During futile maintenance of the countenance, Peripheral whispers of carelessness Unexpectedly seep forth – Barely there. Phantom faces and places drift across mind’s eye, Borne by indolent apathy. “If I had …” “Oh too late, too bad, so sad.” Like illegible, lichen-encrusted tombstones, Untethered names no longer hold meaning. Stories with no one to tell them Languish; become extinguished. A brisk 6 am walk staves off the Winter chill. Aboard the 300, meandering melancholic musings inspire this prose.
I can’t remember how I came to the conclusion my paternal great grandmother’s surname was Walton. Maybe the assumption was due to COVID delirium and wishful thinking. After all living in Shropshire, there was a fair chance distant relatives may have been from neighbouring Wales. I was certainly pleased when I identified Martha’s mother had Welsh ancestry.
After receiving my DNA results, I excitedly used the above assumption to label mother and father influences.
Recent mixed emotions have negatively impacted my motivation for researching the family tree. I was pleased about unknowingly visiting places my ancestors had lived and disillusioned, I was making little progress in identifying potential Scottish, Dutch, and Danish heritage.
Then a few hints from other family trees suggested Martha’s surname was Adams with ancestors solidly from Shropshire not Wales. Hm, maybe I have my parentage confused, I thought.
Checking in on a second and third cousins’s DNA results, whom I’ve never met, revealed the maternal line is rich in family from. Welsh, Scottish, Dutch, and Danish regions. I switched the parental influences and explored a strong tie to Yorkshire and generations of Turpins. This surname has Danish heritage.
In the ‘80s, I was thrilled to visit the newly opened Jorvik Viking Center, depicting imagined tenth century scenes of York during the time of the Vikings.
Perhaps my granddad’s middle name of Havelock had been a clue all along. It has Scandinavian, Danish, and Old Norse origins.
Weary tears Moisten lower lashes Insufficient to fall free Achy orbital cavities Constrict the oculi Head wrenching yawns Cause sore jaw Ear piercing pain Drills drum deep Bark parched throat clenches Crunched up squashed in Fifty minutes’ commute Will soon be over
View from the green sofa to the green of the front yard
For the last countless weeks we have been selling off and donating our chattels so that we can scale down our footprint from 116 m2 (on a block of 686 m2) to 85 m2 on the ninth floor of an apartment building among city lights.
Our two year retreat in the country is drawing to a close. An immersion in nature especially in being adopted by magpies have helped us to heal our hellish experience of life in a townhouse development.
Today our house goes to market with the first open inspection on 10 May 2025.
Coincidently, today, Saturday, 3 May 2025, Australia votes. Temporary polling stations across the country, emblazoned with party colours welcome some whilst worrying others. The reward of a Democracy Sausage, biscuit or cake afterwards turns the experience into an Aussie outing.
Here, it is against the law if you do not vote without a valid reason for being unable to do so. There is an admin fee of $20 to pay plus if you end up in court, a fine if convicted, and responsibility for the Australian Electoral Commission’s costs too.
I wondered if there is a free AI tool I could use to turn doodled concepts into smooth and tidy patterns. I tried a few online products with annoying pop up sign up ads.
The result was okay however, I was unable to move beyond basic tidying. Taking out a free one week trial subscription with Fotor and an app for iPhone, I was able to produce the more pleasing results below.
Box lid of mid century plywood jigsaw puzzle depicting a map of England and Wales with illustrations representing the industries of different regions
The DNA results are in with reassuring and surprising results. Knowing my maternal ancestors hailed from the Midlands, specifically Staffordshire, it was likely there would be a family connection to neighbouring Warwickshire.
With a maternal and paternal surname of Jones, I was thrilled to learn of Welsh roots. My father’s paternal family lived in Shropshire bordering Wales whilst his mother’s family lived in south east England, Kent.
Surprisingly, I have higher percentages of Scottish, Danish, and Netherlands heritages than Welsh.
Dog, Sue, toddler me, Big Nanny
As a toddler, I had platinum curly locks. Over time they straightened and darkened to mid/dark brown. I wonder if this is the Danish and Dutch influence.
Older friend, Stephanie, me around six or seven
Using the results, I experimented with AI image generators: Show me what a brown eyed, 61 year old male might look like with the following DNA: 73% England and northwestern Europe, 16% Scotland, 5% Denmark, 4% The Netherlands, 2% Wales. He is 1.7m tall and 10kg overweight.
MS CoPilotMS DesignerGoogle Gemini
This final image is the closest to my appearance, spooky!
When thinking of Norse god, Thor, I imagine thunder and lightening storms. Yesterday morning, in contrast, the journey to the station was gloriously lit by a light orange, pink, pale blue, wispy grey dawn.
Below a shot of one of my favourite views from the station. Glimpses of the heavens reflected in Saltwater Creek surrounded by silhouetted trees.
As the sky lightened with deeper reds and golds, I took a picture near Petrie station.
At the end of the day, whilst awaiting the arrival of the 4:20 to carry me home, thinking again of Thor, I captured a view of the platform, steel rails, and wall opposite.
This morning I used the double exposure filter to overlay the images in Google Snapseed to create the top image. I like the result.
Earth’s magnetism channeled through beings, Is it a catelyst for amassing? Maybe it arose after emancipation from a modest childhood And Mom’s mission of making do? Or perhaps a mammal’s natural need for nesting? Necessities and niceties for a fuzzy bunny to attract a big cat mate? Three score years of accepting, acquiring, accumulating. Even emigrating, moving interstate; a reluctance to release, relinquish and renounce as we ‘may need it one day’. As hour grains run faster, we the tiger and the rabbit reflect and act upon reality; The compulsion for conservation of capitalist commodities has contracted. Burdensome belongings bring joy no more. Deliberately we’re divesting, downsizing, disencumbering. With lightness of mind body and soul, We are distilling dreams to design a direct destination, Carefully eking out the remainder for our next stage of life.
theINFP 