August 2023

This week’s column will offer more Ramsey stories. Tales of other families of our Palestine clan will further establish the singularity of the settlement.

Today’s weather reminds me of rainy weekends at camp, during our years out at Kilo Vista. Downpours on the river were wonderful surprises that literally fell from the sky! I dearly loved these weekends. It was as though you had nature’s permission to do absolutely nothing at all! Totally no guilts and no we should have done this or that, because of such a deluge of rain. Often it would be pouring rain and then stop, instantly start again, like just TEASING! Those were some of my very favorite weekends ever. You could be lazy with a purpose and no one thought ill of you for it. The dark skies and rain on the roof were great at lulling one to sleep. Believe me there were many long peaceful, deep naps, you would wake up so rested. Especially with those old beds drawn up so close to the open windows, the sound of the water and the trees peeking in was a bit magical, it was almost like we were in a treehouse!

I’ve at times heard various people mention how they’d love to have lived back in the frontier days. It was a time we look to as romantic and a simpler time with less stress. But I wonder if people who long to have lived then know what they’d miss or had to put up with.

The term “tabby” is thought to have originated from a French word, tabis¸ and originally denoted a type of striped silk taffeta. The cloth was named for the place it was traditionally made, that is a neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, called Attabiy. Tabby cat coats, as we know them, are mostly striped. These markings are called the “classic” version. The term “tabby” is not a breed but a coat pattern. There are other versions of tabbies, including mackerel, ticked and spotted.