And then along came a news story that just begged to be included in this post.
The story is about a man from Truro, England, who decided to drive around the world, ending in Truro, Nova Scotia. Benjy Davenport has been travelling for the past six years throughout Europe, Russia, Middle Asia, Canada, the United States, and Central America. It took him five years to plan the trip and work to raise enough money to get started and to convert a 1998 Land Rover so he could sleep and eat in it.
Davenport was born with Noonan syndrome, which is a genetic disorder preventing normal development in various parts of the body and causing a variety of problems such as unusual facial characteristics, short stature, and heart defects. He decided his trip would be to raise awareness of this disorder and also to show that you don't have to be perfect to pursue a dream.
Along the way, Davenport acquired a street dog named Jake, a Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd mix who followed him around during his time in Guatemala. He found he just couldn't leave "such a well-mannered dog" behind, so he got him his shots and papers and now Jake is his travelling companion.
Davenport plans to be in Nova Scotia until the end of November, and would like to visit Sydney, NS, because he was born in Sydney, Australia. After that he will be taking at least a year off, but hopes to eventually go back on the road and explore South America.
For the full story, click here: Around the world from Truro to Truro. I've summarized most everything in the article for those who don't like to click on links, but there are a couple of pictures there of Davenport and Jake, and the full length article.
I thought this story was as compelling in its own way as last Friday's post on Mermen - a good news story with a twist.
Got any good stories about duplicated (or triplicated) place names? Please share!
And have yourselves a good weekend. I think mine's going to be the best one this month (my fall was the last day of October), because I am moving so much better now. I'd been improving a little every day, but there seemed to be a breakthrough three weeks and one day after my injury. I suddenly noticed I was moving naturally again, without pain except for certain things like getting my left leg into the car when driving, or putting on my left sock. My hand, which I also hurt, is taking a bit longer, but even it was noticeably better the same day. Is three weeks some kind of magic recovery period? I'm not going to question it any further - I'll just enjoy it.
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The earth seems to have shrunk since the internet came along, with its blogs and its maps and its instant everything. And I'm glad. |
(Photo by Pixabay)
42 comments:
I am thrilled to hear that you are (finally) getting better.
And love the good news story you shared.
We also have a Truro. Sadly it was the site where serial killers chose to play.
And Sydney has a suburb called Liverpool. There are undoubtedly other shared names too - people taking small pieces of home with them when they migrated.
Good to hear you are moving more easily again.
There's a Truro right here in South Australia, it's famous for several murders that happened last century.
I'm so glad you are feeling better, the world seems a nicer place without pain doesn't it?
I agree blogging and the internet has made earth seem a great deal smaller. I think Americans find "Dorking" in the UK very amusing. :D
Jenny, this is an inspiring post --and one than brings back pleasant memories. 35 years ago, I bought a used paperback of Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley". I used to sit at the woody end of our yard and read it aloud to our Labrador Retriever. She listened attentively even though Charley was a big poodle.
Many of those place names are duplicated in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England, too. That guy's trip sounds interesting! I'm so impressed he adopted that dog. That had to be a bureaucratic nightmare.
I've always enjoyed the namesake phenomena. Considering all those folks who came here came from somewhere, not unusual, just fascinating. When I was the township officer, I fielded a lot of calls from other Bostons, wanting to know where to pay the taxes and other things about their Boston. One web site was as good as another, it seems.
Glad you are feeling so much better.
Many Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island communities have names taken from the British Isles as well.
Interesting story about Mr. Davenport. Thank you for sharing. The new movie Wonder would be interesting to see as well.
Settlement in the west is new. Funny how place names here reflect where people came from
There's a Texas in Australia and in the USA.
I'm happy you are feeling better.
I really liked reading about that man and his dog, that's a great story!
And I'm so happy to hear that you're getting around better Jenny, and that you're having less pain, my heart truly did go out to you for healing.
"Small pieces of home" - exactly. I know there are a lot of names along the east coast of the U.S. that duplicate ours as well. All those immigrants from Europe, I imagine.
It's sad for the folks who live in notorious communities, isn't it? The original horror, plus the association of the name afterwards.
Much nicer :)
I hadn't come across Dorking before - love it!
Hah! I haven't read that Steinbeck book, a fact I need to rectify. I can imagine why your dog would enjoy it :)
I hadn't thought of that, but yes, I expect it took patience!
I've noticed many of our local place names along the east coast as well. My brother took a sailboat from NS to Florida and as I tracked his trip I kept seeing familiar names!
Yep, maybe fascinating would have been a better word for me to use than "novelty" as it's quite logical for people to have used names from home - and those people spread quite far across the world.
Yes, Newfoundland and PEI (and NB) do have those names, too, don't they? My post was intended to delve more into duplicated names but it kind of veered off onto the other story :)
Do you mean the west or western Canada, Red? I need to have a closer look at a map of Alberta!
I hadn't come across that one before!
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Lon! Thank you for your good thoughts. I'm pretty happy to be moving more normally.
I don't think I realized that you live in Nova Scotia. That's an area I long to visit. Of course, you have Halifax, and I'd also like to visit Halifax in England. I live in Jacksonville, Florida, and one of my niece's, whose last name is Jackson, lives in a Jacksonville in another state.
Love,
Janie
So glad to hear you are starting to see significant improvement. Stories about places/names I don't have....only that my Grandparents lived on Metcalfe Street in Aurora and if we ever get into the Elliott we too will on Metcalfe Street only in Guelph.
I'm glad you're finally starting to feel better! What a relief.
That's a neat article about Benjy Davenport - I didn't realize the Truro, NS wasn't the only Truro.
There's also a Sidney (not Sydney) in Manitoba, if he's looking for another connection. And from Sidney he could also visit Austin, Arizona, and Holland all within the space of an hour or so. I still remember when we studied Holland in Grade 4. I was convinced that my dad had been there - I'd heard him say so! The teacher gently informed me that it was probably the one in Manitoba...
From a song called "The Mountain" by an Italian band called PFM:
"I've split the sky ten million years
And I've been called a hundred different names.
I know the stories of the wind,
I've argued with the thunder and the rain ..."
We come along and name things, but those things, or some of them, have been around longer than we have.
But, yeah, we have names from far away here, also. Dublin, for instance, and Pittsburgh.
So glad to hear that you're feeling better and getting around easier.
And as for places getting tangled up with certain events that happened in them, when we were driving to our friend's house near Yosemite last year, we passed a road sign saying Mariposa this direction and Chowchilla that direction.
I had never been to either place, but I remembered Chowchilla from the murders that happened there so long ago.
To drive around the world. What a thing to do. I logged right around a million miles in service driving a delivery truck, and sometimes it FELT like around the world, but it was mostly just around the Bay Area...
-Doug in Oakland
The world is smaller now and all 7 billion of us have a voice.
That is an interesting story...I'm glad you've persevered and are feeling better. Enjoy your weekend.
Oh my gosh, I love this story about these two traveling companions! I will check out the link (I actually click on links).
I LOVE Google Maps. I have traveled the world through there. Much more affordable...haha. I've even been on a boat ride through the amazon river. How cool is that?
How wonderful that you are feeling better. That is great news. Really great news. Have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you do get to the two Halifaxes, Janie. I didn't know about that second Jacksonville, thanks for that one.
That is very cool. A little bit of history/nostalgia if you get to move there.
Awww ... at least she was kind about the correction! But it was a logical thing to think at such an age.
You know a song for every occasion and I'm glad you do, Doug. Driving is driving; it's neat that you could keep track of your mileage and be able to say you drive a million miles. People do "trips" at home these days by using a treadmill or stationary bike and track their mileage on a map to go from point A to point B. It's all good!
So true!
Thanks, e - you too.
A boat ride? That's really neat! I never knew you could do that. I guess I have some catching up to do!
I'm so glad to be moving better, Martha!
Saskatchewan has its share of place names borrowed from Great Britain and Europe. Except Moose Jaw.
The article looks fascinating and I am going to read it next. Also if he is looking for more places to add to his journey, he can go from Love to Conquest to Climax in Saskatchewan but it is a long day.
LOL!!! Thank you for that, TBF!
India and Pakistan have separated since 1947 but still they they share many names of cities and towns which make nice feeling being close and familiar to each other Jenny!
I agree that after internet world has been shrinking which is very exciting for people like me who don't travel much like Daven Thank you so much for sharing such inspirational story of daven and his companion dog ,i think Daven is conveying a very positive and beautiful message through his venture .I agree totally that one need only a strong will power and unshaken faith in himself to pursue his dreams instead of being perfect because no one is perfect in this world if someone think he is he is dam stupid .
I am so happy for you miraculous recovery and Thank God that you are moving with less or no pain now my dear Jenny ,take great care in all means my friend! may you have better health soon ,amen
I should not have put that apostrophe in nieces. I'm ashamed. Someone should take my crown from me. I don't deserve it.
Hee hee! We won't take the whole crown, just a tiny sparkle from around the back where it won't show!
Or you could call it wabi-sabi ...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/between-cultures/201701/the-beauty-imperfection
You are so right that no one in the world is perfect.
Thank you so much for all your good wishes. My internet friends are very kind! I hope your pain levels continue to be lower now and that you have been able to change your medication dosage to the best amount for you.
I love the fact that there are duplicated place names all over the world, often from emigrants naming their new home after the one they had left behind. But there are duplicated names even within England - my favourite example (because both names have been local to me) is Wymondham, which is pronounced "why-mond-um" in Leicestershire, and "Wind-um" in Norfolk. There's also a Witham ("Wit-um") in Essex and both a North and a South Witham ("With-um") in Lincolnshire, the interesting thing being the differing pronunciations.
That IS interesting - now I'm wondering if there are significant differences in pronunciation from country to country as well. Thanks for that observation!
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