jawnbc | (no subject)

Ma poche est à terre

Coca Cola and mixed nuts for breakfast (@ 2pm). Can’t bode well for the day

Was out carousing til 02h00, getting home around 02h30 (late bus schedule is lean). Puttered and sputtered until 05h00. Methinks I’m officially blue.

I did call my Nana, since the time difference worked well. She’s grand and we had a lovely chat. In a fortnight I’m off to Adelaide to meet the distant relations. Nana’s uncle Eugene was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary in Galway in the early 1900s. As the police under the British occupation, one of their jobs was to evict tenant farmers in arrears on their rents. Something Eugene avoided for a long time--as an Irish farmer’s son he found the whole tenancy system unjust. But eventually he was compelled to evict someone. But the day he was to do it he refused. Rather than face arrest himself, he made his way to the coast (this occurred in Clonkela, near Tuam in Galway), and was on the next ship out.

Which happened to be going to Australia. He never saw the rest of his family again.

Once here in Oz, he married and sired 8 kids--a perfect set of 4 and 4. By now there must be dozens of Eugene Gibbons progeny out and about. But Nana’s only been in contact with her cousin Winifred (as an aside, the Irish equivalent of Winifred is Una). She lives outside Adelaide in South Australia, as does one of her nieces Geraldine. It’s Geraldine with whom I’ll stay during my visit, since Winifred’s in a senior’s lodge.

The irony of all this is that our branch of the family is large and close-knit. Nana had 8 kids, who begot 18, who’ve (so far) begot 30. Most of us grew up together, so we’re a closeknit bunch. Geraldine is an only child, with only one first cousin on the Gibbons side. I’m bringing my laptop so I can show Geraldine--and Winifred, whom I’ll visit as well--the North American relations. Even have a bit of video too! Plus I’ll shoot some more of our Aussie family, and email stuff to Nana (via Dad).
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