I made the decision to to write an Uncle Dave blog book based not on the almost completed ‘masterpiece’ but rather upon the blogs in which he is mentioned. It done in chronological order beginning, of course with the earliest. However, as I reread the postings before sending to computer Guru Chris Jackson, there was some minor disappointment a my writing has changed over the years. The disappointment is minor as I merely make small changes before sending them off to London.
But I felt a need to update the material as it is what has transpired, forgotten images appear just as people held dear have also disappeared from my life. How to incorporate these reflections upon reflections? Reflections taking place as I am on lock down due to the coronavirus. It comes to me, compose up to date blogs and make them part of the book. So here goes.
The very first entry is the very first blog written on January 26,2017, entitled Watt’s Gallery but does not mention why I was there, near Guildford in Great Britain. It was because of a painting, a mesmerizing painting found on the walls of the the Tate Britain., called Hope. It did not seem at all hopeful upon first impression. After several inquiries and some research the following was learned. This is from Wikipedia
“Hope is a Symbolist oil painting by the English painter George Frederic Watts, who completed the first two versions in 1886. Radically different from previous treatments of the subject, it shows a lone blindfolded female figure sitting on a globe, playing a lyre that has only a single string remaining. The background is almost blank, its only visible feature a single star. Watts intentionally used symbolism not traditionally associated with hope to make the painting’s meaning ambiguous. While his use of colour in Hope was greatly admired, at the time of its exhibition many critics disliked the painting. Hope proved popular with the Aesthetic Movement, who considered beauty the primary purpose of art and were unconcerned by the ambiguity of its message. Reproductions in platinotype, and later cheap carbon prints, soon began to be sold.”
So I got me to Watts Gallery where I learned the most fascinating fact that linked to the Dryburghs and my Uncle Dave. Survivors of World War One were given a post card of Hope. George Dryburgh was a soldier in World War One, survived and upon discharge gathered his family together. The family had emigrated from Scotland to Regina, Saskatchewan but went back to Scotland, George Dryburgh enlisted in joined the Scotland Highlanders. Janet Dryburgh and the ‘boys’ lived with her mother. But at the end of the war the Drybughs returned to Regina, Saskatchewan. Uncle Dave was twelve, the trip to Scotland was of major importance and explain his ability to write as Scotland had a superior education system. So he returned with his red hair, an ability to read and write at superior level to his other classmates and an ability to play soccer. It all came together. It is all rather magical and got him started down the road of becoming a famous sports writer, honoured in the Football Hall of Fame in Canada.
That blog mentions meeting a woman from Saskatchewan, who suggested that the book be published at Thistledton Press in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan something quite forgotten by me. Perhaps the unfinished masterpiece could be printed in book form, not an iBook as this one will but a published version.. I had forgotten about possibility. The wonderful woman who gave me book, is remembered, which now nestles on my bookcase in San Francisco. The most “Charming Woman I have ever met”, said by handsome young man, brought tears to my eyes,
The January 27,2017 blog contains Humour from Cousin Faye, she is so funny, perhaps more funny than I am. . It also discusses the impending visit from the granddaughter of my friend Beth – we were friends of ages, since we were twelve. We do not see or correspond with each other any more as she was a victim and refused to be rescued. Her granddaughter proved to be the most ungrateful individual that ever walked the face of the earth, that Hannah. She will not do well in this life, not the next. The apple does not fall very far from the tree.. Meaning? The Origin Of ‘The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree’ … This fruit falls off the branches and drops to the ground, remaining close to the tree it came from. Eventually, this natural occurrence turned into a metaphor and now today, it means that a person ‘is not far off from how their parents are.
Who said this? Ralph Waldo Emerson. According to the following source the adage The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree originated in AmE in the first half of the 19th century: The first recorded use in the USA was by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1839, one of America’s best known 19th century figures.This concept shall be discussed later, using another family as an example.
The February 17,2017 blog contains a photograph of a get together held in CousinNo Carol Ann’s hone. I see that someone else has the Dryburgh nose – cousin Gary Dryburgh who actually looks just like my father. Gary is my eldest cousin, I believe. The blog’s photograph will contain another person with the Dryburgh nose, but on her it is beautiful. The eyes, the makeup, the dark eyebrows. I will miss her until the day I die. I can never return to Dubai. Goodbye Dubai!. No one would ever allow her to come here, that is clear. Onward and backward, enough for now.
So more of book to come, but in the meantime a revisit to a former relationship seen in recent years and with a different perspective.
