I have completed one hundred ninety-seven (197) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I was out way too much this week and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t get sick.
Genealogy
Genealogy
Meetings
There was no meeting with Jacqueline this week
due to her packing and moving duties. I attended the Kinseekers Military SIG
meeting and it was nice to hear some of the members’ success stories. Stewart
and I were the only ones at Amigos and we got caught up on our activities since
the retreat. I attended the last thirty minutes of the monthly OFSC staff
meeting because I lost track of time. I also hosted the monthly CGS Roundtable
meeting solo but we had eight people. Lastly, the 5 genie ladies met at a
restaurant and we have decided to meet like this quarterly.
Genealogy
Writing/Research
I
continued working on my WWI Study, still focusing on Harold R Gleeson. I
contacted one of his heirs about trying to obtain a military record at the
state historical society that is restricted to only family. She is excited to
do this.
After
talking with my husband, I decided to write up the research I had done for his
friend, Rod. I shall put it all together along with many of the documents
because he is interested in seeing those as well as learning the story. So instead
of a photobook, I will do it on regular paper and place it either in a binder
or have it spiral bound. When I started to write and return to websites to help
with current citations, I found tons more information! I had done this work previously
before so many newspapers have been digitized and other documents have been
placed at FamilySearch. This paragraph should probably be under volunteer/work
but Rod is a dear friend and I do not think of his family as “work.”
Blog Posts Published:
Who Was the Top Cook of1987? Faye Moon!
This week’s theme was “You wouldn’t believe it.” I wrote about my grandmother’s
cousin who could not believe she won a best cook contest from a magazine.
SNGF: Linda Stufflebean’s Updated “December Meme” We answered twenty questions about holidays. I somehow forgot
to answer question number 2.
Genealogy Volunteer/Work
At the History Center this week, I continued working on donations and the
library database. We canceled the board meeting because we did not have a
quorum but a quorum of board members did attend the holiday party at the Center
on Saturday. We had a good turnout and there were some nice treats to eat.
I gave my final presentation
of the year to the Sacramento Public Library via Zoom on Saturday. This was
about church records and I had some good comments and questions at the end. It
does seem there are far fewer questions asked at virtual presentations than at
live ones.
Webinars/Courses
Viewed:
- Right, Wrong, or it Depends: Ethics for the Professional Genealogist by Judy G. Russell (APG)
- Where Did Your US Ancestors Go to Church? 5 Ways to Find Out by Sunny Morton (Legacy Family Tree Webinars)
Other: I volunteered again at
the N-scale modular layout of the Southern Pacific branch along the San Ramon
Valley from San Ramon to Clyde that is set up in the exhibit room at the Museum
of the San Ramon Valley in Danville. We had many more visitors today and I spent
much of the time operating a freight train and doing some switching. I got one
of the guys to take a photo of me operating.
Instead of a walk, the
Walker’s Group had a holiday party at one of the member’s homes in Concord. It
was fun to figure out who everyone was as they were dressed in holiday clothes
instead of hiking clothes. Often it was not until they spoke that I knew who
they were! A few of us walked the neighborhood before lunch along the open
space in the center of the housing complex. We watched a great egret staring
into the pond completely ignoring us. Later, Nick said he saw the bird get
something. There was also a snowy egret and a green heron at the pond, along
with two sunning turtles.
Our Friends of Alhambra
Creek group asked the city and CalTrans for permission to have a mural painted
on the concrete wall underneath a freeway overpass. After raising money, the
mural got started this week. I helped on the first day by painting some dark
blue and teal paint with a roller brush. (My back is still sore). It’s going to
be a beautiful scene of nature on both sides of the road.
Finally, on Sunday, we
drove up to Sacramento to have a holiday party with my husband’s brother,
Brian. His daughter, Kate, and her husband, Will, are here from London for a
couple of weeks. Our daughter, Elizabeth, and Brian’s younger daughter, Maddy
were also there. We called up my youngest daughter, Margaret, on the computer
and spent time talking with her, too. After eating, we played games. It was a
joy to see everyone!
However, we got home late.
We left at eleven and needed to stop to charge the car. The chargers at Davis were
out of service and we did not have enough charge to continue to Vacaville, so we
went over to another high-speed charger owned by Electrify America. They have
only one plug that fits our older car and someone was using that station so we
had to wait about thirty minutes. We also had to set up a new account, which
took time. We did not get home until 2 am.
I
am reading:
- The Coldest Case by Martin Walker—FINISHED!
- The President’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood
Photos for this week. Lots of activities for photos this week! Painting the mural, running the train, and Christmas with the Gorrells.
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 © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.
Enjoying photos of the mural as it progresses!
ReplyDelete