Coronavirus, hornet’s nest, red-ant hill… we want to avoid them. I accidentally stumbled into something equally as painful: Divorce. I was documenting a family (totally unrelated to me) and there are generations of divorce. It was my Halloween horror story!! I wanted to get everyone documented accurately so I was suffering the pain through one person after another person.  Why? I didn’t want to leave misinformation in my database. (I feel compelled to have my database 200% accurate.) ~~ There’s a scripture about the sins of the father visited to the fourth and fifth-generation. I’m looking at the person (I was researching) in a much-less critical way because s/he is a victim….

Sad to say, Lorraine is the most consistent “rider” in our RV Park? “Sad”  because the bikes are good exercise and provide social contact (at a safe distance). One lady was dissatisfied with her bike (her purchase) so I bought it. Heretofore, I’ve ridden the bikes of RV Park owner-manager “Mr. Red.” Now I hope, and pray, his bikes aren’t ignored.

Postscript: Less than half-an-hour since I published this… and now we have torrential rain!! Less than an hour since I was riding around the Park!! ~~ My lawn needed watering!! ~~ “Showers of blessings, showers of blessing we need!!”

.

A sweater was unsatisfactory. I felt compelled to turn on the furnace.

A TV news segment said there is a renewed interest in bird watching. People enjoying “outdoors.” Sadly, I am no longer a “bird watcher.” This RV Park does not want bird feeders because the seed attracts mice. My feeders are gathering dust. The Hummingbirds have departed.  **If** I checked old blog messages, I could display pictures of birds—and squirrels. I miss them!!

“They” invaded my laptop computer?!

Did “they” come with the cartoon??  Perhaps a friend perceived this was going to be “a bad day“ when she sent the message in the wee hours of the morning? No, this “witch” didn’t “fly off the handle”  but she spent an hour on the phone with her Internet provider. It’s a mystery how I could have email (messages) but no access to the Internet.

Considering the frustration experienced by your “addicted to genealogy” blogger friend, without access to the Internet, this milestone is anti-climatic. One-thousand in two weeks does not include 313 people in a new tree for a friend.

.

Because of computer limitations, I took a picture to record the event. There’s an old saying “Figures don’t lie but liers can figure.”  The date on the picture verifies time and number.

Here is another message that has been gathering dust in a “draft” file.

Here is the quote (I think):

“You will not apply my precept,” he said, shaking his head. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. When, then, did he come?”

The Sign of the Four, ch. 6 (1890), Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four (Doubleday p. 111)

Cousin Leland sent this weeks ago (months ago) when I wrote about one of my “detective” Ancestry projects. I failed to “save” it and had to request it–late August.

There isn’t a stopping point. All hours of the day and night. Before I finish documenting the extended families identified in an obituary, “cousin” sends one or two more…

.

“A still small voice”  whispered “elder abuse.”

The following was written three years ago with the intention of submitting it to Mennonite Family History. I didn’t… but it has remained at the top of my “draft” blog messages. Lacking energy and incentive, I post it today so the reader knows I am alive (but not well). ~~ As written, no editing.

.

Do you remember the monster machines where we viewed rolls of microfilm? If you’re an “old-timer” (like me) you spent hours winding the spools of film. We were grateful for the genealogy library at the local Morman church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). You appreciated the assistance of volunteers.

Things have changed rapidly! Back then we had “land lines” and answering machines. Now people carry their “smart phones” (although I have an old-fashioned “flip” cell phone).

Do people go to genealogy libraries any more? I don’t. Like millions of other researchers,  sit in the comfort of my home, using the Internet, and document data in Ancestry.com. The “new age” researchers are missing the identification with like-minded folks “climbing the family tree.” Where are they getting their instructions?

I’m an “old-timer” reminiscing about the “old days.” Checking card files in the library, ordering books from “the stacks”; visually scanning indexes for familiar surnames.

Remember when we drove to the library in Salt Lake City, Utah, or Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana? One of my most memorable visits was Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society Library, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Not only the library, but (on that occasion) a huge book sale on the parking lot.

….

….

Reams if paper for photocopies; three-hole binders for relevant information. File cabinets full of folders identifying family surnames. I kept it all; I’ve moved it from location to location: Lancaster, California to Brookville, Ohio. From there to North Carolina and eventually Texas. Now I’m “scanning” the pages and publishing to the Internet. Yes, for the convenience of “armchair researchers,” I’m putting the information in a “digitized library”: Digitized Library of Family History.

You don’t need to tramp the LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery searching for Brethren ancestors. You can find them with a few computer keystrokes. You don’t need to buy the book, it’s free. So many genealogy resources are digitized–and free. Enjoy them in the comfort of your air-conditioned home.

This old-lady has fond memories of tramping cemeteries. I’d travel there with my little camping trailer; I’d spend the night (in the cemetery) and start early the next morning. I’d visit with families; I’d glean valuable data.

Those were “the good old days.” There would be a sympathetic ear to listen attentively when I bubbled with enthusiasm over a recent discovery. Recently I lamented (to myself)  because I had nobody to share the delight of making a mental surname connection before it appeared on the computer screen.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wrote that paragraph as an “if only….”

Detective at work. I had a mystery in my hands (lol) and it couldn’t wait for “the next day.” I stick with a family while details are fresh in my mind. The mother died when the baby girl was less than one month old. She was fourteen years old before her father remarried. “Who raised Ethel?”  Without success, I searched 1910 & 1920 Census records for her and for her father. By God’s grace, I found Ethel in the 1910 & 1920 Census in the home of her Uncle Cora (“yes” Cora). Like I said, “I stick with a family while details are fresh in my mind.”  Lorraine’s brain made the connection while documenting Cora’s family. Ancestry failed to produce information when I searched Ethel, and Vernon. ~~~ (Almost 2:00 AM and definitely “past bedtime.”)

Two more weeks of negative news?! I’m watching less television and spend hours on Ancestry.com. Yesterday, twelve hours “climbing the family tree.”  I’m so depressed, I don’t ride the three-wheeler; I don’t prepare a meal; I don’t get out of my nightgown!! Spending time on the computer preparing a blog message or researching extended family is my only pleasure. ~~ I’m not alone: Coronavirus and the election have caused psychological damage to numerous individuals.