Letting Me Down

This is an unusual blog post. I really don't know what to write about this week. I can usually count on my wife for material, but she has fallen down on the job; she has failed to give me some good material for a blog post. She has let me down.

With the cold weather the past week we have been stuck inside a great deal. Not with my continuing foot problems I get out much. The wife has spent much of her time working on jigsaw puzzles. I think she is on her fifth puzzle. Putting puzzles together does not provide really good material. Except, when she gets exasperated because when a puzzle contains a piece that can be used in more than one spot. She may get half or 2/3 of the way through and realizes that something is wrong. The current puzzle has Piglet getting carried up by a few balloons and Pooh has grabbed him and is going up too. Strong balloons to take Pooh up I have to say. Oh bother. 

Pooh Bear Puzzle

For Christmas, from my sister, I got a couple puzzle books, a clock to put together and a 3-D puzzle. I may let the wife do the 3-D puzzle of Notre Dame Cathedral. I think the wife will have to help me with the puzzle, because it would probably take me longer to put it together than its current restoration effort. The first book I have started working on is titled, The Ultimate Activity Book for Intelligent Men and I have to say I probably should have had the book for non-intelligent men. One puzzle has the names of what they say are famous composers, and nine of opera singers, and you have to select who is a composer. The composer names are not Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Handel, or even Chopin. I think of the 18 names, I only have one, Gustav Mahler. I think he wrote the Resurrection Symphony. 

There is a similar puzzle with nine currencies and musical instruments. What is a Zloty, sounds like a currency, but I am not sure. Sistrum sounds like a disease, but perhaps a musical instrument. We are talking obscure names, words I really have not heard. That is how I handle the puzzle, what they seem like they could be. Koto could go either way, but I am guessing instrument. Then there is the one to distinguish between birds and reptiles. I don't recall seeing a Gharial at the zoo. Maybe I need the puzzle book for dumb men.

The puzzles I have been quite good at are the mazes. Perhaps because they are spatial, but I get through them quite fast. I leave the Sudoku puzzles for the wife. Sudoku really does not leave much room to write about, other than how good she is at them. She has started an even more difficult version of Sodoku called Sumoku. 

The thing is, even a guy like me found a few mistakes in this Intelligent Men's puzzle book. One was a spelling error. They provided 42 words that all begin and end with E and you have to place them in a crossword like puzzle. A couple words could go in more than one place, and one word (actually two) was misspelled they had Enfant Terrible in the word list and it is actually enfante terrible. This means it had 15 and not 14 letters. That stumped me for a while until I realized it was misspelled. Other than that, it was a fun puzzle to do.  

Puzzle with words that begin and end with E

I guess the cold and now dreary weather has indoors more, and with the wife putting crosswords puzzles together she just does not provide sufficient material for a blog post. I have counted on her antics many times for a blog post, but now she is letting me down.

One Cow

Old documents can be rather interesting, and they can include some amusing tidbits. A recent translation of a some land register entries of one of my ancestral lines from 1694 provided an amusing insight, but also a marked difference between our current time, and the time of our ancestors 330 years ago. My Bohemian ancestors were peasant serfs and had not only to do their own farm chores, but also were required to provide significant labor to the estate under which they served. Life was not easy. The land records may provide some detail that give a glimpse into their lifestyle. At that time, one cow was, apparently, a big deal.

Paart 1 of B. Penicka Last Will and Testament
Land Register, Trebon Archives

Based on lifestyle we can glean information about the person or family in terms of occupation and status (which at the time was often tied to occupation, and land held) within the community. In Bohemia, most of my ancestors hailed from small villages with perhaps 15 to 20, maybe 25 homes. Most of the homes were occupied by farmers, many of which were what was called half or quarter farmers (based on their arable land). Typically each village had a pub, blacksmith, and a herder who watched over the sheep or a few other grazing animals owned by village residents. The village would also have had some cottagers, persons with only a few acres, who worked a trade or were day laborers. Some day laborers would live in the house of the farm to which they were employed. I have mainly farmers in my line, but there are cottagers and laborers. 

Part 2 of B Penicka Last Will and Testament

Let me now delve into the case of the Penicka (diacritical marks are missing) family, who farmed in the village of Nebahovy. One of my eighth great grandfathers is Bartholomew Penicka who took over the holding from his father Tomas. Sometime in early 1694, but before 14 March 1694 when his son took on his farm holding, Bartholomew knew the end of his time on earth was near. In the presence of the village headman, jurors of the domain and at the Libejovice estate manor house, he dictated his Last Will and Testament which is recorded with the land registers for the Libejovice estate. The Will is not dated, but his son's purchase document notes that "Following the death of Barolomej Penicka a short time after making his last will and testament, the holding accordingly passes to his so Jan..."

The part I find amusing comes after he designated Jan to take over the farm. This section provides detail for each of the other of his heirs, and here we find: "Then he bequeaths to his wife, and to his children as marital estate namely: Dorothea--1 cow, on account of her long-standing marriage and faithful service at all times" It then lists what other children may or may not have received, four received nothing in this transaction as the father had previously provided them with a marital estate, or in the case of one son, his father assisted him with the construction of his holding.

Translation of part of the Last Will and Testament
of B Penicka c1694
Christina is in bold as she is the next direct line ancestor

There you have it, his wife, for her faithful service, received one cow. The family must have had two cows, because one daughter received a cow as marital estate, and the youngest son received a yearling ox. We know from the 1654 Berni Rula, forty years earlier, that the Penicka holding had four oxen, four cows and four heifers. Even though the farm was owned by Bartholomew's father until 1673, Bartholomew must have managed the holding for some time as the 1654 Berni Rula notes him as the farmer. While not explicit, similar records often indicate that the heir taking over the farm had to provide for the retired couple, or any surviving parent. 

One may think that Jan got the better end of the deal, but he had to not only buy the farm, and pay the other heirs (eight including his mother) their share, but he also was required to pay the debts on the farm and pay his father's funeral expenses. In this case, the heirs generally received 10 shock Meissen. Son Michael had his reduced by 5 since his father helped him build up the Koutny holding, and his daughter Anna's was reduced by 8 (so 2) as Bartholomew also helped build up the holding on which she lived, the Vopicka holding. Hence, in addition to the cow the mother received a payment, spread over several years, of 10 schock Meissen. While no retirement benefits are recorded for his mother, other records indicate such being an acceptable practice. Retirement terms seem to become more defined in later decades or centuries. 

The thing is, my ancestors had little in terms of possessions, and most of what they did own, was for the farm operation. Jan got all of the remaining household equipment with his purchase of the farm, which he needed to run the farm. The family also had a gelding horse at this time, which seems rare compared to other families in my ancestry that lived in Bohemia. The remaining household and agricultural equipment is stated as being "mostly made of wood", which is also a clue as to their possessions. Times have changed quite a bit in the past 330 years. I am not sure how Bartholomew's widow felt about receiving one cow, but it may have been a thoughtful gift. Our 21st century minds may question the suitability of such a gift to the spouse, but that may have been about all that was feasible. 

Note: I was going to make a joke about buying a cow to have on hand to give to my spouse at my death (if I predecease my seasoned citizen), but I thought that would be rude to our ancestors who lived difficult lives and made do with what they could. 

Howard "Houdini" Hovel

Our first grandchild was born on 1 Jan 2024 at 2:31 am. Howard "Howie" Leo Hovel entered this crazy and beautiful world in the dead of night on a the first day of the New Year. We often see images in the newspaper of a young infant or toddler with a sash reading the year, and old man time, representing the prior year, moving off to the side. The movement of time is one of the few certainties in life. The little boy will get bigger and pull off varied antics. His paternal grandmother was/is quite the adventurer so it may be in his blood. His first night home he was able to de-swaddle himself, hence the moniker Houdini.

Howard, 1 Jan 2024

I believe it was my son who said one medical provider was impressed with his eye--hand coordination. Perhaps this led to his determination to get out of his swaddle. I like that, it shows tenacity and determination. Today, apparently due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), infants are tightly swaddled, and laid not on their side or belly, but on their back. The swaddle makes some sense to me as they were in a tight space in the womb, but another part of me wants to start a campaign to Free Howard Hovel. Let him move those tiny arms and legs to build muscle. Let him kick and squirm. The way infants are tended today is a marked change from even twenty years ago.

Howard and his Hovel grandparents, and dad

Even though Howie turned only a week old as I write this on 8 Jan 2024, one week can represent a big change in the life of an infant. My wife cried when each of our kids turned a week old. Why? because they were a week old. Time was changing them. The funny thing is sometimes I feel more anxiety about Howard and how he is doing than I did or do about my own boys. I chalk it up to the fact that I saw my kids regularly and tended to know what was going on, but that is not the case with Howard. It is in part because babies are so vulnerable, and reliant. They need a great deal of care, and hence I wonder how Howie is doing. 

Howard with his parents, 2 Jan 2024

When in-utero, the parents would not tell us the name they had picked out. In utero he was given the name Dallas by my sister, which is a long-story about a Dallas her husband works with. I am not sure if the guy is a trouble maker or what the deal is. Hence, we started to refer to the unborn child as Dallas. I still find myself referring to him a Dallas. But, I do like the Houdini nickname, my son gave him for his escape from his swaddle that first night home. It has that alliteration we all like to see. My first son was to be born Christmas Eve in 1991, but came three weeks early. If he had been born on his due date I was going to name him Homer Howard Hovel, Ho Ho Ho, for short. Although, I am sure I would have had to battle with my wife on that name. Here, I now have Howard "Houdini" Hovel. The way children are, I can see him pulling off a few more escapades. Not that his rule-following grandfather would even encourage him. 

Howard and his Hovel grandparents
2 Jan 2024

When they chose the name Howard, neither of the parents knew that my wife's father was Howard Gerald, since he always went by Jerry. I had a brother, uncle and grandpa (maternal) that were all named Leo. Here is a fun fact, in Dallas', I mean Howard's, Hovel line of direct ancestors, I have to go back to Howard's eighth great grandfather, Simon Havel, to find a direct line male ancestor who first child was a girl. Now, the males in the line were not all first born, but the first child born to them and their spouse was a boy. Just an odd fact that I realized as I was typing this that I would pass along. 

A proud and beaming grandma,
Too bad the mask is on

Howard, showing the patience of his paternal grandmother, decided to arrive ten days earlier than his due date. As a first born child, it will be interesting to see the traits he develops, and whether he follows those traits, that are so exhibited in his first born dare-devil paternal grandmother, or the more laid back, rule-following approach of a middle child exhibited by his paternal grandfather. Howard, my thoughts are prayers are with you as you grow. I am looking forward to the fun times we will have. 

Thread Bare

When the colder weather arrived in October I started wearing long pants, rather than shorts. Wearing shorts pretty much ended the last week or so of October. Much of the pants I now wear during the day are pants I had worn to work, and had started to "show their age",  or in the new lexicon, "were well-loved", so to speak. When the knees wear out my seamstress patches them. Some may be cut into shorts. Many of the pants cut into shorts have now fully worn out. I try to get as much mileage out of a pair of pants as possible, even if they are becoming threadbare.

Side pocket

I had a pair of Lee Khaki pants that I have been wearing now since I retired as regular day-to-day pants. When I was a child it is what my mom would refer to as play clothes. I am not sure now that I am much older what the term I should now use. I don't want to use the term work clothes, perhaps regular clothes? I am not sure, but maybe play clothes is the best option. 

Knee patched, with need to patch thigh

I have had three pair of such pants I have been alternating between, but two pair were to be laundered, so I had to relegate myself either to jeans, many of which have seen better days, or to the final old pair of former work pants, that had been patched, about four or five times.  

Patch on other knee

I decided on the old khakis in an attempt to see how many wears I could get out of them. Things were going along the day I put them on, until I changed out to go biking and when changing back into them my foot caught the the front left thigh part of the pants produced another gapping hole.  was going to ask my wife if she could repair it for me, but I thought the better of it. I also wondered about purchasing a sew on patch. I was thinking of every possible way to repair the pants to yet get more wear out of them. When she saw me, she commented to the effect that why is she the one that has to throw out worn clothes, and that pair of pants should be in the trash. Well, I had to wear them another day just to get one more day of wear out of them, but I chose to change pants when I went to book club that evening. 

Patch on back pocket

As I assessed the pants, I thought of making them into shorts, but the repair near wear my wallet sites, the twice repaired hole in the pocket, and the now gapping hole by the thigh dissuaded me. After all, I don't have the sew skills to hem when cut into shorts (I don't think I would be allowed to touch the wife's precious Janome sewing machine), and I was not about to do it by hand. I had to draw the line somewhere. Part of me wanted to patch the pants, but the wife's comment got the better of me. If they were blue jeans I probably could have sold them for some money since some people like to wear what are called "distressed" jeans--and they buy them that way. My distressed pants are naturally wear that way. 

Inside of pocket was patched twice

I started writing this as a reserve to use when I ran out of material. As I am about to post this, the jeans I am wearing have holes in the knees, which have been patched, but holes are now forming in varied places on the thigh. If the wife notices, these two may not pass her test and be relegated to the trash.

Look close and you see the fabric becoming thread bare