The Rare Rareys

   One of my coworkers, Anne, has a strong interest in genealogy, and we've discussed it a few times this year, which definitely piqued my curiosity. I haven't delved into it yet, but there are some (relatively) famous Rareys that I'm very interested to learn more about. 

   "Rarey" started as a German name, "Rarrick," which was changed when my forefathers came to the United States. Because apparently "Rarrick" didn't sound silly enough.

   I'm familiar with the work of George Rarey, a cartoonist and pilot who was killed in WWII. He documented his tour of duty through his sketches and designed characters to adorn the planes. (Much like how I document life on the front lines at Hallmark in cartoons, most often employed to harass my coworkers. Or more accurately, to repay them for harassing me. We MUST be related!) His son Damon has thoughtfully documented many of his images here. (Most images below are from this site.) Love, love, love his work, and hope someday I'll live up to the name!

   My great-aunt Stella, who lives up in Waterville, Maine is the only other artist I'm aware of to which I'm related. She is a skilled watercolorist and has been showing her work as well as presenting her paintings as gifts to family and friends for many years. She's 90+ years old now and is one of the warmest and funniest people I've ever met.

    As for my love of animals, I assume I inherited that from John Solomon Rarey, the original horse whisperer ( Wiki  /  Rarey.com )
I regretfully admit, however, that I am not as skilled at training canines as he was with equines. And Ginny's horse, Bud, pretty much underscored the fact that I don't take after John with horses either. Here's Bud at a gallop, swishing his tail as if I were a fly to be swatted:

   Look, one of Bud's ancestors is trying to bite off John Solomon Rarey's arm! But as you can see here, Rarey, thinking quickly, thwarts his attack by poking the errant equine in the eye. Much as I did on my ride. Except by "poking him in the eye," I mean, "holding on for dear life and trying not to curse like a drunken sailor while wetting the saddle in front of my friends."

   Someday I want to grow up to be a Complete Horsetamer Farrier just like John. And Bud wants to grow up to be a Complete Rareytamer. And the battle of wills shall continue until one of us pays the ultimate price: most likely me, with Bud forcing me to wear the bit.

   Back to Earth. According to the White Pages database,  there are only 276 of us Rareys in the U.S. (and who knows if that includes my sister, who is technically a Coleman now?). The Rareys are highly concentrated in my home state of Ohio. And according to the heat map, I may be the only one representing in Kansas and Missouri. Represent!

   There are 2 "Jennifer Rareys" on Facebook, in addition to myself. I haven't been brave enough to friend either of them yet. Would that be weird? One of them likes Olan Mills, so that's one thing we have in common. I like to make fun of Olan Mills. We're practically SISTERS!

   I do keep in touch with and occasionally see Cousin Dave, who owns a Thoroughbred racing stable in New York... glad SOMEONE in the famiy got John's genes!

    And I also occasionally have a Facebook convo with Cousin Jeff, who serves in the military and is based in Heuchelheim, Germany (okay, this is getting eerie now... George Rarey, anyone?), as well as a few other assorted cousins, aunts and uncles on Facebook. I need to start asking them what research they have done into our lineage to give me a head start.
    But perhaps the most strange is a book from 1968 entitled "John and the Rarey," about an odd boy who discovers an odd creature, oddly named after my family, apparently. I found the book by accident at a flea market in small-town Missouri over 10 years ago. (I'm sure you heard my jaw hit the floor that day. Remember that?) What I find most odd is that "Rarey" in the book is capitalized, though it's referring to a creature and not a surname. ...Or is it?

   And by the way, if you're lazy, don't even bother coming after me. Because if you haven't heard, It's a Long Way to Tipperary. (Try telling that to our corporate challenge flag football opponents. They not only tipped me, they attempted to grind me into the field. I shall draw cartoons to mock them! Then they'll be sorry. With their gold medals.)

   That's all for now on the strange and exciting history of the Rarey clan. Can't wait to see what other weirdness I turn up when I actually put some time into this...

Fate... again?

    As the shuttle picked me up at 5 am (shudder) to take me to the Oakland airport, I boarded and settled next to a friendly-looking woman who was clearly perkier in the early morning than me. She introduced herself as Pam, which of course made me do a bit of a double-take, based on meeting another Pam on a Supershuttle almost exactly a year ago.

   I spent the whole shuttle ride and the couple of hours prior to boarding the airplane talking with Pam. We sat and drank our coffee and ate our delicious breakfast croissant sandwiches (take THAT, Radisson!)

   Pam was friendly, fun, and frankly, fascinating. Some of my favorite "f" words! She lives with her husband and a sweet dog, and has spent more than 30 years (I think that's what she said, but she looked too young for that to be possible!) as a cardiac nurse at Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore. She's getting her Master's degree now, in her free time. She was in San Francisco for a medical conference, and talked about how excellent the continuing training and education opportunities are at JH. (To which I nodded, because that's one thing we all love about Hallmark!) She also has an 18 year old daughter who loves the outdoors and wants to study art. So I had fun telling her all about my day of hiking in Muir Woods.

   As before, I'm not sure what will come out of this interaction, but I got the distinct feeling that SOMETHING would. I just hope this doesn't mean I'll be at JH for heart surgery someday—no offense!!!  :)

   So to sum up my San Francisco adventure, I will quote the fortune that I received after my Thai lunch on Saturday with Tiffany, which is that "You will be fortunate in the opportunities presented to you." 

   I already am, and I hope that I will continue to be, and believe me: I am grateful for every single one.

SHAMU PLANE!

   I didn't even know there WAS a Shamu plane, and by chance I got to ride in it today. And I was totally geeked out about it. At first I didn't believe Dave, but he was right—the logo is right on the front, and the whole plane (save the tail) is black & white.

Photo from Google

"I can FLY!"

Polly is on her way...

How cool is this? Scott the pilot is picking up Polly (foster shiba) from St. Louis this morning, and I'm tracking his progress online so I'll know when to pick her up in Gardner! Here's a photo of her that I received from the animal shelter in Creve Coeur. Doesn't she just look like she's ready to go?
I heard a great quote this morning on The Dog Whisperer: "The greatness of a nation & its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

—Gandhi

Miss Polly is going to enjoy the royal treatment here with me today!

My seatmate on the flight to Columbus

The 55-year-old guy next to me on the plane was wearing an all-white pantssuit and white flip flops. (The first warning signs.) He said he has lost 55 lbs in 2 weeks, though he never exercises; but then he said he walked 50 miles in the last 2 days; he is on day 41 of fasting; says tap water is basic (as in a base) & very acidic so he only drinks bottled. Did I mention he is also wearing ginormous sparkly gold & silver necklaces in the shapes of a crown & a dollar sign? (We're talking Flava Flav size, here.) He's going to Columbus to meet Diane, his 44-year-old fiance, who is very well-off & owns a bed & breakfast in Middletown. He himself is an accomplished master carpenter & electrician & artist who has written over 1000 songs and makes handmade pearl jewelry. (Which he said he doesn't wear himself.) But right now he's "taking a few years off." He is from Canada. He declared a 100% chance of serendipity today and told me he has a weakness for beautiful women as we winked at me.

Ok, I admit I'm a little jealous of the bling, but am doing my best to hide this post from him (lest I get a giant dollar sign thrust into my eye) and keep my face buried deep in my copy of "To Kill A Mockingbird" in the hopes that he will STOP TALKING TO ME! Why am I a magnet for crazy?!?! Can't we ship him back to Canada??