Tika & The Fish

This is Fish. He is a Japanese Fighting Fish so he lives alone in his bowl. I've put some ivy cuttings down into the bowl to give him a more natural environment. The first picture shows him in all his colorful glory:

This next picture shows the point of today's lesson. I feed him once daily with proper fish food which he gobbles up. (I've trained him to come to the surface when I spoon-bang on the rim of the bowl.) One day I thought, "well, he is a fish and fish like insects so I'll feed him a tiny bug." Ha! He eyed them and circled them but did not recognize them as food (even the live ones squirming in the water) and did not bite at them. Finally I took a spoon and removed them...... and fed him fish food!

Here's the point of the story: are we, as working, practicing genealogists, so bound by tradition or custom or whatever that we do not recognize a new opportunity when it's presented to us????? Do we "bite" to use a new website or a new technique or do we circle and go away??

Tika says that even a dumb fish ought to have been able to recognize such a great opportunity. "And you're smarter than a fish!" she said emphatically.

Tika Is Watching

Tika is ever watchful for many things. Elephants, mostly. She keeps our yard barked-clear of elephants. Especially the big pink ones. But she also barks away anything that moves..... the UPS man, the airlines flying overhead in their landing pattern, the wild turkeys that occasionally wander into our yard. She is a good watchdog from her protected perch on a snowy driveway safely tethered on a leash.

Are we as watchful in our day-to-day lives? It's so easy to get caught up in the humdrum-of-the-days and lose site of The Big Picture and really Get Anything Done. Bet you know whereof I speak.

One thing I watch for is to watch-to-attend-and-so-to-learn. Our local society is having a wonderful spring seminar tomorrow (www.EWGSI.org)  and the end of April is a FamilySearch Symposium (www.rememberinggenerations.com) . Both of these events will be great opportunities for learning something new or some new technique for doing genealogy. I watch for these events!

Tika is a great little teacher...... she teaches by example.

Tika & Grandma Kay

Tika was delighted and barked excitedly as we pulled into the driveway. She was going to visit Grandma Kay! Kay is our dog sitter and bless her heart she is a jewel and a gem and we know Tika will be further spoiled when we retrieve her.

So what genealogy is here? Easy and obvious. Don't most families have a "Grandma Kay" or "Uncle Bud" or some person that is not really blood-family but who is so much a part of your family and they are always included? And how do you deal with such person-connections in compiling your family history?

If I know of such a dear and good family friend, I always include information about them in the stories that I write up about the family. I would hope that you do too. Sometimes the "Grandma Kays" of this world are just as dear as Grandmother Kay.

Tika & Coke

Tika and I have an afternoon ritual. When I indulge and have my one can of Diet Pepsi per day, it's at the mid-afternoon time. Tika doesn't care much about Coke or Pepsi  but she does beg for the crackers, or chips or popcorn that I might have with my drink. I explain to Tika that taking a Pepsi or Coke break helps us thing! She doesn't comment one way or the other on that but just begs another tidbit.

John Stith Pemberton, 1831-1888, was a druggist, a doctor and a man having one great obsession. He wanted to invent the ultimate medicine and the perfect drink rolled into one. Coca leaves had been known and used for 2000 years in South America and were considered to be a stimulant, an aid to digestion, an aphrodisiac and a life-extender. So of course Pemberton decided to base his new drink around this plant. He tinkered with dozens of formulas before coming up with the one we now enjoy... and it's recipe is a closely guarded secret at the company's Atlanta headquarters.

Now I could tell you all about his research steps, his first companies, etc., but you can use Google and find more than you likely have time to read. In the reading, I learned that Pemberton's new drink really took off in popularity in 1886 when the city of Atlanta introduced prohibition; Coca-Cola became the ideal temperance drink! And you know how ubiquitous (my favorite word since 4th grade; means seemingly everywhere present) Coke is now. I prefer Pepsi; Tika perfers milk and preferably in a glass, please.

Which do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? Quoting from a Coke vs. Pepsi Wiki:    Taste:  Although when compared in double blind taste tests, the majority of people could not tell the difference in taste, people will swear they love one or the other. 

I prefer Pepsi; Tika perfers milk and preferably in a glass, please.

Tika & Snow & ???

This is the view right now out my kitchen window..... there is about 10 inches of the fluffy white stuff down!  Tika spent about 30 minutes outside (watching Handy Man plow) and then decided it was better to be inside looking out at the snow!

"So what will we do with the rest of the day", she asks? I explain to her that I've been working to sync my personal Legacy file with the file I posted to Ancestry. "Good day to work on that!" she tells me. Not fully 100% sure how to do this; I've downloaded my file from Ancestry and have compared it to my own computer Legacy file. When I'm finished shall I delete the Ancestry file and then upload a new file from Legacy? And how to keep the two in sync?????  I turn to ask Tika but she's sound asleep. Ohwell.

Tika's Ready for 2013

Just like she's pulling and eagerly forging ahead on our snowy walks (and we have 8" of the white stuff), Tika is a great example to me of what I should do in 2013. First, make a clear and reasonable New Year's Resolution...... and I have:  I will throw something away every day. This might be cleaning a drawer or closet but it might also mean cleaning off my desk or cleaning out a file. Be inspired by Tika's example: eagerly forge on ahead and just DO IT.

Tika & the "Elephants"

This is how Tika keeps watch for elephants who dare to enter our yard.... and she'll loudly bark when she even thinks she sees one.......... quite a dog, eh? 

I wish she would bark like that when an "elephant" of a mistake appears in my family history researching. Or at least would she alert me when an "elephant" of an erroneous online posting appears. Case in point:  Handy Man has a Smith line which I thought went back into Viriginia. Doing a search in the Family Trees at Ancestry.com, I found his line traced clear back to John Smith who married Pocahontas. Wow. But............

Good grief. Every student of U.S. history should know that John Rolfe married Pocahontas, NOT NOT NOT John Smith. Yet, there it is bold as sunshine, posted on Ancestry.com for all to find.

Does that discredit Ancestry? Not at all. Does it cast shadows on the person posting that mistaken lineage correction? Greatly so! And how will it affect you, the researcher? You can accept what you find or reject what you find........... or better yet, do your own research to confirm or reject what you find, even on Ancestry.com.   

Or teach your dogger to bark and alert you to the presence of elephants in your family tree. Good luck! 

Tika & Mountains

Tika knows that Mt. Spokane dominates the skyline northeast of the city of Spokane; in fact she's been in car rides up there to take fall walks. She does not realize (nor care) that Mt. Spokane has an elevation of 5880 feet .  Thinking of mountains, I was reading to her the other day about Mt. Everest..... in 1856 the Great Trigonometric Survey of British India established the height of Everest at 29,002 feet. The name came in 1865, given in honor of Sir George Everest, the first surveyor general of India. Remember those trivia facts for Thanksgiving dinner!

And what does this have to do with genealogy, my Tika is asking? Maps and mountains are important to your family history. Picture or plot your family on a topographical map..... where was the nearest church of their denomination? where was the nearest county courthouse?  and did they live near a large stream or a river...and how did they get across? how many miles did they have to go in their horse and buggy or on foot?

Point is, our ancestors may have lived in Jefferson County but may have attended church or tended to their official business in Madison county because it was easier to get to. Such imaginary lines as county lines meant little to them. Ditto for newspaper coverage. It was the custom of oldtime newspapers to fill their pages with local gossip (national or world news was hard to come by). The local newspaper might have been the Madison County Journal but would have included the doings of Jefferson County's residents because Jefferson County was in their readership area.

Tika says, "well, alrighty. Can we go for a walk now?"  

Tika & Morning Moon

Tika is always eager to get up and get out and get going first thing in the morning....... in fact I've told lots of friends that get a dog if you need to be motivated to take a morning walk........... as we walk out to fetch the morning paper, we talk about what needs doing that day. Tika is a great sounding board and she listens intently....... when she's not sniffing something.

When I walk in the early, beautiful, mornings, I do not need earbuds and a gizmo and the news from public radio or even music.  I like that quiet time to talk to Tika, talk  to God, and ponder my genealogical problems as well as to plan my day. Tika nods in agreement to that sentiment.

My photo this morning is titled, Dahlia Moon Setting To The West. Does it make you smile?

Tika & German Potato Salad

Yes, Tika is a German-dachshund-dog but she looks at German Potato Salad just about how this big guy above would view it:  No way. I attended the annual national convention of the Germans from Russia yesterday here in Spokane. One demonstration was showing how to make authentic German Potato Salad from a century-old recipe. It began with red potatoes ("russets get too mushy!") and the dressing included white wine, white vinegar and lemon juice and chopped green onions. NO bacon but she said it was optional. NO fried-in-bacon-grease onions. It was quite yummy. And, she said, it is great for a camping trip or picnic for it can sit at room temp for hours...... even days in a coolish place. (No dairy, no eggs, no mayo.)

So is a German dogger supposed to like German food? If its bratwurst, sure! Otherwise, no way! No problem, I'll eat her share.

Tika & Grass & Some New Stuff

Being close to three years old, you would think that Tika had learned that "if you eat grass you will upchuck." Even the Dachshund book says, "Often dogs eat grass, which, because it's indigestible in its pure form, irritates their stomachs and causes them to vomit." She was looking so cute sitting in my flower bed, chewing on whatever was there and the next she was below the rocks doing you-know-what. Will she ever learn?

We humans, especially we genealogists, can learn new things, bring them on!   Here are three new things for your learning pleasure:  (1)  The New Jersey Archives has posted a full dozen new databases, containing millions of name entries, to their website.  Check it out:  www.njarchives.org ;   (2)  FamilySearch offers you the opportunity to "Take a research consultant home, VIRTUALLY, on the new FamilySearch Wiki. A Wiki is a quick tutorial on just about anything you want to know and the FamilySearch Wiki contains information on all things genealogy. Click to http://wiki.familysearch.org;  (3)  Want to try a new search engine? Mocavo.com seeks to index and make searchable all of the world's free genealogy information. A friend reported to me that using this new genealogy search engine she found a tidbit of information that she'd never found before. Score!

Tika & Learning

Tika knows that I am a collector of words, especially words arranged into meaningful patterns. For instance:

Where there is a NEED there is an ABILITY to learn.  This was a quote from Lisa Louise Cooke in the opening address of the Colorado Expo. Thinking about this, she is so right! When we need to learn something, we can and we do! Lisa Louise was mainly talking about genealogists using new technologies for learning and said, "You may think you're not up to using this new techie stuff but review your history.... you have already progressed! You used to do everything on paper! And then floppies! You can learn!"

She continued, "Using new tricks (meaning that "techie stuff") makes us realize and appreciate old tricks.... think of the progress in citing sources.  And the benefits of embracing these new tricks, this new techie stuff, are worth it..... saves time, you find more and more quickly, and you connect with others."

Her parting admonition applies to all of us in all of our day-to-day activities:  "Don't be a prisoner of stagnation."  I really liked that.

Tika has learned that if she bangs open the cupboard door with her nose, she'll likely get a doggie treat. And she's learned to stop at the open back door and wait for her leash and not get scolded. Good doggie.

Tika and her "cousin" the basenji.

This is Jake (or what Jake looks like); he is a Basenji and the "love" of Handy Man's Sister Sharon and her hubby, Ron. Tika has never met "Jakey" but I'm quite sure the two dogs would get along famously. What do they have in common? They are both "red dogs" and they are special to us. They both love cheese. They both wag their tails. They are both dogs; they are canines; they are related; they are cousins in the natural world. So what is my genealogy point here?

In our genealogy pursuits, we will find cousins........distant or near cousins......... who are people like us but are vastly different in looks, size and personality from us. So are we all really cousins? I read once where a senior medieval research specialist in the Family History Library said that any one of us is really no further removed than 50th cousins from any other person on the planet. Think about that! 50th cousins to anybody. And you know how different all the peoples of the world seem to be. 

Am I related to you? Probably. Can we prove it? Maybe.  Is Tika related to Jake? Probably. Can we prove it? Nope. As all dogs pretty much accept each other, shouldn't we pretty much accept each other, seeing as how we are cousins???

Tika's Ancestry?

Reading in the Southwest Airlines magazine (from the seat pocket) I saw an ad for a Dog DNA kit. For a not-cheap fee I can send in a mouth swab from my Tika and find out if she is a "read" dachshund. Will I? Nope. Wonder how many folks do this?

I have done a DNA study with "Handy Man," my Phillips husband. Did it give me answers? Nope. Did it give me clues? Yep. I'll explain.  The Phillips DNA Project showed two (and now three) nearly perfect matches between John and others. But each of us only know and can document so far back and none of us can go back far enough to connect! Maybe in time. I believe in these DNA tests but I realize and recognize that there often are no "red hot" answers.

To learn more about this fascinating topic, do a Google search for "genealogy + DNA + research."

Tika & "County" Trivia

"Tika," I said, "this sort of thing is really interesting to genealogists." You see her response. But I was reading some notes I took from the book The American Counties by J.N. Kane, 1972.  I learned stuff like:

Of the 3067 counties in the U.S. only 2136 have been named for individuals. This figure includes the 203 counties named for 25 presidents. The president for whom the greatest number of counties was named  is (would you guess?) George Washington who leads the list with 31, followed by Thomas Jefferson at 26. Jackson has 21 counties named for him, excluding Hickory County, Missouri, for his nickname.

There are 20 counties named for Madison, 17 for Monroe, 17 for Lincoln, 12 for Grant and 11 for Polk. There is a long list of presidents for whom 1 to 8  counties were named. Only one president had both his first and last name used as the name of a county. Millard Fillmore had Millard County named for him in Utah as well as Fillmore County in both Minnesota and Nebraska.  And there are 11 presidents who do not have a county named for them.

So if there were 3067 counties and only 2136 have been named for people, that leaves 931 counties named for other than individuals. What about your county of birth?  (Mine: Kalamazoo, MI)  Or your county of residence?  (Spokane, WA) Have you ever thought about the origin of "your" county's name?

Tika has not. She was born somewhere in Idaho, remember.

Tika Listens To A Lesson on Names

Was giving Tika two genealogy examples today in our lesson....... first was "proving" that so often in olden-times people were given names from the Bible. Charles Wilbur Gurney (1864-1923) m. (1) Sarepta Mae Bishop (1867-1892).  I wondered about that name....... and then found it in Luke 4:26. Sarepta was a city of Sidon. But guess her mother liked it as her name.  Sarepta had Leila Mae in 1889 and died in 1892...... I'd bet from complications of a second pregnancy. No, I've not studied that out because my ancestor is Charles Wilbur's second wife, Viola Belle Evans (1872-1962).  And because I did rather/kinda ignore Sarepta Mae Bishop I nearly missed out on some good photos. OF COURSE she had sent photos of her new husband to her family, and her wedding photos, and with her dying so young, of course they kept the photos........ and doing a search on the Bishop family online I located those pictures of a very young Charles Wilbur and his first bride.  Pays to be totally thorough in your research; that's what I was teaching to Tika in our lesson today.

Tika Reads Comics

Tika was snuggled by me in our chair as I read the morning paper recently. I laughed out loud at the Dennis the Menace cartoon and when I read it to Tika she.............. yawned. No matter. Dennis and his little friends were admiring a momma dog's new babies and the caption was, "WOW! She downloaded EIGHT PUPPIES!"""" "   While that cartoon was darn cute enough, it made me wonder how many computer and Internet references have crept into our everyday language?? I suspect that the list would be long. Surf does not involve ocean waves; mouses do not eat cheese; we keyboard and not type; and website does not mean that lovely big dew-spangled spider web in your flowers. Bet you could come up with many more.

While we're thinking, how many definitions for the word dog can you list? Dog as an adjective, dog as a verb, and dog as a noun. Interesting exercise.  And by the by, Tika says she is not a "dog," but a dachshund.

Tika Goes to Gramma Kay & We Go To The Grand Canyon

Tika gets to go visit Gramma Kay, her favorite dog sitter, and our house sitter will tend all our many plants, and we're off to float the Colorado River through the entire Grand Canyon. Cannot wait to get there!  Tika will be spoiled rotten when we fetch her home and not miss us at all!

Tika Dog Blog Speak

In one of his bird dog hunting magazines, Handy Man found this list of explanations................. to which Tika said "wwwhhhaaaatttttt?"  Here they are:

Hard Drive Back-up ..............  Dog in a brace
Search Engine ......................... Dog nose
Twitter .................................... Sound a bird makes
Tweet .....................................  More sounds a bird makes
Browser..................................  Going from smell to smell to smell
Megabytes............................    How a dog eats
Gigabytes................................  Dogs "singing" for their dinner
Linkedin .................................   Dog kennel fencing
Hyperlink...............................    Dog "prong" or "pinch" collar
Router ...................................   Dog flushing out/smelling out a bird or critter
Download ................................ Dog squatting and doing her business

This was just too cute not to share with you............. Tika gave her blessing to do so.

Tika & FamilySearch Indexing

Since we are a full month behind in having spring weather............ these are lilac BUDS..... our annual Lilac Festival is in about three weeks and the buds are still tight green buds........... Tika and I have not much felt like being out-of-doors. Perfect time to do some FamilySearch Indexing! According to the website, the 1930 census for New Hampshire is their highest priority....... that just means it's almost finished and let's get it finished. So while Tika sits looking out the lower part of the sliding glass doors, and I look out the top part of the sliding glass doors, I will spend some worthwhile time doing FamilySearch Indexing. And we're both hoping for a sunshiny warm day tomorrow!