Stand on the beach at Destin, FL. and you are situated to look due south. Sure, you will miss Cuba to the left and Mexico to the right, eventually landing in Central America. But, as a little boy, at our family vacation condo in Destin, I would pretend the Gulf of Mexico was an exotic window to the wonderment of South America. Just like if you stand on the beach anywhere from Miami up to the Virginia/North Carolina state line, the Atlantic is a shiny window to Africa. Like wise for California, Oregon and Washington the Pacific is a window to the ancient and mysterious nations of Asia. Being a water enthusiasts I love the world's seas and oceans for so many reasons. The fact they let you use your imagination is one of their highest attributes.
As a little boy, I would come home and open up the old World Book Encyclopedias and read about Africa, Asia and South America. Being all boy and living in Alabama, I liked 'critters.' I would seek snakes, spiders and all those crawly things boys like to put on little girls, as a way to say I like you. I would like reading about them even more. I still do like reading about them and seeking them out. I just don't put em' on people any now. I would read about those other continent's exotic wildlife. I would read about their deadly snakes with wondrous infatuation. Africa had the Mambas, Asia had the King Cobra while South America had the Fer - de- lance a massive pit viper, which even the mongoose has only a 50/50 chance of defeating. The mongoose is an Asian rodent know to be able to kill the Cobra by striking fast at its neck. And just like with American cities and waterways I developed anthropological man crushes on foreign continents. First it was Africa, then Asia but over the past 12 years it has been South America.
Driving home through the sandy bottomed pine belts of south Alabama as a kid, to reach home at the north end of the state, the burning sun would caress my skin through the car window. I would reflect back on the Gulf's warm emerald and cobalt blue liquid tranquility and how it echoed the mysteries and dangers of the Amazon. While on the school bus for class field trips, while driving through the oak forests of north Alabama; I would pretend I was in Paraguay. My younger brother, when he got into about 4th grade, turned black headed and always had copper colored skin in the summer. Looking left I would pretend he was a native Indian tribesman captured by me. What an amazing season of life in being a child. You could take your mind anywhere during the most mundane of circumstances.
In 2014 I joined 23 & Me. As was no surprise I was 99% just ole' white boy of European descent. But, it was that minute, barely noticeable result that brought that little boy out in me again. Tucked away in my DNA profile was some North African and Sub Saharan African, just a drop as it was less the 1%. DNA profiles shift on 23 & Me as more testing is done on their clients. In 2016 a new test result came back as Native American, including the South American type. I was entranced. But, just late last year it was updated and had been replaced by Spain/Portugal. Spain is charming but it didn't feel as provocative as Brazil. I felt like one feels when they break up with someone. Your something for two years and then it is no longer there.
The phenomenal thing about "geographical" DNA is that it manifests itself differently in siblings. For example, my younger brother's results, may have shown South Asian, American Indian and nothing from Africa, had he taken the test himself. I was the only one in my family to do so. In other words one brother or sister may represent an entire continent or nations the other will not. Talk about personal pride. Mine has consistently shown that trace amount of African aside from north and west Europe. During the last 5 years it has been the only consistent result as Native American has come and gone to be replaced by Iberia, which may be replaced by who knows what. In the southern, summer sun my skin always turns a yellow beige color, just like someone from Algeria or Egypt's might. My brother's turns a reddish-copper color like an Amazonian tribesman's might. Anyone who has ancestors from South American countries or from any Caribbean Island nation or state are partly descended from South American native tribes. I'm jealous if you are.
In three short months I will be in Africa. A medical mission will usher me to Tanzania. It will be an amazing life altering experience. But, while there; a warm humid breeze will blow in from the west out of South America and warm that infatuation of that little boy who looked out over the Gulf in the 'panhandle's' torrid, summer sun. My little brother may visit Destin this summer on vacation. He will stand due south overlooking the Gulf as a grown man. He will look through that emerald/cobalt window as I did so many years before and may be realizing his minute DNA origin. It will be a gift I'll have to give up to him. As it is apparent, the emerald/mint continent is not mine to give.
J.C.B.
3/11/2019
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