Start three days ago. Unfreeze the damn bird. I have it on the authority of the federal government of the United States of America that it takes one day per five pounds to thaw out a turkey. If that boggles the mind as well as the laws of time, go to the store again and … Continue reading All-Purpose Festive Roast Turkey, Dressing, and Giblet Gravy
Trimbs, Germany June 28, 1919 Dear Folks, Well we only stayed one week in Andernach but it was a nice week lots to go to and that helps. The real dull part of the day is after supper which is five o’clock and it gets dark about 9:30. If you don’t have someplace to go … Continue reading When the Peace Was Signed, A Letter Home
Geo. M. Parker, Woods Bluff, Ala. Coffeeville Feby 19th 1871 G M Parker My Dear Son Feeling a very deep interest in your present and future well being I am induced to write you a letter this beautiful Sabbath morning. You are now entering upon your first experiment in business, and your failure or success … Continue reading To Geo. M. Parker, Woods Bluff, Ala., Feby. 19, 1871
Please watch my daughter’s video about visiting my dad and mom’s house for the last time and all the memories.
When the worst thing that happens on the first day of class is that you, The Teacher, trip over your fancy new high heels and fall flat on the ground, you know it’s been a good day overall. I ended up with a skinned knee and bruised pride. I teach first-year public speaking at a … Continue reading Onward and Upward
The world is fine and made of good people. I have a nice warm bed, someone to snuggle with, a full pantry, gas in my car, a vacation from school and work, but school and work to go back to. I have cool electronics, a sweet cat, a funky apartment, fun hobbies. I can cook. … Continue reading Everything Is Fine, Indeed
My favorite names this week come from a family where the children’s first names are Darwin, Galileo, and Waco, all born between 1893 and 1898. I want to know those wacky, learned, non-conformist parents! What are some surprising names in your family lines?
Hurray! My county of research is not a “burned county!” A burned county is one of hundreds (?) across the country where we have lost records over the decades because of various courthouse fires. So, hurray! Gentry County, Missouri, is not a “burned county.” It is, however a “cyclone county.” Cyclone county? New term. Yes, … Continue reading Bits and pieces
Looking at my ancestors I see two groups: the movers and the stickers. The movers are the ones who pull up stakes. They are either pioneers, moving to newly opened lands, or they move to communities already established. They nearly always move for economic reasons—better land, better jobs. Sometimes their moves were tied to military … Continue reading Mover? Or Sticker?
I found a suitcase full of pictures at a consignment store. “What is inside,” was my first question. It soon became “Who is inside?” Images: Lost and Found (Click to watch video.) I couldn’t wait to meet them. I couldn’t wait to figure them out and to find out why they were lost. Four sisters. Or … Continue reading A Suitcase Full of Pictures