Sh*t. Even worse than knitting while drinking* is blogging while dozing. Thanks for coming back to read today. Seriously. I expected to go onto bloglines and see that my little list of subscribers had all run for the hills. Then I would have been so, so sad. And disappointed in myself.
Let me try again with my musings about being a mutt. Based on family trees done by various dedicated relatives, I know that my French relatives came to America (it wasn't the U.S. yet), then moved up to Canada, where...and this is seems like a story waiting for me to write...they were part of the Acadian movement south where they became Cajuns. Oh, wait. Maybe that story has already been written. Back north they came, and my maternal grandfather was the eventual result. Wait. I'm the result. Wait. We all are in my family.
Not all of my family came here so long ago. My maternal grandmother's father traveled here from a little town in Scotland. When I was a girl, one of his relatives (shame on me for not remembering the relationship; I'll have to ask my mom) used to visit now and again. My oldest sister was penpals with a cousin of some sort for a while. Years back, my aunt visited some of the family, and she was moved by how generous they were with their hospitality. My mom and I both hope to see the seat of our Scottish roots some day.
It's pretty neat to see a place from which your family came, isn't it? Even though I wasn't in the right parts of the country, I was thrilled to spend some time in France and England and Ireland, and especially Nova Scotia where those Acadians once resided. It's pretty neat, too, to consider the personality traits that are often attributed to a nationality emerge in my family. I grew up hearing my mom chide me not to be a "stubborn bull-headed German like your father" (ahem), and the "thriftiness" so often associated with the Scots rages in my mom...I confess to having a bit of it in me, too.
For a long time, I was envious of anyone who had parents who had come here from another country. So much family in a different, exciting location! How neat! Other languages! Better food! Different music! I may not have that, but I do have an abundance of cultures that I can explore as I look closely at my genetic identity.
Today's question for my intrepid contestants: if like me you are a mutt, do you identify more with one aspect of your heritage than others? Have you visited any of your places of origin? Not a mutt? What connects you the most to your cultural heritage?
*may result in knitting in the round backwards. Not a pretty sight!
Bev, there was nothing wrong with your last post! I am something like 80% Norwegian, polluted with some Swede, and a bit of Prussian/English thrown in for good measure. I am fascinated by the fact that some of my ancestors were from Austria and emigrated to NORWAY (in the early/mid 1800s), then Liverpool before coming to America. And they left Liverpool to get away from the witches. Seriously. So I am most intrigued by that lineage because the reasons behind their travel has mostly been lost to time. I identify most strongly with my Norwegian roots, which was really cemented when I visited Norway. And I was constantly apologizing for inability to speak Norwegian. You see, Norwegians seem to all be fluent in English, and can spot the English speakers fairly well. However, they automatically spoke Norwegian to me, which made me both proud to be mistaken for a native and embarrassed because I couldn't understand. And once they switched to English, I quickly learned that all Norwegians have relatives in Minnesota. 8-D
Posted by: Anne | February 04, 2010 at 09:01 AM
Well I posted yesterday about my Muttness .... but my husband is Irish and Ukrainian. His fathers parents imigrated and his mothers parent imigrated. So, I think he is 2nd generation on both sides. Which means we eat a lot of Irish and Ukrainina food in our house :)
Posted by: Christina Scovel | February 04, 2010 at 01:19 PM
My father is 1/4 Italian and my grandparents lived in northern Italy for years. I'm named after my Italian great great aunt. All this points towards the heritage with which I most identify. I've been to Italy several times and even lost my first tooth there (I got 100 lire which sounds like a lot but was about 16 cents in 1968). My husband and I went there on our honeymoon too...fortunately, I studied Italian in college which helped with all the reservations that I had to make asking for a "letto matrimonale" (double bed)! The rest of my heritage is mutt mixings but the Italian part is most interesting to me.
Posted by: Estella | February 04, 2010 at 03:39 PM
I need to go read yesterday's post. ;^)
My mother's family is from Mexico. I am a product of the conquerors and the conquered. I hated that and myself for a long time. Now I'm mostly okay with it because there's nothing I can do about any of it and I finally see that. Oh, and because Spain does feel sort of familiar and comforting.
Posted by: Cookie | February 04, 2010 at 05:49 PM
It's funny you ask that question. I said yesterday that I identify with the Italian. In fact, I have more genealogy from the non-Italians. However,and maybe there's a blog post in this for me somewhere, I identify most with DH's Irish background. When we were there, I felt like I belonged. I never felt this connection to a place anywhere in Italy, Germany, France, or England where supposedly I have family ties.
Posted by: Karen | February 04, 2010 at 09:24 PM