Amor

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. DC, 30 Dec 2022.

Robert Indiana's AMOR sculpture, at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.

2022 Recap

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural by Jonas Never, Santa Monica. 5 Jan 2022.

Reflecting on 2022, it has been a pretty decent year. International travel returned for me, and we were able to enjoy some cool adventures with the family. While not without its ups and downs, and quite a bit of COVID-related missed school for the kids, overall we seem to have made it to the last week of December with high hopes for 2023.

As with previous years, I'm sharing this recap post of photos from various locations. The photo above was from my visit to LA back in early January. I previously shared some photos of street art and surfing from that same trip.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Puerto Rico, 19 Feb 2022.

In February, we left the winter chill behind over Presidents Day Weekend for sunny Luquillo Beach in Puerto Rico. This location was perfect for exploring the nearby El Yunque National Park (below).

Photo by A. Jones. El Yunque, 20 Feb 2022.

Later in March, I worked from LA while following a conference remotely. 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Venice, CA. 9 Mar 2022.

In April we visited Blacksburg, Virginia, home to Virginia Tech University. Allison had a conference and the kids took in a college tour.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Blacksburg, 23 Apr 2022.

In June we celebrated S' final Little League baseball season with a championship victory. Later in the month, I returned to international travel with a trip to The Hague and some side adventures in Rotterdam, Delft, and on the beach in Noordwijk.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Delft, NL. 16 June 2022.

In July, we visited family in South Carolina to celebrate a birthday and took in the sun at Folly Beach. S discovered a love for fishing and caught a stingray during a day trip on the intercoastal.

We saw some epic concerts, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jane's Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Jane's Addiction, 18 Oct 2022.

In September, I spent a week in Singapore covering a meeting, followed by another week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was great to return to Asia, and catch up with friends and colleagues.

In October, we took a quick family trip to Los Angeles before I attended a meeting, enjoying some of our old haunts, from Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, the Getty Museum, Paradise Cove, and nearby Santa Barbara County.

Photo by S. Jones. Dinner at Elephante, 21 Oct 2022.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Getty Museum, 23 Oct 2022.

Allison's epic tomato harvest had us finding new ways to eat tomatoes even into December.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tomato harvest, 29 Oct 2022.

In November, I flew back to Europe, spending some time in Belgium and France. This was another memorable adventure, including some bonus live music at the end of my trip. 

We turned post-Thanksgiving turkey into tamales with our good friends, and took in a Wizards game in DC.

So many great memories of this year, and I am looking forward to new & exciting plans for 2023.

Christmas Palm

 

Painting by B. Jones. 2022.

Merry Christmas

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, VA. 21 Dec 2022.

Winter Scene

 

Maja Lisa Engelhardt. VII Winter Solstice. 2001.

Storm

 

Alfred Jacob Miller. Storm: Waiting for the Caravan. 1858-1860.

Winter Chill

Claude Monet. Vétheuil in Winter. 1878/79.

Meteorological winter may have arrived on 1 December but today marks the Winter Solstice. A looming storm is bringing some of the coldest Christmas temperatures in over 30 years to the DC area this weekend. Tomorrow will likely center on stocking up for the bitter winter days ahead.

Thoughts on P-22

Photo by Steve Winter/National Geographic. P-22, 2013.

Saturday's sad news on P-22 took me several days to process and put into perspective. Reading this eulogy by David Ulin in the LA Times, I had similar thoughts about what P-22 meant to me as an adopted Angelino. Although I no longer live there, LA is always home. Over the past 10 years, I've thought a lot about P-22 and other nearby mountain lions. I've donated to the Save LA Cougars campaign and followed the progress on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing at Liberty Canyon. I've enjoyed reading about P-22's adventures and discoveries of new puma litters in the mountains surrounding LA.

Without P-22, his years in Griffith Park, and Steve Winter's iconic photo with P-22 under the Hollywood Sign, the crossing at Liberty Canyon likely would not have been funded. This mountain lion made the improbable trek across both the 405 and 101 freeways, and lived for over ten years in the middle of Los Angeles. His journey and long life in the city has been an inspiration to many.

I shed a tear for P-22 on Saturday but hope his life leads to more support for urban wildlife protection in LA.

"Whatever else it is, Los Angeles is a place of aspiration. P-22 was part of that lineage, a saint of the city in the most elemental sense." - David Ulin, LA Times. 

Palm Tree, 1865

 

Frederic Edwin Church. Palm Tree, June 1865.

RIP P-22

 

LA Times, 5 Oct 2013. P-22.

😢 https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-17/p22-obituary-celebrity-mountain-lion-cougar-puma-griffith-park-california

Pomegranate Tree

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Getty Museum, LA. 23 Oct 2022.

Christmas Lights, 1935

 

UCLA LA Times Digital Collection. Pasadena, CA. 1935.

Rain Day

 

Jean-François Raffaëlli, Place d'Italie after the rain, 1877.

Throwback

 

Indianapolis Star, 21 Mar 1995

Nearly 28 years ago, I saw Bush on their first tour of the US, in support of their Sixteen Stone album. They played a St. Patrick's Day show at Union Station in Indianapolis (reviewed in the article above). I remember it was an incredibly packed show, and according to the concert review, there were 3,000 in attendance. As a hazy memory recalls, it was a very tightly packed show, and I recall it was pretty loud & awesome.

Bush is going on tour again in early 2023, with another favorite band from my college days, Candlebox. I'm pretty sure I saw Candlebox live in November 1995 when they played at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis. I no longer have a record of my concert tickets from back in those days, so I'm not certain. Either way, I'm excited to see both bands in mid February 2023 at The Anthem in Washington DC. It's going to be a great show and will bring back a lot of 90s memories. 

Earlier this year, I saw Jane's Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins at Capital One Arena in DC. That was a bucket list concert as I hadn't seen either band live, and both were great after all this time. A & I also took the kids this past summer to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers & the Strokes at Nats Park; and we saw Weezer & Green Day at Nats Park (well, S got tired & I had to take him home before Green Day went on stage).

We're excited to see Bush & Candlebox in February!

At a Window

 

Caspar David Friedrich, 1822.

Canal in Bruges

 

Henri Le Sidaner, Canal in Bruges, 1899.

Live Music in Brussels

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Ottis Cœur, 18 Nov 2022.

Last week I attended a conference and had meetings in Brussels. Across the street from our hotel, the Fifty Lab Music Festival was underway through several venues. I had a free evening on Friday and 26 Euros covered the cost of the wristband for entry into the Ancienne Belgique concert venue and the neighboring venue for the late evening acts. The Fifty Lab festival featured up & coming European rock & rap bands. I really enjoyed the French duo Ottis Cœur, Ada Oda, UK rapper Knucks, and Belgian-Congolese artist Smahlo.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Smahlo, 18 Nov 2022.

I've been lucky to see a lot of shows over the years, but what I really liked about this show was the small size, cool venues and accessibility to the artists (I was up close to the stage). Ancienne Belgique is a really cool venue and I'll definitely try to catch another show there on a future visit to Brussels.

Surfers at Paradise Cove

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Paradise Cove, CA. 22 Oct 2022.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Malibu, CA. 22 Oct 2022.

National Gallery Nights

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. National Gallery, 13 Oct 2022.

Last night we enjoyed a date night in DC and the National Gallery Night Trick or Treat themed event. It was great to get out for the evening and see the National Gallery of Art East Wing, people in costumes, the DJ, and performers. It felt like pre-COVID times, and was nice to take in an adult night out in the city. We don't do that in DC often enough. 

156 Years Ago Today

 

Maria Jesus Vasquez, about 1895.

My 2nd-great-grandmother, Maria Jesus Vasquez, was born on 1 October 1866 in Pitiquito, Sonora, Mexico. The photo above is likely from around 1895, with her husband Vicente Campuzano (previously shared in August 2015) and two children (probably Maria Jesus Campuzano and Vicente Campuzano Jr.). The photo was colorized using with Ancestry's photo technology.

Albertina Museum Online Collections

 

Source: Albertina Museum. Cassiers, 1910.

The wonderful Albertina Museum in Vienna has opened a trove of digital images for its vast holdings, such as the scan above from its poster collection. I have been lucky to have visited the Albertina twice, in 2011 and 2015. The image above is by Henrick Cassiers, showing Grand Place in Brussels, where I'll staying in November.

Temple of the Dog

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kuala Lumpur, 17 Sep 2022.

Above is another shot from my excursion to Batu Caves Temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was in Singapore and Malaysia for two weeks this month, one of my longest trips in quite some time.

Batu Caves Temple

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kuala Lumpur, 17 Sept 2022

Aquila

 

Aquila Calles. UNM & FAPECFT.

The University of New Mexico Digital Collection's scans from the Fondo Plutarco Elias Calles in Mexico included a photograph of Aquila Clemenica Calles, daughter of Maria Jesus Campuzano. This photo was found along with a copy of the Informacion Matrimonial between Aquila and Belisario Moreno, and another photo showing Aquila with sons Ramon and Jorge Moreno.

UNM & FAPECFT.

When looking at AncestryDNA's Thrulines feature for my Aunt Linda, I see several DNA matches to descendants of Maria Jesus Campuzano, including three related to Aquila Calles.

AncestryDNA Thrulines.

Revisiting Maria Jesus

 

Source: U. New Mexico & FAPECFT.

Back in 2016, I wrote about the connections between my Granny's Campuzano family and the family of former Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles. His mother, Maria Jesus Campuzano, was a daughter of my 3rd-great-grandfather Vicente Antonio Campuzano and first wife Benancia Gutierrez. The University of New Mexico Digital Collection has published scans from the archives of Plutarco Elias Calles, including family documents. I was able to run a search on the Campuzano family, uncovering the death record for Maria Jesus above. This record confirms her death in Hermosillo, Sonora on 20 June 1881.

The New Mexico Digital Collection includes other documents on the children of Maria Jesus Campuzano, such as birth records for Aquila Clemencia Calles, Jose Carlos Calles, Carlos Francisco Calles, as well as records for Juan Bautista Calles and his wife Maria Antonia Campuzano. Juan was the uncle of Plutarco Elias Calles, and adopted him after the death of his mother.

I also located the baptism record for Maria Jesus, in the town of Ures, Sonora on 15 October 1847.

FamilySearch. 

The New Mexico Digital Collection had a copy of the baptism record for Plutarco Elias Calles from 23 December 1878 in Guaymas, Sonora, listing Jesus Campuzano as his mother, and Plutarco Elias as father.

U. New Mexico and FAPECFT.

AncestryDNA Update is Here

 

AncestryDNA August 2022 Update.

Yesterday I wrote that Ancestry would soon be rolling out its August 2022 update, and by yesterday evening the latest update had appeared on my page. As with the update from April, the latest changes had some minor adjustments to my ethnicity estimates. Ancestry also introduced a very cool beta chromosome browser, and I'll have more on that below.

The new figures show a slight drop in my percentages for England & Northwestern Europe, down to 44% from 49%. My Scotland went up from 13% to 29%, but my share of Spain dropped from 8% to 7%. Germanic Europe & Wales both dropped to 5%, along with Ireland to 4%, and I lost a percentage of Indigenous Americas - Mexico, but gained a percentage of Indigenous Americas - Yucatan Peninsula (yay!).

The beta Chromosome Painter tool is super cool. Below is a portion of a screenshot, with certain percentages highlighted. It is interesting to compare this across the results for my Mom and sister.

Ancestry's new Chromosome Painter view.

Chromosome Painter view for my Mom.

Comparing this view between my Mom and my Aunt Patty shows that she inherited more Basque DNA than my Mom. Another difference is where my Mom has Northern Italy but Aunt Patty has Indigenous Americas - North, Indigenous Americas - Bolivia & Peru, and Indigenous Americas - Yucatan Peninsula.

My sister has Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu peoples in the same place as me, on chromosome 4. However, Ancestry cautions "if you and a match have the same ethnicity in the same location on a chromosome, it doesn't mean your DNA is identical there. You can have the same ethnicity in the same place, but from different patterns in your DNA. With the chromosome painter, it's not possible to tell where you share DNA with someone." 

New AncestryDNA update coming soon

 

Source AncestryDNA. 

Ancestry will be rolling out an update to the DNA ethnicity estimates sometime in the next few weeks. Above is a screen capture showing the update from April 2022. The banner at the top of the graphic indicates eight new regions are coming. I'm curious to see what this does for my percentages, and for the tests I administer for others in the family.

Sunflowers

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Saluda Riverwalk, Columbia, SC. 15 July 2022.

Dog Happy Hour

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Sunset at Folly Beach, SC. 17 July 2022.

We're back from an extended trip to South Carolina visiting family and enjoying a week at Folly Beach. As we enter the last week of July, the dog days of summer settle into the DC area. Our black lab also liked the beach but is happy to be back home.

La Petite France

 

Google Arts & Culture. Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

 

Google Arts & Culture. Strasbourg.

The largest city in the Alsace region is Strasbourg. It is the seat of the European Parliament and the largest city in the Grand Est region of France. Strasbourg dates back to Roman times as a town and celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1988. As the historic capital of the Bas-Rhin region, Strasbourg was also a location that likely would have been known to my wife's Halter, Hamm, Sigrist and Perisau branches of the family.

With all its history and importance as a European political locale, it is still a place I have not visited. Perhaps that changes in the near future.

An Alsatian Wedding

 

Library of Congress. Trichon/Massias/Brion. C. 1874?

My previous post of the marriage record for Jean Pierre Halter and Anne Marie Hamm in 1814 spurred a search for drawings, paintings or other images related to Birkenwald, Bas-Rhin and Alsace from the period. The image above is from the Library of Congress collection, and according to the description shows a wedding procession in Alsace circa 1814.

Going back another generation

 

Bas-Rhine, France Marriages, 1781. FamilySearch.

Building from yesterday's post, above is a marriage record between Antoine Hamm and Anne Marie Parisau (spelled Perissot in the document), my wife's 6th-great-grandparents. Antoine and Anne Marie were the parents of Anna Marie Hamm, wife of Jean Pierre Halter. 

This record is written in Latin, and while there is a lot here that I cannot read, I can see the names of Antoine and Anne Marie's parents. His parents are listed as Joannes (Jean) Hamm and Catharina Rebmann, while hers are Francisi (François) Joseph Perissot and Anna Maria Birnel. The marriage was entered on 1 February 1781 in Birkenwald, Bas-Rhin, France.