Tika & the Family History Library

It's December (almost) and time for me to fly away south to Salt Lake City to spend a week at the Family History Library. This wonderful huge painting hangs on the stairway between floors and always is a delight to see again when I visit. Tika is not coming, as you might would guess. But she'll hear all about it when I return.

How have I prepared to spend a research week? Everybody's preparation is different but I look over my pedigree and pick some dead-end problems. Then I print out the family group charts and pedigree charts for just that problem. These charts go into a folder. This year I've picked about six problems....... including a very cold case from local history so I have six folders and that's all I take with me to the library. Yes, onto those family groups (printed from my Legacy genealogy program) are summarized all my notes and my research finds, so why would I need to take anything else?? (I do take a flash drive with my entire Legacy file in case I need or want to check something else.) These folders are a statement of "I know what I know and I can see what I want to learn" and that works for my research.

Tika and family and I will share a wonderful Thanksgiving and then I'm off........ who will I miss most, hubby or Tika??? Hummmm............ And will Tika miss me? Do dogs miss us????

Tika's German Roots......... Maybe

This past November weekend a good friend and I drove the 300 miles west across Washington to Whidbey Island to spend a day with genealogy friends there and attend their all-day Irish Roots seminar. It was a very good day and as I drove home I got to musing about Tika's German roots. Once home, I turned to Google and learned something about Tika's maybe ancestors. And WOW did I find interesting stuff! Tika has Gunnar LongRed and Ursula ShortLegs in her family tree!  She also has Heinar GreatNose, Bertraud BadgerChaser, and Valentinius HoleDigger on her father's side. On her mother's side she has Anna Maria BrightEyes, Anna Catherina FloppyEars and Anna Elizabetha FeatheredFeet. Every pedigree has a rascal or an outlaw hiding somewhere and Tika has hers. Way, way back I found Lancelot LongHair!  Surely this was a French influence???? I've always suspected that Tika had very interesting ancestry and now I know she does.

Tika & Her Nose & Our Research

Look at the size of that darling little black nose! If you want to learn some fascinating trivia (and if you're a dog person) do a Google search on "how dogs smell." The abilities of their noses are amazing.  Tika finds new things to sniff at every single day even when we're walking the same route most of the time. Everything is deserving of a sniff to a dog. Everything is worth "checking out."

How to apply this to genealogy? We have been watching the new TV series, "Person of Interest." Last night's episode had a quote that I quickly scribbled down:  "We only see what we choose to look for."  Or that quote could be amended thusly: "We only find what we choose to look for."   If you're seeking an answer to a family history mystery and you choose not to look at all the available places, even the same-old-same-old places, you will not "see" answers and you will not find answers. Choices rule our lives in everything.  Might you agree or disagree????

Tika & Jokes & Coyotes

A good friend sent me this joke; I hope I'm not infringing anywhere to share it with you. But it surely did make both Tika and me laugh!  We don't have a cat but we have coyotes here in our rural environment and even right in our backyard sometimes. One, looking much like this, sat right outside my window looking in at a dancing, barking Tika (who spotted him!) and drooling at the thought of what a nice lunch she would make. Needless to say, Tika only goes out on a leash and with us!

Well, back to "genealogy work".

Tika & Cold Case Genealogy

I usually take Tika with me when I go walking in one of our local cemeteries. And I never go so walking without a camera, pencil and paper for one of the things I most enjoy is tackling a "cold case genealogy" project.  For instance, on one walk I spotted a little metal plate resting near a tombstone:

The little plaque reads, "R.N. of A. In Memoriam."  Now I could guess that it means Registered Nurses of America but as yet I've not found out for-sure exactly what that means............. and that makes it an especially "delicious" cold case research project.

I usually pick a "story" of a person who died prior to 1935 so that I'll have some public records to search. From the cemetery file, death certificate, local city directories, and the U.S. censuses, I can usually find enough material to write up a personal sketch for the person. (It does help that Washington state has the most fabulous digital archives:  www.digitalarchives.wa.gov ) 

And what do I do with these projects? They will go posted to my local genealogical society's website (www.EWGSI.org) so that maybe-hopefully-possibly some descendant looking for that person will hit the jackpot. To me this is a warm-fuzzy thing to do.

Tika always enjoys the outings. (And I always have a little green baggy in my pocket, as should you.)

Tika & My Surgery Recovering

Recovering from total hip replacement surgery, and being "enthroned" in my La-Z-boy for weeks, I've been very grateful for my little Tika to watch over me and to bring me comfort. Dogs truly are "teddybears with a heartbeat." 

We all have stories in our genealogy about the long illnesses our ancestors had........ how they could be bed-ridden for months. Don't you want to bet that some little dog was right there with them to bring them comfort and cheer? I surely do hope so. A few weeks of limited activity is enough for me; I cannot imagine months............ and with no netbook or library books to occupy their mind as I have had.

Tika & Tomatoes

Don't think Tika loves eating tomatoes as much as I do but this I do know: When I fix nice thick slabs of beefsteak tomato broiled with melted cheddar, Tika is right there to do the lick-up-the-plate duty. Does summer mean tomatoes to you? Did you realize that it wasn't all that long ago that tomatoes were considered poisonous? (Google "tomato history")  After our forebears got over their fear, how did our ancestors enjoy eating tomatoes? Anybody have any pre-Civil War era recipes to share??? And tomatoes do not keep in root cellars so how wonderful when canning was invented (which was when???). I have midwest ancestry and I can just bet that they enjoyed oodles of summer tomatoes just like Tika and I do. Well, me anyway.

Tika is a Dachshund

According to my The Essential Dachshund book, dachchunds are curious, agile, single-minded, comical, fearless, sturdy and scent hunters. I can vouch for the fact that Tika is definitely a dachshund!  She is curious; I keep trying to get a photo of her sitting up on my footstool looking out the window for elephants. She is agile; she leaps up and down from our chair as we play throw-the-toy with her. She is single-minded; there is an old stinky something down the lane and she NEVER FORGETS to sniff it out. She is comical; she won't eat her dinner until we finish ours and she can have a lick or two...... hope springs eternal that we may leave more. She is fearless; I've seen her tear into two larger dogs and promptly show them who was boss. She is sturdy; so far so good, no broken bones. And she is surely a scent hunter; we could let her run with us in the yard but she'd catch a whiff of something and poof! she'd be beyond the fence.

All of which makes me think: genealogists are curious, agile in their thinking, single-minded in their thinking, comical at times, fearless mostly, sturdy all-weather souls and scent hunters......... put us on the hint or sniff of a trail of 4-great grandpa and we're off beyond the fence too.

I think dachshunds and genealogists have lots in common; at least Tika and I do.

Tika & "Her" New Birthday Blanket

Tika loves our new bedspread! To mark our 50th anniversary, our children presented us with this gorgeous Pendleton blanket/bedspread........we had told them NO PARTY........ and we all think it's quite snuggly and wonderful. Tika says it's a perfect birthday gift for her; she turned 3 on September 18th. Why argue with a dog?????

Tika & Elephants

While we did miss our little Tika, we so enjoyed seeing all the African animals on our recent trip...... this was a herd of elephants crossing a river (led by the matriarch) and very carefully guarding and helping this baby.

FAMILY, whether in people or in animals, is all-important. We saw that over and over....... mother baboons cradling their babies, "ellies" watchful of their babies ("if you get out of the truck right now, the mother WILL stomp you," said our guide), mother giraffes nuzzling their babies and mother wart hogs (Pumbaas on the hoof!!) herding their 2-4 babies.

So what did I learn to share with you that is "genealogy?" Only that families are central to life, period.  And Tika is a furry little member of our family!!!

Tika is NOT in Africa but I am!

This is the African Bee Eater bird........ bet you've seen them on nature shows. They are way more beautiful in the "real." I am in South Africa and while I miss my Tika I'm seeing wart hogs, kudu, wildebeest,  impala, giraffes, rhinos, ostrichs and dozens of new birds. It is barely the start of summer and it's already in the 90s I'd guess. I wish all of you could come visit South Africa but if you cannot be sure to watch every nature or "planet earth" type show that comes along. It is a beautiful place!

Tika & Long Lake

Now I DO NOT usually swim with a yellow noodle, nor do I swim with a white T-shirt, but I wanted to re-create the Tika-riding-on-my-back photo and we were in deeper water. Does she look happy???

A friend suggested that we needed life jackets for our two dogs when we go boating. Don't think so; dogs...all mammals...can swim wonderfully. (Ever seen a rabbit or a porcupine swimming? Just this morning our local newspaper had a bit about a porky getting into their backyard pool during the night.) Now I do have a baby life jacket for when we took our infant grandchildren out; what was different about it was a high around-the-head collar. I love the water but I well recognize the power of water.

Doing my genealogy, many of my ancestors met their fate by drowning; one distant cousin in World War II. Did you realize that it was after WWI that America realized that many of her young men could not swim (being from the landlocked midwest and all) so it was decided that all high schools would have a pool and would teach swimming. (Are you thinking of the Christmas movie, It's A Wonderful Life?) And now those older schools are being remodeled to do away with their pools and new ones have none. Most communities have public pools and do offer swim classes. It is my opinion that all children should learn to swim, period. Life is long and you just never know and most of us have a love of water.

Tika & Banks Lake

Summertime to us means lakes and water, anywhere and anytime. Banks Lake is one of our favorites. It is a man-made lake south of Coulee Dam in a basalt-cliff coulee; the lake was created to give water to all of central Washington for irrigation. Anyway. The lake was being drawn down for some reason and we went over to prowl the beach..... we've found arrowheads in the past. No arrowheads that day but plenty of muddy-sticky-clay exposed beach. We went swimming anyway! I drug her in on her leash with me and in a shallow part, as I rested on hands and knees, she climbed up up on my back.... like a baby duck does!

Our family has been going at least annually to this lake for 40 years. Amazing; well before my time, said Tika.

Tika & Liberty Lake

Tika went with us today boating on Liberty Lake, a small lake about 10 miles east of Spokane. Here she's helping me look to see where the public bathing beach would have been in the 1920s........... Handy Man's great-grandmother, Ada Smith Leverich (1866-1944) came from Illinois to Washington to visit her married daughter, Mary Ethel (Leverich) Oswald in the 1920s sometime. And it was "the thing" then to ride the nickel trolley from Spokane out to Liberty Lake. I have a photo of Ada in her head-to-toe-with-big-black-hat bathing costume standing up to her ankles in the water on a beach somewhere on this lake. There I was in my far-less-covered-up swim suit remembering his ancestor as we putt-putted around the lake. It was a great day; Tika agreed (especially as she got part of my tuna sandwich).

Tika & Dog Tags

Tika, like most good doggies, wears her "dog tags" on her collar........ her owner ID, her rabies tab and her county license tag. But I was telling her about a different kind of "dog tag," ones that soldiers wear. Last week when I visited family in Kansas City, MO, and visited the fabulous World War I Memorial Museum, I took this photo of some WWI-era dog tags. Each soldier was issued two metal tags; one to be left with his body (on a marker perhaps) if he was killed and the other to be sent back to headquarters for family notification. I did an article on Military Dog Tags not too long ago for Family Chronicle magazine. It was quite sobering to stand and view these little silvery metal discs and know their reason for being.

Tika & Crayola?

Tika is happily home with Handy Man and I am in Kansas City, Missouri, visiting Handy Man's sister Sharon. While the weather has been beastly (today 106o) we have had a wonderful time. Today we go to downtown KC to the Crown Center and one thing we'll visit is the Crayola "place." Did you know that the Crayola company was founded in 1885? The name Crayola was coined by Alice, wife of company founder and comes from craie, French for chalk, and ola for oleaginous or oily. Thus: oily chalk. By 1905 the company offered 18 different sized boxes of 5 different Crayola colors in sizes. Initially, crayon boxes were targeted to artists and sold for $1.50 a box (expensive in those days). Think what they cost today, say at Wal-Mart, in the back to school sales. Question:  Do you think your ancestor used crayons? Or better yet, when did your ancestors in their childhood begin to use crayons??

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's Family Is Growing!

This is grandson Justin proposing to his Grethe at her summer work place, a day-care center. Isn't it great to see proposals being done down on one knee old-fashioned-like? Grethe ("gretta") is a VOGEL so hooray and hallelujah I'll have a new line to work on! And a German one at that. (By the by, she did say yes.)

Makes me reminisce about John's proposal to me and our wedding, etc. Gosh, me thought, have I written down that story for my posterity?  We may not have 1000 photos like today's young couples, but we still have the words and we are the only ones who can write that story. So there is Tika's advice for today: Write the story of your meeting your spouse, your engagement, your wedding, etc. They'll be glad you did.

Wouldn't you just love to read that sort of account from your great-great grandmother who got married in upstate New York in 1854?

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.