Dear Folks,

We had a lot of good times this year, including Alexandria's and Sami's delightful wedding in July.   Though a future led by the "short-fingered vulgarian" promises to be anything but bright, here's hoping that it will be less dystopic than we're imagining.  Stranger things have happened, I guess--such as trump's election (I refuse to capitalize his name, as he is not a proper noun and is unworthy of such distinction!)

This New Year's Eve finds me packing away the last of our Christmas decorations.  It's shocking how many decorations one can acquire in 46 years.  If only I'd toss out a few now and then.  But much of what we have is Christmas ceramic and needlepoint that Mama made long ago.  Each year when I get them out, I think of how lovingly and painstakingly she painted each nativity piece or caroler, and each time I pack them away, I know I'll thrill at seeing them again next December.

As always, all 14 of us were here on Christmas Eve, a you can see in the photo below.  In addition to Christmas Eve dinner, photos, gifts, etc., we have a curious tradition that began when Rob was a boy.  Nearly every Christmas since he was 3, I have baked a gingerbread house with M & M-adorned shutters and gumdrop shingles.  At some point many years ago Rob asked if  he could smash it after Christmas just for the fun of it.  After Tresine and Audrey came along, it was a challenge to see who could retrieve the tiny front door after the demolition, as that was the prize.  And each year Rob would have the privilege of smashing the house.

Now that we have six young ones, the gingerbread-house demolition happens at the end of the Christmas Eve activities, as everyone gathers around the dining room table for the spectacle.  None of the children ever questions who should be the one who destroys the little house, as they simply assume that Rob is the Designated One.  Afterwards everyone scrambles to find the shards of the house that they want to eat, and the remaining gingerbread is gathered up in a tablecloth and  tossed outside for any creatures who may like the taste of ginger, molasses, sugar and butter.

Love, Sylvia

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Mark your calendars!

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Dear Family,

This warm Christmas Day reminds me of one 30 years ago when temperatures were also in the sixties and Tresine and Audrey enjoyed riding their new bikes up and down the driveway all day long.

And it also reminds me of the warm Christmas Day in 1955 when I received from Santa the wished-for bride doll.  The backstory is that earlier that month, returning home from school, I happened upon Mama at the sewing machine making a tiny dress, and she told me she was making clothes for the new baby (due in a couple of months.)  Puzzled, I inquired, "But what if it's a boy? "   The next day I found her making a pair of tiny corduroy pants (to cover her story.)   When Christmas Day came, I discovered a little red suitcase filled with clothes that fit my new bride doll, which wore a lovely satin gown with delicate pearls around the heart-shaped neckline.  As I carried my prized doll outside on that warm Christmas Day, all of a sudden it came to me that Mama, not Santa, had made all those doll clothes--for I recognized one of the dresses and the little corduroy pants.

In February when nearly-ten-pound Jack arrived, he was way too big for any of the clothes anyway!  Here is Mama about that time.

And here is Dad around the same time:

In 1955 we lived near Burkesville, KY, where I was in second grade at the school where Dad was principal.  Always one to promote exercise, no matter where we lived during my childhood, one to the first things Dad did was hang a swing from the tallest tree and fashion a wooden seat with notched edges for holding the two sides of the rope.  How I loved the tall swing at that Burkesville House.  I would pump my legs and fly as high as I could, and I can still remember the exhilaration and joy of swinging in all those homemade swings. 

Love, 

Sylvia

Top: Jacsun, Jack, and Jacqui Ray
Bottom: Jacsun and Jacqui

December 23, 2016

Dear Folks,

Jacqui, Jacsun, and I held our Winter Solstice celebration yesterday morning, opening presents, feasting, and having a good time in general (the children celebrate Christmas with Gillian).

Many of you probably already know about the Winter Solstice, but for those who may not, here is a bit of history. Most of our European (and American Indian) ancestors observed some form of a Winter Solstice celebration for nearly 4,000 years (e.g., Stonehenge in England) before middle-eastern religions (especially Christianity) replaced the native Druid and Pagan religions by around A.D. 1000 across most portions of Europe. This celebration observes the shortest day of the year and the return of the Sun (or "rebirth of the Sun") from its lowest point on the horizon in late December to its eventual highest in the sky at the zenith in mid-June (at least in the northern hemisphere). The Winter Solstice heralds the return of warmer weather and the planting season soon to come (a very important natural event in the lives of our ancient peasant-farmer ancestors, striving to eke out an existence from Mother Earth).    

The Christian church was keen to convert the so-called Pagans of northwestern Europe and adopted many of their rituals in the Middle Ages in an attempt to do so. One strategic way was to intentionally place the birth of Jesus on December 25th at about the same time as the annual Winter Solstice celebration. There is no definitive documentation of the exact time of Jesus' birth, but based on the position of the stars and planets described in some old Christian manuscripts [Matthew and Luke] and/or oral tradition, some scholars (especially astronomers) believe that Jesus was actually born in the spring time.

This may be more than some care about, but as an archaeologist, I think that "the rest of the story, much of which has been long forgotten" is sometimes as fascinating, if not more so, than some modern folklore.

In any event, here's wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season, Merry Christmas, Winter Solstice, and ALL the BEST for 2017!

Love,
Jack

Phone App for this Blog

There is a free phone app you can get:  

Go to App Store on phone & search for "Blog Manager for Google Blogger"

Download the app, & you can easily access ray roundrobin.blogspot.com anywhere you please. 

Posting a pic of Dad. Can you see him grin?

Hi Ray Round Robin.
I posted this from my phone from the car on the way to a rally to support a mosque in a nearby town that recently received a threatening letter.
It's an uphill battle, but I'm trying to do more listening than talking and people of color are exhausted with  "surprised white people." Keep on keeping on!

December 9, 2016


Everyone,

I ran across this photo of Mama in 1946, 70 years ago (which we earlier found in a batch of old negatives at Mama's.)  I love it so much  I made it my phone's wallpaper, so I see it every time I turn on my phone.  Though, of course, I don't remember Mama this young (25 or 26,) that serene look of kindness we all knew was always there.

Neither Mama nor Dad enjoyed writing, but I know they would both have loved reading this new version of the original Ray Robin, whether they wrote in it or not.

Of course I do love to write--but I don't intend to write a letter a day as I have done since setting this up!  In this case I was practicing inserting photos, and it occurred to me that everyone's day would be brightened with Mama's presence!

Love, Sylvia

The world has seen many significant changes since 1927 when the original Ray Round Robin was created. Having grown up in a pre-electronic-gadget world, I am a bit nostalgic for the good-old hard paper correspondence that you can hold in your hands and from which you can even smell faint fragrances at times. But, alas, electronic correspondence is much faster and convenient, so I must adapt. Thanks, Sylvia, for taking the initiative and creating a new family Robin. The 20^th Century Ray clan set a pretty high bar, but we 21^st descendants are smart folks and have interesting things to say as well. I look forward to reading the new Robin periodically.

December 8, 2016

Everyone,

Today is 117 years since William Brown Ray was born and about 30 years since he died.  It is also about 96 years since his amazing wife Audrey was born and exactly 3 years since she died.  Our parents would both have been dumbfounded that we could all get together digitally like this.  And they would have loved the idea.

Above are we four musketeers-- Jack, Glenn, Sylvia, and Joe-- on that hot, but glorious, day last July at Alexandria's and Sämi's Virginia wedding.

Love,

Sylvia

'tis an honor and a privilege

I've read a number of letters over the recent years from the "way back machine" that is Sylvia and her most thorough archiving.  And now I get to be a part of that rather grand history - even if this is the only thing I ever post, somewhere down the Logsdon, Raiche, Tatum, Ray line some enterprising soul will discover this little moment in a series of little moments that continue a beautiful tradition.

October 5th, 2016

Back left: Rob Tatum, Shiloh Tatum, Bob Tatum, Sylvia Tatum, Adrian Raiche, Audrey Raiche, Adin Raiche, Tresine Logsdon, Matthew Logsdon, Isabelle Logsdon

Front left: Lucus Tatum, Arwen Tatum, Lucy Raiche, Eloise Logsdon

December 7, 2016

Dear Family,

This is the first installment of the digital Ray Round Robin.  The original Ray Robin was begun in 1927 by six siblings: Ruby Ray MacDonald (1896 - 1972), Virginia Ray Harman (1897 - 1972), William Brown Ray (1899 - 1986), Eleanor Ray (1902 - 1955), Edward Marshall Ray (1903 - 1973), and Joesph Malchus Ray (1907 - 1991.)  Their parents were Joseph Edward Ray ( 1864 - 1907)  and Vivia Jane Scott Ray (1875 - 1915.)

The descendants and relatives of William Brown Ray are the recipients of this round robin.  I, Sylvia Ann Ray Tatum, am the eldest of his family with his second wife, Audrey Mabel Benedict Ray (1920 - 2013.)  My brothers are Joe Adin Ray (b. 1951,) Ray Glenn Ray (b. 1953,) and Jack Hewson Ray (b. 1956.)