Book excerpt: Ancestral Threads: Weaving Remembrance in Poetry & Essays & Family Folklore is a master piece of research, charting more than 20 years of delving into the secrets of mixed bloodlines. Poetry, dreams, essays, shamanic journeys, & family folklore embroider the pages amidst old photographs & early maps that help to weave more than 30 generations together reaaching back through time. The mysteries of mixed bloodlines & mingled ancestries blossom here with unusual color & grow evermore interesting when you see how everything weaves together. Ancestral Threads is an inspiring, multi-generational, multi-family saga honoring the ancestors & celebrating their enduring spirits with special affection. The Language of Flowers & Elizabethan Ethnobotany of Shakespeare embellish the early part of the book. Special essays, haiku, & haibun help sketch together some amazing experiences. This inspiring work delves deeply into the origins of names and sources of family origins in most stimulating ways!