Monday Genea-pourri, Week of Jan 15–21, 2024

I have completed two hundred and two (202) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. Outside the house activities included renewing my driver’s license (wore a mask), getting certificates from the recorder’s office, going to a memorial service, and running trains at the Train Club.  

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings
Monday, I met with Jacqueline and she relayed what I missed at the Kinseekers Military SIG meeting. Wednesday, we got back early enough from our walk for me to attend the Certification Discussion Group (CDG) where we discussed time management.

Genealogy Writing/Research
This week, besides my blog posts, I started a story about my great-uncle being portrayed in a comic book during World War II. It took some research and I am working on a blog post about it.

I entered the information from the newspaper articles I found last week into RootsMagic and still have a few more to do.

Blog Posts Published:

4 Generations ofLancasters: Favorite Photo. I shared two photos taken the same day, one humorous and one showing four generations.

SNGF -- Your "Favorite" Genealogy Researchers, Speakers, Writers? I listed some of the speakers and writers who influenced me over the years.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work. I did my volunteer stint at the History Center, working on answering queries and continuing the creation of call numbers for our library books. On Wednesday, I volunteered at the Oakland FamilySearch Center. We still do not have many patrons in the evening and I scanned some papers on the copier, in my effort to downsize my paper files.

I hosted the Writer’s group and we discussed the progress Sheila is making on her Scottish family story. I had a request for some civil certificates at the county recorder’s office from my regular client.

Webinars/Courses Viewed. There were many to view this week (I’m saving some recordings for next week). I keep a log in Excel and I have started writing a sentence about a tip I got from each webinar. I think it makes me pay more attention. Shannon explained the GPS very well with great examples and Fritz's talk about dialects was really interesting. Mary's talk really covered some great tips about how to get more out of webinars and classes.

• The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS): A Review by Shannon Green (BCG/LFT Webinars)
• No Dead Ends: Finding Your Way Through Family Road Blocks by Judy N Muhn (Santa Clara Co Hist & Gen Soc)
• Putting Your Learning to Work by Mary Kircher Roddy (Kinseekers)
• Finding the Original Record When the Index is Unclear by J. Mark Lowe (Florida State Gen Soc)
• German Dialects and What They Mean for the Researcher by Fritz Juengling (German Genealogy Society)

Other: It has still been raining off and on, making our hiking trails too muddy. This week we walked along Mulholland Ridge in Orinda. Still, nothing blooming yet. I’m sure we’ll go look for manzanitas soon.

This weekend, our train club had an open house and I ran trains on both days. I think we had a decent turnout because the rainy weather tends to bring them in. On Sunday, a Girl Scout Brownie troop came and were they noisy but seemed to have fun doing the scavenger hunt about the layout. I also attended the memorial of a member’s wife. I had never met her but wanted to support John. I remember the time my co-workers attended the memorial for my father and how nice that support made me feel. This was the second memorial I attended in a month. It hurts getting old.

I am reading:

• From a Far and Lovely Country by Alexander McCall Smith—FINISHED
• The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman

Photos for this week. What's blooming in my yard.

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great at documenting our own. I will write about what I have been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme.

Copyright © 2024 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.