The Isle of Man
“What do you know about the Isle of Man?” our visitor asked me.
Island in the Irish Sea. Part of Great Britain. Manx cats. The Crellin brothers who built twin houses in Oysterville came from there. They were oystermen there in the 1840s and came here to continue their trade in the 1850s. These were the thoughts that flew through my head.
“Not that much,” I answered. “I’ve never been there. Have you?”
“No, but I plan to go,” said our guest. It was because of the sign on our fence telling that our house was built by Tom Crellin from the Isle of Man that we were having this conversation. James and his wife, Maribeth (I’m chagrined that I don’t remember their last name) from Arizona were taking a look around Oysterville and struck up a conversation with Nyel who was working in the garage. They were interested in the history of the area and how it happened that two of the old houses in town were built by men from the far off Isle of Man.
Oysterville Victorian
“My wife’s the historian,” Nyel said. “Let me get her.” And soon we were all seated in our library talking about the history of James’s family (his great-grandfather came to America in the 1840s from that far off British island) and the history of Oysterville and all manner of things. It was definitely the most unexpected and pleasurable hours of the weekend – a weekend which had been chock-a-block full of wonderful experiences and events, so that’s saying quite a bit.
Victorian House, Isle of Man
They wanted to know what books I had written and Nyel went to the back-forty and brought out a half dozen titles – sort of a variety pack to give them a little taste. “I’d like to buy them all,” said Maribeth. “We love history and we love this area. Would you sign them for us?”
I was flabbergasted. Did I take a photograph? Have them sign our guest book? Get their contact information? No. Of course not! My fondest hope is that someone will recognize them from my description and, somehow, we’ll reconnect. Our conversation had only just begun!
Wow, how cool is that, Sydney? I have to say that the photo thing surprises me because you are usually so good about that. 🙂