Cars!

     Remember there's more to connecting with your past than just knowing who your ancestors are. When I learn about ancestors in the distant past the information I gather is usually no more than a location, birth date, family size, names of other members and boarders, and potentially a profession. That seems like quite a bit of information, except it doesn't really tell you who they are. What did they enjoy? So I sometimes find myself building their lives for them in my own mind. Perhaps my own interests came from them? George Campbell was a laborer, but what knid of laborer? Did he build beautiful landscapes? Ursule Boucher, did she make her family quilts?
     There is one hobby I have that I know my grandfathers shared. Lots of people have taken up learning more about this particular creation in the last 100 years. CARS!

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     I love cars. I love my car. I am a practical person. I would never fall in love with a luxury Shelby, but a Model T would have been up my alley. I know my grandfather's both had cars they enjoyed working on. Cars today are much more complicated than the days of the Model T. I think the satisfaction they got from fixing and pumping up their rides are the same as the satisfaction I get. Most of what I do is ordinary maintenance, but it still feels like I'm making my car healthier each time. Of course after six years with my car it's time for some upgrades. It feels good giving that vehicle a makeover... a new life. Of course I wish to do all the work myself.

     Did my love of doing things myself come from my ancestors? My grandparents, in fact most people's grandparents were a highly independent group of people. The greatest generation was great for more than just their efforts in World War II. The next generation had less general know how than the previous generation. My generation, AKA Generation X, has even less general fix it knowledge. This doesn't go for all people in my generation, but the majority of the people I interact with could not do the every day fixes people did three generations back. 

     We are frighteningly disconnected from the things around us. Do you need to know how to jack up your car and change a flat? In the age of cell phones help is just a call away. Need to shingle your roof? Again just another phone call. Perhaps those things aren't necessary for the survival of the species, but there is one thing we are horribly disconnected from that can be life threatening. Food, however, that's a post for another day. 

      To wrap it up, remember, there is more to connecting with your past than knowing your genetics or the names of your ancestors. You and your ancestors may be more alike than you know. Stop and think about the things you enjoy and the things they may have enjoyed after all some things never change.