Please visit Cape Cod Gravestones where Robert Paine Carlson tells about saving the oldest gravestones in Barnstable Co, MA from further deterioration, or worse, disappearing altogether.

See also "A race against time to save history", Brian McQuarrie's article in the The Boston Globe about Mr. Carlson's efforts.

In reference to a carpentry project, it means "not level or plumb", but when applied to people, it means "not normal"...or even a little crazy.

It's only natural then that the daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of carpenters would think of those who braved an ocean to start life anew in a strange land as "a couple of bubbles off ".

Now that you're forewarned that I'm descended from people who were thinking wayyyy outside the miter box when they decided to leave everything familiar behind, you shouldn't be surprised that the posts in this blog don't follow the normal order.

For the sake of continuity, posts are in historically chronological order...in other words, oldest >> newest.