Speaking of the Fourth of July

One thing I love about New England is all the history. I remember being in California and seeing "old" towns that were established in the 1800s, thinking that's so young compared to where I grew up. The house I grew up in was older than many states. I've been thinking a lot lately about making sure the baby knows his or her roots, because my own family geneology is part of New England history.

My dad has traced his mother's ancestors back to Plymouth Plantation. At Plymouth they have a replica of the original settlement with actors playing the parts of the settlers and one summer we spent a day there, meeting our ancestor. (He supposedly was eventually asked to leave the settlement due to some shady business deals and being too friendly with Roger Williams, who was the founder of Rhode Island. Even though there's no evidence my ancestor resettled in Rhode Island, I still like to think I'm descended from one of the original Rhode Islanders.) My dad has found the graves of ancestors who fought in King Philip's War and the Revolutionary War.

And it's the Revolutionary War that I'm thinking of today. A couple weeks ago we braved the poison ivy and ticks to visit our war ancestors in the cemetery.

John Gould and Nicholas Gould (click photos for bigger)

We aren't the only country celebrating our independence from colonialism this week. Rwanda and Burundi are too. And July 1 through 3 is also the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. It's a busy week, history-wise.