Musings

I have been busy for a while - and yet I have not posted. I was thinking today as I read a short article about genealogy in Family Tree a genealogy magazine - that I should use the Blog! It was % questions with a genealogy blogger that got my attention, so I thougfht I would personalize a little bit: Question 1: How did I get started in genealogy? This is easy. I had just retired and we wewre visiting Ann's mother. While we were there we were visited by Ann's first cousin, Barbara, and she sparked an interest when she asked me to help her with a project. Heck I was retired, I had some computer skills, and I had some time. She suggested taking the 1949 family hisdtory book, and use that as a foundation, and try to update it - locating lost relatives! I did not immediately fall into the bottomless pit. When wqe returned home I spent a couple of hours with a former co-worker who had been doing genealogy for years. Together it was the result of these two folks that got me hooked. Question 2: What would be your "top family history find"? This was apparently for the lady in the magazine - not for me however. The Tener Family has had a number of folks interested in family history and I have been very fortunate to meet them - or their descendants. What I am trying to compress is that many, many folks have been incredibly kind and have shared many, many family archives. If there is a way to encapsulate thew highlights, it would be the sharing of so many family stories, letters, photos and artifacts. It isthis generousity which has allowed me to share among the family so many stories. Question 3: What is the latest you have stayed up at night working on genealogy? Let me preface my response with a short history. When I was in the working world, I worked a lot of shift work: many, perhaps the vast majority of those would be a 'swing shift' or the hours between 4:00 PM and midnight. I think that those late hours may have had some effect upon by biological clock, or my circadian rythm, or even something I learned a little about - Photoperiodism. All this to say, I stay up late. IF I get on a roll,. and have lines that I am able to pursue, I have often stayed up to a little afte 4:00 AM! Remember - I am retired. Question 4: If you could meet any ancestor, who would it be? Isn't this a fascinating question? Would it be the baseball player? Would it be the bachelor banker who cherished his herd of milking shorthorn cattle? Would it be one of the family historians who so painlessly transcribed over 570 pages of old family letters? Maybe the first member of the family to travel to the USA? Maybe one of the George Tener's who was a family historian, or Roberta T. Johns who too was very much into the Family History. I just do not know. But, on the other side of the grave - I have had the blessing to meet so many of the living relatives, and with luck this group will only grow! Question 5: If you were not doing genealogy, what would you be doing? The very first thing that came to mind was - I'd like to be a better cook. Before genealogy, I was involved with my college fraternity alumni association, and continue to do that. Our House is almost 100 years old, and in need of repairs. Some way I have been responsible to maintaining it - and that can be time consuming. I have been very luck to find very talented alumni to help with this project. Then, while I am healthy, I'd like to travel some more. And there is no reason not to merge travel and genealogy! OK. There are some questions, and along with my musings - a recent post onto the blog.