel Foster
Hannah Reeves (1720 – 1769)
daughter of Abraham Sr Reeves
John McGilliard Jr (1759 – 1832)
son of Hannah Reeves
John McGilliard III (1788 – 1878)
son of John McGilliard Jr
Mary McGill (1804 – 1898)
daughter of John McGilliard III
John Wright (1800 – 1870)
son of Mary McGill
Mary Wright (1814 – 1873)
daughter of John Wright
Emiline P Nicholls (1837 – )
daughter of Mary Wright
Harriet Peterson (1856 – 1933)
daughter of Emiline P Nicholls
Sarah Helena Byrne (1878 – 1962)
daughter of Harriet Peterson
Olga Fern Scott (1897 – 1968)
daughter of Sarah Helena Byrne
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Olga Fern Scott
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

He first came to Boston, where he was a Freemen on 17 April 1637. In 1638, he moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1647, he went to Hempstead, and then to Southampton in 1650, both in New York. In October of 1650, we find him as a townsmen or selectmen to manage the affairs of the town, being one of the 41 proprietors.

HISTORY: Christopher Lynn Foster is the son of Sir Knight Thomas Foster (FORSTER). He (Thomas)changed his name because he married a close cousin named Susanna FORSTER. They had the same Great Great Great Grandfather. This family tree goes back to Sir Knight John Forster and Sir Knight Richard Foster. Sir John rode with King Richard I the Lion Heart to Palestine in the late 1100’s. This family was given the Bamburg Castle by Queen Elizabeth I. The family went bankrupt in the 1700 or 1800 hundreds and sold the castle the the Armstrong family of Adderstone, Northumberland, England which is where the castle is located. The FORSTER FAMILY came to England in the 1000 AD time frame to escape the Saxon invasion into Flanders. The Forster family changed from FORESTER (THE FAMILY were the Counts of Flanders) and evolved from the de FORRESTER of Belgium. The de FORRESTER FAMILY was by record the Prince of Dijon, Belgium in 740 AD. The Counts of Flanders (Anacher Great FORESTER, BALWIN I through the V, Arnulf Forester had marriages to Princess of England, Princess of France, Princess of Luxemboroug, etc. One of the Baldwin’s daughters married William the Conquer. Her name was Matilda. (Info received from Leroy Foster Nov 2002)

Be Humble

May 22, 2013 — 6 Comments

Last at number ten, but not least, Zappos core value concerning humility is short and sweet. Be Humble.  Humility is tightrope on which to stay centered. This trick is easier said than done, like all the core values of this company.  There must be enough confidence to build self esteem and positive team spirit, and enough gravitas to accomplish intended goals.  Restraint of ego mania in favor of pride in the entire workforce is a major element in delivering happiness.  Hubris hoards potential joy in the corporate executive cafeteria.  Zappos spreads it lavishly all over the company and customer base.

I had the idea 12 years ago when I invented Floatli that my teaching was such an important element of life that I naturally needed to create a teaching dynasty by certifying Floatli professionals.  I was in a spa mentality and was influenced by my work experience.  I became sidetracked by the demands of real life on this journey, and had to clarify my reasons several times for continued expenditure of time and effort on this business.  Since I no longer live at spas I have a new perspective that is much more reasonable.  I have reached the conclusion that Floatli is as obvious as a hula hoop or roller skates.  No instruction is needed.  No certification, no dynasty of teaching will enhance the fun.   It is not a lifesaving device, but it is superior to other aquatic training equipment because it fits the anatomy of the user, no need to grip any thing with the hands to stay above water. It can be used in all bodies of water, but my experience says be super careful in surf or currents.

I want to work with Zappos as my marketing partner because their philosophy and values are dear to me, as is the quality of the merchandise they sell.  I humbly request that the Zappsters share the joy in delivering floating happiness to zillions of customers who will have fun creating their own ways to use Floatli for training and fun.  I sincerely believe we can deliver happiness in several different directions by empowering folks to find  new ways to float.

Thomas Howlett, 10th Great Grandfather

May 21, 2013

Howlett Coat of Arms

Howlett Coat of Arms

Thomas Howlett arrived in America on the ship Hopewell in 1630 to live in Boston. He was a carpenter, and had skills as a surveyor.  He was active in church and military matters.

Thomas Howlett (1605 – 1678)
is my 10th great grandfather
Thomas Howlett (1638 – 1667)
son of Thomas Howlett
Mary HOWLETT (1664 – 1727)
daughter of Thomas Howlett
John Hazen (1687 – 1772)
son of Mary HOWLETT
Caleb Hazen (1720 – 1777)
son of John Hazen
Mercy Hazen (1747 – 1819)
daughter of Caleb Hazen
Martha Mead (1784 – 1860)
daughter of Mercy Hazen
Abner Morse (1808 – 1838)
son of Martha Mead
Daniel Rowland Morse (1838 – 1910)
son of Abner Morse
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Name Thomas HOWLETT Sergeant, Ensign
Birth 1605, Assington, Suffolk, England
Death 24 Sep 1677, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts
Occupation Carpenter
Father William HOWLETT (1579-)

Misc. NotesFrom co. Suffolk, England. Removed Ipswich 1633. Deposed 1658, aged 52. Church member 1630.29One of the first settlers in Agawam (Ipswich) 1632/33. Deputy from Ipswich 1635 and Topsfield 1665 and often employed in running lines and locating towns and farms.Ipswich, Massachusetts Deputy in 1635. Ensign of Ipswich Company under Captain Daniel Dennison, 3rd Regiment, Colonel John Endicott 1636.102Thomas Howlett was twenty-five years old when he came to New England in 1630 aboard the ship “Hopewell” as part of Governor Winthrop’s Fleet. He was a carpenter by trade, with origins in South Elmham Parish of Suffolk County, East Anglia in England. He first settled in Boston, as did a majority of Winthrop colonists, and became a member of the First Church on August 27, 1630. In the spring of 1633 he married Alice French, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Riddlesdale) French, who apparently had emigrated to New England prior to her parents. She was a member of the First Church and was eventually dismissed on September 10, 1643 to the church in Ipswich as “Our sister Alice French ye wife of Thomas Howlet of Ipswich.”Although Howlett later settled in Topsfield where he spent the latter years of his life, he was one of the nine originals of John Winthrop Jr’s 1633 party settling the Indian village Agawam, which the next year became the town of Ipswich. He was sworn a freeman at Ipswich on March 4, 1633.In 1634 Ipswich granted Howlett, in partnership with John Manning and others, on the neck of land on which the town stood, two acres of meadow and two and a half acres of marsh between the town riger and the lands of William Sergient (probably Sargent) and John Newman. Added to this in 1635 was a house lot in the town, thirty acres of upland and ten of meadow at the head of Chebacco Creek and ten acres north of the town toward the Reedy marsh. In 1637 he purchased forty acres from John Perkins, Sr. His later acquired Topsfield holdings are described in his will.Thomas Howlett’s highest political office came to him as a young man, when, in 1635, he represented Ipswich in the General Court. he served on the Essex County Jury of Trials in 1654, 1657, and 1665 and on the Grand Jury in 1650, 1659, 1666, and 1667 and served as Selectman of Topsfield in 1661.In 1640 he was sergeant of the Ipswich military defense company and later became its ensign. In 1643 he, as Sergeant, and ten other militiamen were voted compensation by the town for their three days acting in defense of the Agawam Indians against their tribal enemies. In 1672 he became a Deacon of the Topsfield Church and his contribution of five pounds to the salary of Rev. Jeremiah Hubbard was the largest of those made.There were eight children of Howlett’s marriage with Alice — Sarah (1633/34-1700), John (1633/34-1674/75), alice (1636-1696), Thomas, Jr. (1637/34-1667), Mary (1641/42-1718), Nathaniel (1646-1658), William (1649/50-1718), and Samuel (1654/55-1719/20). On June 6, 1666, after the death of Alice he married Rebecca Smith, widow of Thomas Smith if Ipswich and Newbury, with his step-son, Thomas Smith, in 1671, choosing him as his guardian.Thomas Howlett died in Topsfield, Essex County on September 24, 1677.Military Was in Pequot War32, No. 74, pg. 120, 1920Spouses

1 Alice FRENCH
Birth 9 Oct 1609
Death 26 Jun 1666, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts
Christen 9 Apr 1610, Assington (St. Edmund’s), Suffolk, England
Father Thomas FRENCH (<1584-<1639)
Mother Susan RIDDLESDALE (<1584-1658)

Misc. NotesProbably emigrated to America with her brother Thomas. Alice was dismissed from the Boston Church to Ipswich 16 Jun 1644.

Marriage 1 Jan 1633/34, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts
Children Sarah (1633-1700)
Alice (ca1636-<1696)
Thomas (1637-1667)
Mary (1641-1718)
John (1643-1675)
Samuel (1645-1719)
Nathaniel (ca1646-1658)
William (1649-1718)
2 Rebecca SMITH
Death before 1 Jan 1634/35
Father Thomas SMITH
Mother Alice

Athlete Archetype

May 20, 2013 — 2 Comments

At the crossroads of sports performance and fitness training is a special intersection of interest and comparison. We compete with ourselves in many sports. Team sports have an extra dynamic, but freestyle sports played or performed by individuals offer a chance to bend the meaning of sports and scoring. Winter and summer X games are good examples of these evolving sports and athletes. Tricks and styles evolve each year to new heights and dangers.  Extreme sports involve heavy risks, so most folks prefer to watch as fans. Others find sponsors and spend all their time in training or competition. What is the healthiest blend of training, practice, participation, and admiration of others?  What is the best way to avoid injury and stay fit while playing or competing?

I believe prehabilitaion is important, mentally and physically.  Life requires variety, balance, flexibility, and range of motion.  In a healthy athletic training routine personal willpower and strength of spirit are the qualities we admire and aspire to reflect.  The athlete archetype is the symbol of transcending limits.  Physical limits, including handicaps, are frequently overcome in Special Olympics and Senior Olympics through training and competition. Expectations that build esteem for the whole sport and all the players are the healthiest.  Entitlement, either to cheat or misuse athletic ability for selfish ends, is the shadow aspect of this archetype.  Winning at all costs, taking power over others, flexing strength beyond games and into inappropriate settings is the activity of the bully, shadow athlete.   Football thugs in Europe display this kind of trashy sportsmanship.  The false sense of invulnerability and entitlement that lives on the dark side of competition is the enemy of good health and balance.  Games are played on and off the field and the clock.  All or none, win or loose mentality does not belong in every aspect of life.  Check your inner athlete, and how your games are played to learn more about your own beliefs about winning, loosing, and dedication.

Rev.-Capt William Perkins, 9th Great Grandfather

May 19, 2013 — 4 Comments

Perkins coat of arms

Perkins coat of arms

William Perkins was born in England, educated at Cambridge, and moved to New England in 1632.  He served in the military and taught school after arrival. He was a very well educated man.

1. Rev.-Capt. William Perkins, son of William Perkins Merchant Taylor and Catharine Unknown, was
born on 25 Aug 1607, was christened in All Hallows, Bread Street, London, Eng., and died on 21 May 1682 in
Topsfield, MA at age 74.
General Notes: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: immigrants to New England
1620-1633, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995, Three volumes.
From George Walter Chamberlain, History of Weymouth, Boston, 1923.
“Capt. William Perkins, the first schoolmaster of which there is any record, was voted ?10 for six months
schoohng, 10 Mar. 1651 (Weymouth Town Records.) He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, as a
pensioner at Michaelmas Term, 1625; afterwards immigrated to Christ’s College from which he
graduated, A.B., at lent term, 1627-28.
“He was son of William Perkins, a merchant tailor, of London, and was born 25 Aug. 1607, and came
in the ship William and Francis, leaving London, 7 Mar. 1631-32. This ship arrived at Boston, 5 June,
1632. (Drake’s, The Foumders of New England, 11.) He was made a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay
Colony, 3 Sept. 1634. He married at Roxbury, 30 Aug. 1636, Elizabeth Wootton, and removed to
Weymouth in 1643, where he resided till 1652, when he removed to Gloucester, and in 1655 to
Topsfield. He became the first munister of the latter place. He was deputy from Weymout in 1644 and
Captain there in 1645. He died at Topsfield, 21 May, 1682, aged 75 years.
“The General Court entered the following record on 7 Oct. 1641: ‘Mr. Willi Perkins, for his fathers
50, is granted 400 acres of land.’ (Massachusetts Bay Colony Records, 1:338.) He was to ‘have power to
end small causes at Waymoth,’ 29 May, 1644, and again, 14 May, 1645. (Ibid. 2: 73, 97.) He was a
deputy at the General Court, 29 May, 1644, and was called ‘Lieut. Wm. Perkms’ (Ibid. 66) and ‘Capt.,’ 4
Nov. 1746 (Ibid. 184.).”
——————–
William Perkins, 1607-82, A Study, The Essex Genealogist, vol 3, pp 65-76, May 1983, iss.2

William Perkins (1607 – 1682)
is my 9th great grandfather
daughter of William Perkins
daughter of Sarah Perkins
son of Mercy Bradstreet
daughter of Caleb Hazen
daughter of Mercy Hazen
son of Martha Mead
son of Abner Morse
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
son of Jason A Morse
son of Ernest Abner Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

We know from the Cambridge Alumni association that he was a preacher and a teacher:

Adm. at EMMANUEL, 1624. S. of William, merchant tailor, of London. B. there, Aug. 25, 1607. Schools, London and Colchester (Mr Danes). Matric. Michs. 1625. Migrated to Christ’s, Nov. 15, 1626. B.A. 1627-8. Went to New England, 1632. Resided at Roxbury, Mass., adm. a freeman of the Massachusetts Colony, 1634. Moved to Weymouth, Mass., 1643. Sent as deputy to the General Court, 1644; lieutenant, 1644, and captain, 1645, of the local military company; served as schoolmaster and preached occasionally. Removed to Gloucester, Mass., and taught school there, 1651-5. Retired to Topsfield, Mass., 1655. Died there, May 21, 1682. (Peile, I. 378; J. G. Bartlett.)