Mom and the Spitting Camel

Mom and "friend" - Dec. 2 1967

My brother John and I both inherited the teasing playfulness personality of our father.  Our other brother Isaac didn't.

Our dad often teased our Mom.  She was usually a good sport about it.....most of the time.  Every now and then the joke went a little too far like the time my father electrified the wooden toilet seat in the outhouse that my Mother was using.  She almost knocked over that outhouse getting out of there.  She almost killed my father too when she found out that he had just played another practical joke on her.

Mom and Pop 1944 - this picture Pop carried in his wallet until the day he died

This series of pictures I have on this blog posting is from the time about twenty years ago, during one of Mom's visits to John and his family in Greenville, South Carolina.  John took her to a zoo to visit the Spitting Camel.  Oh I know my brother John.  He wouldn't of have been too upset if the Spitting Camel put on a show for our Mother.  Unfortunately for John but fortunately for our Mother, the Spitting Camel wasn't in a spitting mood the day Mom visited him.  

Mom staying out of spitting range - 1967

Looking at this series of pictures again reminds me of how much we all miss Mom.  She was a lot of fun and very good natured.  Bill also liked to tease her and you know I did.  

Brother John and family and Mom and.....the Spitting Camel - 1967

Unknown Photo Discovered After 54 years!

The collage senior snapshot yearbook page of the Class of 1957

As regular readers of this blog know, I love old photos.  Last week I pulled out a couple of old yearbooks from my high school.  I went to Downingtown High School in Downingtown, Pennsylvania from 1954 to 1959.

I was looking through the yearbooks, reliving old memories and looking for photos to scan into my computer when I came across quite a remarkable discovery.  I found a photo of myself that I had never seen before in the DHS 1957 yearbook!  How surprised was I when I saw that smiling photo of myself?!?

The photo was contained on one of the collage photo pages of snapshots of the seniors.  Since I was a sophomore at that time, my photo should not have been on that page.  The only thing I can figure is that I had a girl friend at that time who was a senior and she must have had that picture of me and submitted it to the yearbook editorial staff when they asked seniors to submit pictures of the collage page.

That's me in the center with all my "girlfriends" surrounding me!

I think there was an inside joke because I was often teased about "all my girlfriends."  HA!  Yes, I had her (Vivian) as a girlfriend but back then I had the eye for the boys, believe me.  I had many, many fantasies about some of the senior guys.  Oh sure, I liked my "girlfriend" but back then you have to realize (The Fifties) that one was expected to have a girlfriend.  I thought my "feelings" about some of those hot senior  boys was just a phase that would pass.  Right!  I am still in that "phase."

So anyway, it was fun seeing this picture of myself even if it took me 53 years to discover it.

That's Smiling Ron!

I wonder how many more Unknown Pictures of Ron are out there?

Found Treasure!

Me on Rehoboth Beach July 1966 - FORTY FIVE YEARS AGO!

As regular readers of this blog know, I am a photo fanatic.  I LOVE to take pictures and at this time of my life I especially love digging up old photos and posting them to my blog.  Lately I found out how to make movies of my old photos.  Expect a lot more of those.  Of course I am quite aware that some of the readers of this blog will find these slide shows about as interesting as, well, slide shows.  But hey, I have fun making them and I certainly do enjoy putting them together.

So here is what happened.  A couple of days ago Bill asked me to move some of my plastic storage bins from his "office" in the basement next to the hot water heater.  Well, guess what!?  I found FIVE TRAYS of old slides.  YAAAAY!

Yesterday and today I reviewed some of these slides and what a wonderful find these have turned out to be!  They were taken a year after Bill and I set up house in Pennsuaken New Jersey.  That year was 1966, FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO!  Man oh man, just where does the time go?

The first summer we were together we made a trip to Rehoboth Beach Delaware.  This was July 1966. Yes folks, the photo displayed at the top of this blog is of my reclining on the beach in Rehoboth with a cigarette (I quit smoking July 15th, 1967).  So here it is folks, the earliest known photo of Ron On The Beach.  Of course these days I don't sun bath on the beach.  In fact I have a dermatology appointment next month to check for my skin cancer.  Every six months I get checked and usually have several pre-cancerous spots removed from my face.  Yes, I'm paying the price now for all those summer days baking on the beach.

So to get back to the old photos.  I scanned about seventy of them into the computer this morning.  Scanning slides in a computer is a very laborious project but well worth it.  I'll do a tray a day until I get them all in and thus preserve them for posterity.

A lot of these photos I've never seen before.  I also have about thirty reels of VHS tapes I've never seen either.  That's the next big project.

So be prepared to see these old slides converted into an iMovie in future blog postings!

The Tipton Boys of Washington Avenue

120 Washington Avenue, Downingtown, PA July 2002. Our old apartment building stills standing

Our family lived here on the second floor front from 1948 to 1954. Our playground was the street out front or the railroad yard out back.

My brother Isaac now lives in the family house in Pennsylvania.  Our parents built that house in 1958. It is only a small ranch house (1,100 square feet) with one bathroom.  However, it was the first house our family ever lived in.  Before they built that house (for $14,000), we had always lived in second floor apartments.  I remember how much I used to envy my classmates when I walked to school in Downingtown (a town of 5,000), Pennsylvania.  They had a backyard to play in.  Me and my brothers played in the road, down by the railroad tracks or any other place where we weren't chased from.  More than once we heard "Hey!  You kids get out of there!"  or "Hey!  What are you kids doing there!?"  Thus, it was a real treat when we finally had our own house, and I had my own bedroom (being the oldest and all).  Alas, it was only to be a year for me because I graduated from high school in 1959 and after a stay in the hospital for six months (a subject of another blog posting), I joined the Army. And after three years in the Army I got out and moved into my own apartment until I met Bill.  

Me (the tall one in the middle) and my brother Isaac (on the far right) at 120 Washington Avenue with our friends - 1953 Billy Smith, Pee Wee Mack and Chubby Shores (he was my buddy). Those were the days - we had the best childhood us Townies.  This picture was taken in front of what is now the multi- glass windows in the top picture.

Here are more pictures from that era, the early Fifties when the Tipton Boys were the Terror of Washington Avenue.

Me and my brothers John and Isaac on the stoop of 120 Washington Avenue with our friends Johnny Johnson and Patty Robinson (I don't know who the little girl sitting on the steps in the far back is) - 1950

My brother Isaac riding his wagon on Washington Avenue 1948 (my father obviously took this pictures because he liked to get 'cute' with his angled pictures  which are just annoying now) - check out the vintage vehicles in the background - priceless.

Buffalo Ron

"Buffalo Ron"

Ever wonder what an older, gay man with too much time on his hands does?  He blogs and has pictures taken of himself as a characters from the 19th century.


The first time I had one of the old time photos taken was in 1974 in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  I was visiting Cape Cod for the first time.  Actually it was the first time I visited any vacation destination.  

Big Bob and Ron Provincetown, Mass - 1974

I grew up with my two younger brothers in the poor white trash section of Downingtown, Pennsylvania.  Back in those days, the Fifties, our big thrill was Pop taking us to the local swimming hole after weddings eight rows of corn.  Not that I'm complaining mind you.  I loved our childhood summer activity as a "townie" in the small town of Downingtown.  The term "townie" comes from my classmate Carole Davis who lived on a farm outside of Downingtown.  Back in those days you were either a "townie" or a "farmer."  Truth be said, being called a "farmer" was worse.

Me and my brothers (I'm in the center)  and our dog Sam at the local swimming hole 1954

Pop didn't take us kids to "the shore", as the Jersey Shore was called in those days (and these days too.)  We didn't know the thrill of seeing the waves wash in on the sands of the beach in Atlantic City.  Nope.  The old Watering Hole out past Boot Road was good enough for us.  Again, not complaining.  In fact, we always had a grand old time.


Fast forward to 1974.  Now I had a good paying job in the big city of Philadelphia.  I had vacation.  I heard that Provincetown was the place to go for a young gay guy like me. It was the Gay Disneyland.  So I talked my friend Big Bob (he has a size 15 foot) into going with me.  Bob drove.  Big excitement.


The first night in P-town we're in the mass of humanity on Saturday night cruising down Commerical Street.  Yes, that is the name of Provincetown's main street.  Not very imaginative is it?  One of the first things I see is this tourist trap place that take photos that put you back in time.  I ask Big Bob if he's up for it.  He was.  We got our picture taken.  That was in 1974.  


Every year since then I've been meaning to have another picture taken.  I finally got around to it this year, 2010. Uh, only 36 years later.  Talk about procrastination.  


Now I'm trying to make up for lost time before I bit the dust.  Kick the bucket.  Buy the farm.  Pictured above is yours truly as......are you ready? 

BUFFALO RON!

Do you think I waited to long?  

Did I pull it off?

Am I butch enough?

At least I'm color coordinated.

Stay tuned.  There's more to come.  

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Wow, it is COLD outside! What a way to start off the New Year. I remember back when I was living in Philly and we used to go out to see the Mummer’s Parade. Of course in those days we were fortified by alcohol so the cold wasn’t quite as biting as it is today.




Yesterday Bill and I took a little shopping expedition to the new and reconfigured Walmart in Rehoboth Beach. We frequent all the Walmarts in the area. Georgetown and Milford both have Super Walmarts which we shop at often. Then there is Sam’s Club in Dover. We shop at them all in spite of the fact they don’t offer domestic partner benefits and that the employees aren’t unionized. That doesn’t matter to me, period. I shop for quality and price. That I get at Walmart. I make no apologies for shopping at Walmart.



I hope the rest of the day goes better than this morning. First thing I couldn’t open a You Tube video a friend sent to me because my Java script was disabled. Gee, I wonder how that happened. Oh, perhaps it was because my sister-in-law sent me one of her photo presentations that screwed up my software. While I love my sister-in-law, every time she sends me one of these fancy dancy photo presentations (this of my Mother and her birthday party and Christmas celebration), my computer suffers. I had to make a call to my boss at the hotel to walk me through with resetting my Java script. I got it working now thank goodness. He saved me $$ from having to call my regular Computer Guy. Since I’m not working this year I have to watch every $$.



Next thing I check my e-mails. I see where there is a message from my niece. She kindly asked me to remove pictures that I had posted to my Facebook album of her first marriage. That marriage ended badly so I can understand her concern. One thing I do find interesting. Most people I know who have had relationships that have ended badly usually try to rewrite history as if it never happened. Why is that? Control? Oh well, I will honor her request. I have found this a problem when updating my genealogy records as well. Even to the point where one of my cousins didn’t want me to record the name of her first child because she gave her up for adoption. That doesn’t mean the child didn’t exist.



Maybe it’s me. I have also had bad relationships and parts of my life I wouldn’t want to relive but that doesn’t change the fact that it was part of my life. To me, trying to bury an unpleasant part of your past doesn’t work. It keeps bobbing up. It’s sort of like the situation with Tiger Woods hiding out now because he got caught philandering big time. He thinks if he hides long enough, everyone will forget and the record of his selfishness will go away. Hey Tiger ain’t going to happen! You are now officially a liar and a scumbag. 



I’m making great strides in my continuing job of cleaning out my basement storage room. I’m finding all kinds of goodies. That’s where the wedding pictures of my niece came from. I’ll just have to be more careful in the future with what memories I find that I share. Someone seems to always be taking offense to what I post.  Pictures, videos, whatever.  There appears to be a lot of sensitive folk out there in the Internet world.  Who am I going to offend next?

The Day After

Another Christmas is past. While I like Christmas (but no the craziness of Christmas shopping), I'm never sad to see it go. Now life can go back to normal, or at least what passes for normal around here in Slower Lower.




This morning Bill and I ventured out for our weekly breakfast at Zorba's in Rehoboth Beach. Actually, Zorba's isn't right on the beach (which it sounds like) but along Route 1, just past the Wal-Mart. Actually, aren't quite a few stores "just past Wal-Mart?" But that a subject for a future blog. Who says they run out of subjects for blog postings? Not I.



Anyway, we venture out in the wind and rain, barreling down Rt. 1 to Zorba's. We're the first customers there. No big surprise. The economy is bad everywhere, especially in the restaurant industry. I fear that some of the restaurants down here in this resort area will close permanently if business doesn't pick up soon. Even though this is a resort area and most of the business is in season, this year we have had an unusual amount of rain. In fact, we've had a LOT OF RAIN. Enough rain already.



Our usual waitress Erin (or "Ear Ring" as Bill likes to call her because she wears big hoop earrings) was slouched over the cash register. She was ready for another day of humoring the Old Gay Guys. Hey, it could be worse. She could be humoring the Grumpy Old Straight Guys. At least we're happy. Well, most of the time anyway.



Erin came over to chat a bit. We asked her how her Christmas was. She said "It was nice." She asked us how our Christmas was. We said "It was nice." HOOOKAY. Let's move this conversation on a bit further. I asked her how her kids (she has two daughters, an 8 year old and a 4 year old) liked Christmas. Well, that opened the flood gates. Asking parents about their kids is a guaranteed conversation starter. And that is fine. I love hearing parents talk about their kids. I like seeing the genuine smiles on their faces as they relate the latest exploits of their kids. After all, that is the purpose of most people's lives anyway isn't it? Having and raising kids?



I often think that if I had went the conventional route and gotten married (I almost did you know) at 20 years old I would probably have adult grandkids now. Wow. Anyone who knows me will probably find that hard to believe. But that was the possibility. Both of my brothers have adult grandchildren of child bearing age. It won't be too long before either or both of them are great grandfathers. So far I have five grand nieces and four grand nephews. Time is a ticking.



Last night I finally discovered my cache of old photos. I look a these photos and find it hard to believe that so much time has passed since I took these pictures in the Sixties. I always considered myself sort of a dorky kind of guy back then but now that I look at the photos I've changed my opinion. As compared with my Old Prospector look (I'm 68 now), I'll go for that unabashed naive, wrinkle free, low hairline look that I had in the Sixties. I sure would.

The picture above is me at the height of my Dorkdom - 1967

But back to the weather.  It looks like another gray, dreary, wet nor'easter type of day.  Dana Owens (aka Queen Latifah) said it best in her version of the old Mama's and Papa's song, "California Dreaming." 

All the leaves are brown

and the sky is grey

I've been for a walk

on a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm

if I was in L.A

California Dreamin'

on such a winter's day

stopped into a church

I passed along the way

well, I got down on my knees

and I pretend to pray

you know the preacher likes the cold

he knows I'm gonna stay

California Dreamin'

on such a winter's day

all the leaves are brown

and the sky is grey

I've been for a walk

on a winter's day

if I didn't tell him

I could leave today

California Dreamin'

on such a winter's day

It is going to be that kind of day.  Only three more months to go until Spring.

Getting Organized

After three years I’m finally beginning to attack the roomful of unpacked boxes I have in my basement media room.

You’ve heard of writer’s block? Well, for the past three years I’ve had a block about unpacking those boxes. It was such an enormous effort just to get twenty six years of accumulated possessions packed from the old house that we sold in Pennsylvania. By the time we finally got down here in Delaware I was exhausted. I only unpacked the necessities. The rest I put off “until later.” Later never came.



Over the past three years Bill has frequently reminded me “When are you going to get rid of that junk?” Well “junk” it is not. Granted, most of the packed items I probably don’t need because I haven’t missed them in the past three years. But I’m one of those people who just can’t part with things. I “may need it” in the future. For instance, empty boxes? I may need them if and when I start selling things on EBay, which will probably never happen in my life time but if I do, I’m ready. I have loads of bubble wrap. I’ll probably “need that” too. You never know.



Most of the other items are “things” from my Previous Life. I just can’t bear to part with them. I’ll put that responsibility on the person who cleans out my belongings when I depart this earth. But for now I’m keeping them. They give me comfort. I even found old issues of my school newspaper “The Blue and Gold.” One of them had a picture of me looking oh so serious of my days on the high school track team. I had forgotten all about that picture. It is yellowed and weathered now but I still remember the anguish of my track and field days. I never came in better than last. Those were the days when I really had low self esteem. Oh the Teenage Years, trial and tribulation.





What started me on this Mission Impossible was searching for my old photo negatives. I recently hooked up a new HP Scanjet which scans slides (which I have found) and negatives. I know I have those negatives (every one since I started taking pictures in the Fifties) somewhere. They are in an old Christmas box. And I know I put them in a “safe place.” But as is so often the case, I put it in such a safe place that even I can’t find them now. But I know I’ve seen them since I’ve been down here. That is what is so frustrating. That box is somewhere in this house. But where could it be?



But oh what treasures I am finding emptying and digging through the contents of all those packing boxes. I have found many pictures which I will share with you the “lucky” readers of this blog. Notice how I’m assuming you would even be interested in these pictures? No matter, my blog is partly a function of providing therapy for my mental well being anyway and it would give me pleasure to share these old pictures of my Previous Life with the world. It’s all part of leaving a legacy of my time on this earth.

Even though I haven’t found those negatives (yet) one good thing has come out of this exercise. I have finally burst through the three year mental block of finally unpacking the remaining boxes of our move of November 2006. I’m on a roll now.

Fifty Eight Years Later

My last post I displayed a picture of me taken at my graduation from Downingtown High School, Class of 1959 and the 50th anniversary class invite I received to this year's DHS Class of 2009 graduation ceremonies. The contrast was remarkable and scary, given how fast the past fifty years has flown by.

On this posting I'm showing a picture of me with my cousin Bud (Edward) Tipton at the West Chester Fishing Rodeo. This picture was taken September 1, 1951 at the West Chester, Pennsylvania reservoir. The big smile you see on my face is the fact that I won the fishing rodeo by catching the biggest fish of the day. It was a 13 inch rainbow trout. It was ironic I won because I wasn't the sportsman in the family. If anyone was, it was my cousin Bud (who, coincidentally is the same age as I am and is also unmarried as I am today.) Bud went on to to fish many more days and even deer hunting which I never did in my life. I never went fishing since that day in 1951. I figured I would quit while I was ahead.

Pictures

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to take pictures. I was always fascinated by photographs, that magic way to capture a moment in time. Unfortunately, growing up poor in the Fifties didn’t offer the financial resources for such a hobby. Growing up in the Fifties in Downingtown, Pennsylvania my family was like many other families, poor. We lived in a two bedroom rented second floor apartment at 120 Washington Avenue in the white trash section of town (it still is by the way.)

My Mother knew how much I was interested in photography so one Christmas Santa gave me a Kodak Brownie camera. Oh what a treasure that was. Not only because it was one of the few Christmases that Santa gave to me only, but because it was a present that I wanted and I got. “Santa” had a bad habit of giving Christmas presents to me and my two brothers with the proviso it was for “all of us.” I can remember one painful Christmas that me and the bros got a much wanted Lionel train set. Mom told us “Santa said this is for all of you.” I think that’s what I stopped believing there was a Santa Claus because I thought Santa would know better than to give ONE electric train set to three boys, especially brothers who were only a year apart in age. It didn’t work. Being the oldest, I got the engine. My middle brother Isaac; got the two middle cars and my youngest brother John; got the caboose. No one was happy. But I digress.

The Christmas I received the Kodak Brownie camera I was 11 years old, 1955. Now I had a new problem. I didn't have the money to buy and process the film of the pictures I was about to start taking. Fortunately for me I had recently secured a newspaper delivery job. I didn’t make a lot of money (about $5.00 a week), but I sometimes did have enough money left over at the end of the week (after buying candy and comic books) to buy a role of black and white Kodak film. Thus began Ron's Wonderful Adventure of taking pictures.

Taking pictures and getting them developed back in the Fifties was quite an ordeal. Once I took my pictures, I would take them to the Charles newsstand for processing. This was before the 1-hour processing; take it for granted, photo-processing days of many years later. Oh no, when one took film to be processed at Sam Charles (he owned the newsstand – we never called it the “Charles Newstand”), one waited at least a week until the film came back from some unknown mysterious location where they processed the film. I can still remember the butterflies in my stomach the magical day would approach when I could pick up my pictures. Sometimes I could hardly wait until I got home until I opened the enveloped and witness the miracle of capturing these Moments in History.

Now fast forward to today. Almost everyone has a digital camera or a camera phone. We can see our pictures almost instantly after they’re processed. Film that one has to thread in a camera is but a memory of the past. Now we download our digital images into our computers. It doesn’t cost us anything. No more trips to the local photography processing store to wait for the film to be processed. If we want a print we can either do it ourselves on our own printer or go to the local Wal-Mart and have it in an hour. Instant gratification.

What about my old black and white pictures that I took back in the Fifties? Those pictures I lovingly secured them with those pyramid shaped glued photo corners in those photo albums with black pages. Then I put those photo ablums in a closet, never to be seen again.

Later, in the 70’s, the miracle of color photography arrived. Now I had more money and I could take more pictures. Yet, I still had to take them to the local Camera Shop for processing. These photos I secured in plastic paged photo albums. I also put those in the same closet, never to be seen again except, by the administrator of my estate after I die.

Over the years I went through periods of taking a lot of pictures, and then years of not taking any pictures. I don’t know why I did this other than I preoccupied with the different transitions in my life and just didn’t have the time to take pictures nor the money for processing the prints. One such period was when I lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after I got out of the Army in January of 1963. I have no pictures of that important period of my life.

Another regret I have is that I didn’t take many pictures of people. Back then I was quite shy and reluctant to shove my camera into someone’s face to take their pictures (I have since gotten over that shyness as many of my friends and relatives can now attest.) I also didn’t have many pictures taken of myself. Again, I think my inherit shyness was the cause. And again, I have gotten over that shyness. I now have a lot of pictures taken of myself. Unfortunately, I am in my advanced years now and the subject matter of my face isn’t quite as appealing (if it ever was) but that is a subject for another blog posting.

One of my big goals in my retirement was to scan all my old photographs into my computer for permanent storage and history. The past two years I have scanned some of my old photos into my computer but only on an individual basis of a particular photo that was of some interest. This morning I changed that. I scanned my first whole photo album into my computer. It took me about three hours but it was worth it. I will put those pictures into several photo albums on my Facebook account for friends and relatives to enjoy (and copy if they wish.)

Scanning my old photos into my computer this morning brought back many fond memories of a more innocent time. And then I thought, that’s why we take photos, to bring back fond memories and remember a time that is long gone. It is also to remember those we know and love that are no longer with us. Were they the “good old days” as is so often referred? Maybe not but they were a time and a place which will never happen again.

During my genealogy research, I often request old photographs from my relatives so I can scan them into my computer for a permanent record and for future generations to look back on and wonder how life was back in the “good old days.” I may not write that book about my life that I have planned all my life, but I will leave this rich treasury of photos that I have accumulated during my lifetime. That is my legacy.

Facebook

For about a year now friends from different phases of my life have been urging me to join Facebook. I resisted because I thought I was too old (67.) I thought Facebook was a social networking web site for college students to stay in touch without the detritus of regular e-mail. Why would I want to bother with such a web site? Another thing, my poor old brain can only handle learning so many new things. I tried Twitter a few months ago and it baffled me. I didn’t understand what I would get out of Twitter. I can get by quite well in my life without texting my friends and relatives. To me texting is just another way to incur phone company fees.

Then, about three weeks ago, the son of a former classmate of mine told me that if I enjoyed posting to a blog, I would like Facebook. I was skeptical, because he is one of those young people who handle these new things with ease. What he doesn’t understand is that I am of that generation that is on Brain Overload now. I’m just barely managing operating my PC and taking advantage of what the Internet has to offer. However, I took his advice and jumped in with both feet. What really sold me was when I found out another former classmate of mine also had a Facebook account. She told me that her grandchildren urged her to open a Facebook account in order to keep in touch with them. My friend’s comment “It sort of makes e-mail seem passé doesn’t it?” convinced me to try Facebook. I opened my account two weeks ago and haven’t looked back since. Thank you Ben!

Not to sound like a shill for Facebook but I find that this social networking web site is an ideal way even for an old fogey like me to stay in touch with friends and relatives. In fact, I have rediscovered my nieces and nephew. I had not heard from them in years. I wondered what happened to them. I thought they didn’t want to have anything more to do with old Uncle Ronnie. Well, there they were when I did a search for friends on Facebook. In fact, everyone in the 42 year old picture (taken 1967) that I have posted on this blog has a Facebook account. Pictured is my younger brother (Isaac Tipton, Jr.), his former wife (Phyllis Iffrig Tipton), and their three children (Dawn Tipton Armstrong, Isaac Tipton, III, and Karen Tipton.) It is wonderful to be back in touch with them. I am now sharing old family photos with them. Many of these photos they have never seen. I’m glad I now have the opportunity to share our pictorial family history with them.

My Facebook friends are falling into four categories:

Friends
Relatives
Former Classmates
Genealogy

The only downside I have found so far with Facebook is that I an unable to talk some of my other friends into opening Facebook accounts. I understand that some of them don’t have time for a Facebook account. I’m finding that I have less time for my blog postings now that I have opened a Facebook account. I also understand that some of my friends and relatives are concerned about their privacy. This is another valid concern which I understand. However, I am very thankful to my friend Ben for urging me to open a Facebook account. My life is indeed richer for having done so.

Anyone reading this blog who wants to check my Facebook account only has to type in my e-mail address which is: ronaldtipton@msn.com. Your search engine will take you directly to my Facebook account. I welcome all. Have a great day!

Leaving Pennsylvania

Early tomorrow I leave Pennsylvania. My four days at my Mom's house in Pennsylvania has been very productive. I spent quality time with my Mother and brother. Since my move to Delaware in November of 2006, all of my visits to Pennsylvania were made the same day. This wasn't fair to my Mother. This visit I changed that scenario. I stayed for four days. I think she's had enough of me now. The next time I visit, I'll probably stay overnight but just for one night. Four nights is too much. I don't know how our whole family lived in this 1,100 square foot one bathroom, ranch house back in the late Fifties. It is so small. I've been spoiled with my 4,200 square foot house in Delaware with four bathrooms. I am looking forward to going home tomorrow and walking around a house where my elbows don't bump into the walls.

Earlier this morning I visited my Aunt Mable and her son, my cousin Bud (same age as me.) It was a good visit. Bud and I discussed the state of the economy. Aunt Mabel asked about my Mom. They used to work together on "the line" in the frozen foods division of Pepperridge Farm in Downingtown. Yes, they were the Ethel and Lucy of the frozen cake line. They have many funny stories to tell about the time the line was speeded up. Cakes falling off the line. Aunt Mabel and my Mom have many funny stories to tell of their experiences "on the line."

Before I left, Mabel and Bud loaned me some of their old precious family photos. Oh how I love to borrow these old family photos and scan them into my computer so I can post them to the Tipton Family Tree on Ancestry.com. This is perhaps my favorite pastime in my retirement years. Whenever I visit relatives I try not to leave without borrowing at least a few of these priceless family photos. Very little gives me greater pleasure than to see those faces out of the past. So long ago and such a different time.

Whenever I visit Pennsylvania I try to have at least one lunch at the Brickside Grill so I can order their version of Chicken Quesadilla. No one, and I mean NO ONE makes a Chicken Quesadilla like the Brickside Grill. Today I had lunch with my former classmate Judy and her son Ben. Ben ordered calamari. I have never eaten calamari. I tried some today. Just as I suspected it tasted like a breaded fishy rubber band. For the life of me and I cannot fathom why anyone would eat THAT. But, now at least I can say I ate calamari.

Back home, I got onto my new Facebook account. I had signed up to Facebook a few years ago but never really got into it. A couple friends asked why I wasn't on Facebook. Well, I took their advice and now see what I was missing. I had thought I was too old for Facebook. Now I find out that Facebook is for anybody. It brings e-mailing to a whole new level. In fact, it makes the old way of e-mailing seem quaint. I was also hesitant because I didn't think I would have any friends. Much to my surprise, many of my friends....my OLD friends are already on Facebook. Looks like this time I was the one slow on the uptake.

One more night sleeping in my Pop's very uncomfortable bed. I've finally figured out how to get the right water temperature when taking a shower, my last night here. Early, snow flurries were drifting to the ground outside. The weather forecast is sunny but cold tomorrow. I'm ready to hit the road about 9 o'clock. It will be good to get home. I won't be doing this again for quite some time. The next time I'm scheduled to come up is March 10, for a class reunion committee meeting. I'll see if I can talk someone into going to the Brickside Grill with me again for Chicken Quesadilla. I can taste it now.

New Photo

It was time to replace my profile photo on this blog. Look to the left and you'll see a candid shot taken of me at a local restaurant where I was dining with friends. If I remember correctly, one of my friends said something really funny and the waitress, who was taking our photo captured my real expression just right. There are very, very few photos of me with a genuine smile.

Ironically, I smile most of the time. I have the cheek wrinkles to prove it too. When I was younger, I wasn't so self conscious of having my photo taken. From the few photos taken of me then you can see that I was genuinely happy. The photo included in this blog is one that was taken in 1951. I remember the day so well. I won first prize at a fishing rodeo. It was the West Chester, Pennsylvania Fishing Rodeo held at the quarry outside of West Chester. Would you believe it, but I caught the biggest fish! What is ironic is that I'm not a fisherman. The boy to the left of me is my cousin, Edward "Bud" Tipton. We are of the same age. What is ironic is that Bud is the fisherman. Just goes to show you who had the Beginner's Luck. I was thrilled to have my picture taken by the local newspaper. Thirty five years later a blurb appeared in the same newspaper noting the event "Thirty Five Years Ago Today." Now here is the final irony, I don't think I've been fishing since that day. But I did get a good picture of myself.

I've been thinking of updating my blog. Not so much the format, I'm still comfortable with that. But I will update my picture from time to time. I'll have to concentrate on being less self conscious though when I do have my picture taken. I'm not one of those guys who can smile on command. Funny thing, most of my friends can. What's with that?

Visit to Cousin Elsie

In 1994 I began my research into my Tipton family genealogy. For many years I had wondered where my father came from. All I knew was that he was a “hillbilly” from Pigeon Roost, North Carolina. He and his eight brothers and parents moved to Pennsylvania around 1929, when my Father was nine years old to work as tenant farm labor on their Uncle Don Byrd’s farm near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Two more brothers would be born in Pennsylvania. As anyone who has studied their family tree knows, the first place you start is to ask your parents questions. What were their parent’s names and when were they born? Then you ask what were your grandparents’ names and when were they born? Well, my dad didn’t even know his grandparents names. Early on, I learned when one road comes to a dead end, you go down another road. In this case I asked another relative, my Uncle Ed. He knew the name of his grandfather, my great-grandfather (it was Hiram Tipton born 05 Mar 1852 - died 1933.) Thus began my long quest to find my roots. Over the years since then I have sometimes devoted much time researching my family history. However, there have been periods of time in which my job so consumed my life, that I had to take a leave from family genealogy research. Then I had the problem of selling my house in Pennsylvania and moving to my retirement home here in Delaware that ate up over two years of my time. What happened, before I realized it, 10 to 12 years had slipped by. During that time, some of my older relatives passed on, thus ending the most valuable source of information that any genealogist, amateur or professional could have. One such missed opportunity occurred in 1996 when I discovered that my Mother’s aunt was still alive. She was 96 years old and lived in West Chester, only six miles from where I lived and worked in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. My grandmother died when my Mother was only two years old. Here was an opportunity to talk to my grandmother’s sister and find out what my maternal grandmother was like. Also, it was an opportunity to find out about that side of my Mother’s family of which I knew very little. I called her and she was clear of mind and anxious to talk to me. Alas, I was so caught up in my work that by the time I got around to calling her again, she had died. I tried not to make that mistake again. I had several interviews with my Aunt Peg (Mrs. John Henry Tipton, born 14 Jun 1915 - died 15 Jan 2006), before she died at 90 years old a few years ago. Before she passed on, she loaned me several priceless old family photos, including one of my great grandfather that I had never seen before. I scanned those photos into my computer and now some of them are posted on the Internet for posterity. Last week I called my Father’s first cousin, Elsie Mae Gouge Kilby (born February 24, 1922.) Mrs. Kilby is also clear of mind and asked me to stop by “anytime” to visit her. That is what I did today. She lives in Kelton, Pennsylvania, right over the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania. Ironically, her house is just a short detour from the route I take to my Mother’s house in Pennsylvania. Bill and arrived at the agreed upon time, 1 pm. She lives on a heavily traveled turn on Rt. 796, Jennersville Road in a house that is over a hundred years old. Her divorced son lives with her and is her caretaker. Coincidentally by Mother also lives with her divorced son who watches over her. Elsie Mae Gouge Kilby is the daughter of David Gouge (born 05 Mar 1881 died 1946) and Cynthia Abigail “Abby” Tipton born 29 Aug 1880 died 30 Apr 1971). Abby Tipton was the older sister of my grandfather Fieldon Jacob Tipton, Sr. (born 04 Jun 1884 – died 08 May 1939).
Mrs. Kilby welcomed Bill and me into her 100 year old home. She introduced us to her son, Robert “Buster” Kilby. We got settled into our seats and I took out my family lineage sheets for her family. I read dates to confirm with her. She corrected me on some dates, and added dates that I did not have. She shared some anecdotes with me like the time she and her husband eloped to Elkton Maryland with my Uncle Ed Tipton and his future wife Mable Thompson to get married. They wanted to keep it secret but the news of their marriage was in the newspapers the next day so the "secret" was out. Cousin Elsie told me that "back in the day" one got married "first." Then she produced a reprinted picture of her father David Gouge as a young man when he attended Milligan College with his first cousin, David Edwards. This was exactly what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, this wasn’t an original picture but a poor ink jet copy. I asked her if I could borrow the original copy so I could scan it into my computer. She said she would have to “dig the pictures out” and asked if I could stop back because she couldn’t do it now because she was recovering form a recent fall. I gave her reprints of pictures of my grandfather, grandmother and her brother. She did loan be two old pictures, one of her brothers and sisters and mother taken in 1963. The other picture was of her and her sister Mary with their mother taken about 1918. What I’m really after is that picture of her father looking handsome and majestic in is suit along with his cousin in their official college picture. Another cousin, Anne Tipton (born 21 Aug 1935), had loaned me a picture of her father, George Britt Tipton (born 31 Mar 1897 – died 28 Dec 1969), son of my grandfather’s older brother Dove Tipton (born 11 Nov 1875 – died 22 Jul 1951) that was also his official Milligan College student photo. Finding these grand old photos of these handsome young men and beautiful women is one of the great joys of discovery when doing genealogy research. While I like adding dates of birth and death and marriages and children, the special treats are when old photos are discovered. With these old photos I can scan them into my computer and eventually post them to the Internet so these individuals will never be forgotten. I add these photos to my family tree and now I also add them to the web site Find A Grave.com. That is the true joy for me in genealogy. First I discover my roots. Secondly, by permanently recording this information I leave a legacy for future generations. It is a good feeling. Today was a good day. I’m looking forward to my return visit to Cousin Elsie.

New Photo Show

Okay, this blog is all about me. I found a new website to upload all my old pictures. This is my first try at creating a slide show on Photobucket. I may change this later but for now I'll give it a go. I was going to do a blog on the over selling of Michael Phelps but I don't have time now. The weather outside is just too gorgeous and I have to get out there and soak it up. By the way, I always considered myself a major dork when I was growing up. Some of these pictures prove that beyond a doubt. Enjoy!