Six degrees of separation

Yesterday was a busy one. In the morning I went to our daughter Helen's unit to remove old blinds and curtains in preparation for the installation of new timber blinds. At 1.30pm I collected four distant relatives over here from the U.S. on a family discovery trip. I took them to visit the Perth Mint. The mint is a fine old building with plenty of security because of all the coins minted there. It is a good tour lasting about an hour. Firstly there is a potted history of the Mint and its activities and lastly a pouring of a bar of gold. The chap who demonstrated the gold pour has a good and humorous story to tell. It seems that that particular bar of gold has been melted down and cast about 30,000 times. The crucible used lasts only about two weeks and the residue of gold extracted from the old crucible is worth about $300.

I wanted to take my guests to a favourite pub, but they are Mormons and so.....

In the evening we joined some friends on the river at Point Walter and had a very pleasant meal and a few drinks. This is where the six degrees of separation comes in.

Our friend Joy recently told us of a friend of hers who had a direct link to my grandfather and grandmother. It seems that in 1927 her friend's father emigrated from Ireland and landed at Fremantle. After a short time in Fremantle he caught a train to the wheatbelt town of Narrogin and then travelled another 30 miles east to my grandparents' farm at Toolibin where he was employed as a farm labourer. Some time later he married a lass on the next farm. Their daughter was at last night's riverside gathering and it seems that we played together as children and have another family as common friends. Amazing stuff! We were able to recall events, names of farm neighbors and events. We look forward to catching up with her again.