What a weekend it’s been. My wife, son, and I decided to take a chance with the rainy weather forecast yesterday and go to the Minnesota State Fair for a few hours. It was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it despite the gloomy weather.
For those of you who’ve never been, our fair is all about the food which basically consists of deep fried everything on a stick. I had to take a picture of the deep fried Buckeye vendor here because of the Ohio connection (of course). For those of you who don’t know, buckeyes are like Reeses peanut butter cups only in spherical form. It’s a rare sight to see this candy anywhere outside of Ohio. I had to smile at this little reminder of the place I was born.
Our fair lasts for two weeks and my wife and I will likely be back once more before the place is shuttered for another year. For me the people-watching is every bit as good as the food.
My brother and I have been piecing together our family tree for nearly twenty years. We’ve discovered our American roots run deep. Our ancestors immigrated to the colonies in the late 1600s from Oxhill Parish in Warwickshire, England.
We hit a huge genealogical void between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War (late 1700’s to mid 1800’s). Now, I’m happy to say this void has been filled.
It all began after a Google search of our great-great-great-great-grandfather William Walton’s burial place, as listed on his death certificate, of “Friends Ground Byberry.”
As it turns out this is a Quaker cemetery. Yes, our ancestors were Quakers and this is why they fled England so early, to escape religious persecution!
Over the past week I've discovered hundreds of cousins who are all descendants of William and his other three brothers. The great news is the Quakers are excellent record keepers so we have a wealth of information to sort through as well as new relatives to meet on Facebook. We were also invited to the 350th anniversary of the Waltons' arrival to America which is scheduled for 2033.
Last but not least I’d like to thank 
Over the past few days I’ve been feeding it my poems and it’s been creating some mind-blowing works of art. It’s been a lot of fun working with it.
My plan over the coming weeks is to release a series of ten of my original poems paired with corresponding AI-generated art. I’ll be offering these up for auction eventually with a portion of the proceeds going to charity. More on this project soon to come.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Be well.
~Eric Vance Walton~
(Photos are original.)
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
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