Monday Genea-pourri, Week of Jul 3–9, 2023

I have completed one hundred seventy-four (174) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I went out on Wednesday to the Oakland FamilySearch Center and bought dinner at Whole Foods before going. I’m feeling more comfortable without masks in the grocery store. I was required to wear a mask to my eye doctor appointment though.

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings
I met up with Jacqueline and we decided to postpone our Texas research trip, which would have begun this week. I was not ready, it’s too hot there, and Jacqueline is in pain with hip issues. So perhaps in the fall or even next winter.

Four of us met up with the Peer Cert group and it was so nice catching up with Alex. Everyone has been so busy but are looking forward to meeting up again in a month to discuss an NGSQ article.

I attended the last session of my friend, Linda’s Japanese research and writing course. They concluded it by creating a Shutterfly book of their Japanese research. Since she had shared some of my Shutterfly vacation books, she invited me to see their creations. The class had created some very nice books.

Genealogy Writing
My main activity this past week is continuing to work on the second generation of the KDP. I am writing and working on the citations at the same time. If the statements and citations are finished (at least the citations are in the form I wish), I’m coloring the text blue. If there is an issue that needs attention, I color those sentences and citations red. Stuff that needs to be added remains in black. This makes for a very colorful document! In attempting to add to one great-grandaunt’s bio, I spent hours pulling newspaper articles I found online. Now, to sort them all out to add to her bio. The articles explained why I did not find continuous addresses in Los Angeles city directories. They moved around the West a lot.

The California Nugget came out this week and I have two articles published in it: “How to Do an In-Depth Study on an Unfamiliar Area” and “In the News: Finding Tales of Your Ancestors in Newspapers” which is actually an expansion of the handout for the talk of the same topic.

The Great Outdoors: The Nilsens Take a Trip to Yosemite I wrote about my husband’s mother’s trip to Yosemite when she was a teenager.

SNGF: Status of Your 2023 Genealogy Goals I reported on the status of my three goals. I had not written bios of my maternal ancestors, nor created new presentations for societies, but I have been working diligently on my BCG renewal which is due late this year.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work
I did my stint at the Oakland FamilySearch Center on Wednesday, but there were so few people there, that I worked on my own work. I had some Iowa records to look up that were locked. I also checked out some images at the Swedish website Arkivdigital for a document I was reviewing. They have a nice website and all you need to do is enter the direct link code to see an image.

I also prepared the press release for the upcoming BCG-Legacy Family Tree Webinar. I just need to send it to some more contacts.

Other:

Our walking group hiked in the Huckleberry Preserve Park in Oakland. It was a cool, cloudy day which made the lighting perfect for photos in the forest. Besides some flowering plants, we saw lots of different ferns.

I spent the first part of the week finishing up the Shutterfly book of our vacation and got it sent. I also spent this weekend listening to music—which I hadn’t done in a long time. I have 4161 songs and am listening to them randomly (except I have unchecked the holiday songs). According to the stats, it would take ten-plus days to listen to them all!

Lastly, I participated with the group Friends of Alhambra Creek in the 4th of July parade held on Main Street in Martinez. It was great receiving lots of cheers as we passed by the big crowds. I guess they appreciate the effort we do to keep the creek clean.

I am reading:

• The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor—FINISHED!
• Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon
• The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin

Photos for this week. I don't know why the photos post in the reverse order that I choose. Anyway, I took these images in reverse order.

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

Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.