Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Obituary For Common Sense

 


*An Obituary printed in the London Times.....Absolutely Dead Brilliant!!* 

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- And maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death,
-by his parents, Truth and Trust,
-by his wife, Discretion,
-by his daughter, Responsibility,
-and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 5 stepbrothers;
- I Know My Rights
- I Want It Now
- Someone Else Is To Blame
- I'm A Victim
- Pay me for Doing Nothing

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

————-
*Very well written piece. Should circulate to all those who still have the common sense to understand what this piece is all about.* 
(This was passed on to me by my sis-in-law. Isn’t it right-on-good?)

Friday, June 24, 2022

Parade Magazine Advice

 

Gotta love Sunday’s Parade magazine. Few months back there was an article by Kathleen McCleary outlining “how to keep your brain happy, healthy and engaged during retirement.” WELL!  She was talking about doing genealogy!!! Here are her points with my comments:

·        Try something creative – do some learning to find new ways to tackle an old and brickwall problem. Every website offers tutorials and you can learn how to do anything and about anything on YouTube.

·        Keep up with the world around you – use your computer for more than email! Use social media for more than Facetime with family. These are tools that most certainly can be used to do genealogy. If you haven’t already, learn how to ZOOM.

·        Choose Stimulating environments – like ZOOM presentations, classes, seminars, museum tours, country tours, etc. YouTube has a million places to go and a bezillion things to learn.

·        Do things often – “Your brain is like a muscle…the more you use certain functions, the stronger they are and the less you use them the weaker they are.” I can almost promise you that if you don’t work on your genealogy, using online resources, you will lose your momentum and miss out on great discoveries.

·        Do more than one thing – The article pointed to the usual: don’t drink/don’t smoke/do exercise/eat veggies, etc. But I’m thinking don’t let a seeming brickwall problem stop your progress. You have 100 other lines you could work on!!! And new records and resources are coming online every single day.

 

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Time For Funnies!

 



·        Trees do not walk. They lumber. (Sign in Port Angeles, WA)

·        Mistakes are good because we can learn from them; I must be a slow learner because I repeat most of mine.

·        I’m wrecked on the lee shore of age.

·        Definition of a volunteer: Someone who didn’t understand the question.

·        The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence; it’s greener where you water it.

 * What has more letters than the alphabet? The Post Office.

* You can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead.

* Definition of a lobster:  An ugly, overgrown, insect-like-puny-brained crustaceon for which we pay $25 to eat.

* Junk is the stuff we throw away; stuff is the junk we save.

* Sign for a bra store: "Where no cup runneth over." 

* When life gives you LIMES, change them to a SMILE.

* News flash! Did you know that chocolate makes our clothes shrink??

* Maybe that's why our ancestors aren't smiling in those old photos..... they had no chocolate in their lives. 

Friday, June 17, 2022

Ukrainian Research Anybody?

 

With so much news about Ukraine, I realized I knew hardly anything about this country. With "Grandma Google's" help, I did some reading. And I checked out a library book on the history of Eastern Europe and Ukraine........ what a complicated, tangled and murderous history this little country has behind it. If anybody has ancestry in that area, I say, yes, fly the blue and yellow flag proudly!

(Did you know that the colors of Ukraine's flag are for blue skis and growing wheat...for Ukraine is the breadbasket of the region.)

If you do have ancestry in that area (meaning Eastern Europe), don't despair. Yes, the learning curve is much steeper than say for New England, but if it's YOUR ancestors you're after, then it's worth it, right?   

Lisa Alzo has put together a new resource to help you with your Eastern European research. This guide, published in 2020, offers these chapters plus more: 


·        10 Best Databases for Eastern European Research

·        Strategies for Researching Here…… and Over There!

·        Poland, Ukraine and Galicia  Research

·        10 Eastern European Societies You Should Know About

·        New Collections at FamilySearch

·        And a dozen more!!


Click to www.internet-genealogy.com/shop to order your copy. 

 


Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Paying It Forward...In A Different Way

 


Many of us genealogists embrace the concept of "paying it forward," meaning we help with projects to index records held in various repositories. Many of us do SCRIBE and right now many are finishing up work on the 1950 census. 

My family roots go back to St. Clair County, Illinois, right across the Mississippi from St. Louis, Missouri. With so much of my ancestry there, I wanted to help index their records........ of course with the selfish thought of finding new information on my family!  I've been working on indexing birth records from 1914 and 1915...... the project coordinator there emails to me the pages, I index them according to the directions they provide, and email my finished work back. Easy peasy. And it feels good to help.

I must share that I've come across some very interesting first names:  Mary America,  Author,  Horrilia,  Leabilla,  Meurrill,  Alebartile,  Toleitha,  Loreinne,  Ozello and Golla. 

And those mostly German surnames! Schmisseur, Sagovec,  Schaeperkoetter,  Rujawitz,  Ruddriegel and Sasinowski.


In all fairness, I applaud those names for they say to me that the immigrant ancestor was literate, knew how to read and write and how his name should be spelled. Every time his name was recorded, he must have looked over and watched to make sure it was written correctly. Kudos to them for doing that for sure. 



Friday, June 10, 2022

How Our Washington Flowers Got Their Names

 

  

We all know that our Washington State Flower is the Rhododendron. We also recognize that rhoddies are happy on the West side of the state while on the East side, the lilac is queen.  Ever wondered how the rhoddie (or lilac) got its name?

A 1563 plant listing mentioned the Rhodedendron ponticum, a name that comes from Greek words for tree and rose. The plant first appeared in Britain in the 1670s. In a letter dated 1756, written by a Quaker botantist, mention is made that "this year the Great Chamerhododendron flowered for the first time and it is a charming plant."

"Lilac" comes from the Arabic word laylak, meaning "blue." The botanical name, Syringa, is from the Green syrinx, a "pipe" because the pithy stems can be hollowed out. The plant, first found in Turkey, was eventually discovered and taken to France and quickly spread across Europe. There was a lilac tree growing in Vienna in 1562. 

My source for this information was 100 Flowers And How They Got Their Names, by Diana Wells, 1997.  The author ends the page on lilacs with this:  "Even when lilacs die, they retain their perfume. For if you burn their wood, the sweet fragrance endures in the smoke, reminding you that, like all brave souls, lilacs are forever." 

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Military Records Field Manual: New Resource







Family Tree Magazine's new book offering is this, the Genealogist's Military Records Field Manual. Surely you have ancestors who served their country in wartime? Here is a brand new resource to help you find records of that service. 

It's NOT a "book-book" but an eBook, which means you purchase it, then download it to your computer. Then you can print it out or not. This is the newest and better way to offer resource books for in this format additions and corrections are easier to do. 

Click to the Family Tree Magazine website to order this eBook. (I copied/pasted the blurb; the links shown here are NOT active.)




 



Friday, June 3, 2022

American Ancestors Offers FREE Online Learning

 


Even if you don't have bonafide New England ancestry, you would enjoy, benefit and learn from the FREE online presentations of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

 Here are their offerings for June............. you must click to the website and register even though they are offered for FREE.   (www.AmericanAncestors.org) 

If you sign up for their free newsletter, you'll get notified of upcoming free online presentations....... plus all sorts of other good stuff. 

Tuesday, June 7, 3:00-4:00 pm (ET) - Featuring Ann Leary's new novel, The Foundling.

Sunday, June 12, 3:00-4:30 pm (EG) - Lakes, Lanyards, and Learning: The Story of New England Jewish Summer Camps.

Sunday, June 12, 6:00-7:00 pm (ET) - Honoring Elizabeth Shown Mills: The Coddington Award of Merit

Thursday, June 16, 4:00-5:00 pm (ET) - Researching Enslaved Ancestors

Friday, June 17, 3:30-4:30pm (ET) - New Hampshire Resources

Monday, June 20, 6:00-7:00pm (ET) - Featuring Annette Gordon-Reed's book, On Juneteenth

Thursday, June 23, 3:00-4:00pm (ET) - Anniversary of the Four Courts Fire in Dublin