12:25 pm (Alaska Time) April 5, ..One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning. (James Russell Lowell, British Poet and critic)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
California :: Moving On
My stay with Kathryn Doyle was a very pleasant and much needed “break” and I am indebted to her and her husband for their hospitality. I was also able to finally view the television series “American Faces” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” and thought that they were both well done and quite interesting. Thank you very much, Kathryn!
Leaving Oakland, I took the much despised Interstates south, heading for a rendezvous with my friends Sue and Fred at the Grand Canyon. Sue also happens to be my 3rd cousin once removed. Her great-grandfather, Luther Marion Joslin (1852-1930) was a brother of my great-great-grandmother Malissa Mariah Joslin Brubaker Bower (1849-1937). They were the children of Lysander and Lydia Robison Joslin. Sue's uncle, Irwin Joslin, was the first to make contact with our branch of the family (in 1968).
I allowed several days for the drive from Oakland to the Grand Canyon – it was much further than I had thought, about 850 miles. I didn't make any sightseeing stops along the way except for a slight detour to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve, however I didn't take the time to walk any of the trails. It was almost impossible to get a good close-up shot of the poppies because of the wind, but they were absolutely gorgeous!





Photographs taken on April 8, ...
Leaving Oakland, I took the much despised Interstates south, heading for a rendezvous with my friends Sue and Fred at the Grand Canyon. Sue also happens to be my 3rd cousin once removed. Her great-grandfather, Luther Marion Joslin (1852-1930) was a brother of my great-great-grandmother Malissa Mariah Joslin Brubaker Bower (1849-1937). They were the children of Lysander and Lydia Robison Joslin. Sue's uncle, Irwin Joslin, was the first to make contact with our branch of the family (in 1968).
I allowed several days for the drive from Oakland to the Grand Canyon – it was much further than I had thought, about 850 miles. I didn't make any sightseeing stops along the way except for a slight detour to the Antelope Valley Poppy Preserve, however I didn't take the time to walk any of the trails. It was almost impossible to get a good close-up shot of the poppies because of the wind, but they were absolutely gorgeous!





Photographs taken on April 8, ...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
This 'n That and 21.3%
This... I guess it's about time I checked in with y'all. Yep, I'm still alive and kicking but those Hoffman folk have taken over my research... I now have a pretty good idea of the meaning behind that ancestry.com slogan "You don't even have to know what you're looking for... you just have to start looking." Of course, it does help to have a few "clues" to start with. But in the past three months I've added nearly 500 descendants of John and Catharine (Coy) Hoffman to my Legacy database! And yes, they are sourced... but not necessarily in the "ESM" style.
It had been quite a while since I had gone looking for "more recent" relatives and I do love how ancestry.com gives those hints along the right side of the screen after you've found someone in a census or other record. Sometimes there are lots of those hints and other times not so many. Of course, you still need to be able to determine if the hints are really for the person for whom you are looking. But, my goodness, it's so much easier now than it was, oh, 20 years ago!
'n That... Research is on hold for now. I left Indiana last week to come to Huntsville, Alabama to help out my friend/distant cousin (3rd cousin once removed in the Joslin line) while she is recovering from cancer surgery. Recovery from the surgery has been very good but she's had a terribly painful flare-up of rheumatoid arthritis in her hands and shoulders. Then her left knee started swelling up and has been quite painful - that's been diagnosed as osteoarthritis. After visits to several doctors yesterday and today, medication has been prescribed that will, hopefully, ease the pain. After she recovers from the surgery she will have 5-6 more rounds of chemo to blast away the remaining cancer. So, if you'd care to add Babs to your prayer list, I'm sure she would appreciate it.
and 21.3%... I'm a little behind on blog reading but I saw Judy Russell's post More Lost Than Found and Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge and, though a little late, thought I'd see how I measure up. Like Judy, I've got far more ancestors missing than I've found, but overall, not too bad. Things look good for the first four generations, but starts dropping off at the fifth.

I'd be quite pleased if I could locate the six missing 3rd Great Grandparents, but they are back in the "old country" of Switzerland or Germany and I haven't a clue really, as to which little town from whence they came.
The missing 3rd Great Grandparents:
And, if I could find the elusive parents of Ruth Dyer, Sally Church, and Abigail Price they would surely fill in some of the empty spots!
It had been quite a while since I had gone looking for "more recent" relatives and I do love how ancestry.com gives those hints along the right side of the screen after you've found someone in a census or other record. Sometimes there are lots of those hints and other times not so many. Of course, you still need to be able to determine if the hints are really for the person for whom you are looking. But, my goodness, it's so much easier now than it was, oh, 20 years ago!
'n That... Research is on hold for now. I left Indiana last week to come to Huntsville, Alabama to help out my friend/distant cousin (3rd cousin once removed in the Joslin line) while she is recovering from cancer surgery. Recovery from the surgery has been very good but she's had a terribly painful flare-up of rheumatoid arthritis in her hands and shoulders. Then her left knee started swelling up and has been quite painful - that's been diagnosed as osteoarthritis. After visits to several doctors yesterday and today, medication has been prescribed that will, hopefully, ease the pain. After she recovers from the surgery she will have 5-6 more rounds of chemo to blast away the remaining cancer. So, if you'd care to add Babs to your prayer list, I'm sure she would appreciate it.
and 21.3%... I'm a little behind on blog reading but I saw Judy Russell's post More Lost Than Found and Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge and, though a little late, thought I'd see how I measure up. Like Judy, I've got far more ancestors missing than I've found, but overall, not too bad. Things look good for the first four generations, but starts dropping off at the fifth.

I'd be quite pleased if I could locate the six missing 3rd Great Grandparents, but they are back in the "old country" of Switzerland or Germany and I haven't a clue really, as to which little town from whence they came.
The missing 3rd Great Grandparents:
- Parents of Charles Wiseman (1815-1895) born Switzerland, died Switzerland County, Indiana
- Parents of Michael Fisher (abt 1800-1845) born Germany, died Carroll County, Ohio
- Parents of Christena Houck, wife of Michael Fisher, (abt 1805-after 1850) born Germany, died unknown
And, if I could find the elusive parents of Ruth Dyer, Sally Church, and Abigail Price they would surely fill in some of the empty spots!
Friday, September 12, 2008
All Done!
Herding job over, Tuffee is given the "All Done" command and she leaves the pen with the horses.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Antelope Canyon
WOW... Antelope Canyon is... in a word... SPECTACULAR!!!!! Definitely some of the most fascinating light I have ever seen. I spent 4.5 hours in the canyon. My mind is officially blown :-)

Above: The entrance to the canyon. Only about two feet wide at its beginning, the canyon is a bit of a squeeze to climb down into it!

Once you are down in the canyon, it does open up and travel through it is a bit easier than at the beginning. There are several areas, though, where it is only wide enough for one person to walk through at a time.

Above: A shot of Lionel, one of the Navajo guides that brings tour groups through the canyon.

Every place you look in the canyon is a treat for the eyes. The shapes and lines in the canyon walls provide for unlimited photo opportunities. The reflected light coming from above makes for some of the most amazing light that a photographer will ever see.





Saturday, September 6, 2008
In the Distance
Jan and Jim's yard would be a great nature watchers place. There is lots of wildlife there. Birds of all kinds, rodents, squirrels, coyotes, and of course deer. They knew that there were a couple of does that were perment residents of their property, and they had fawns. I had stepped out one evening and was rewarded by the sight of one of the does and her twin fawns. I attempted to get pictures and I did, sort of. It was one of those times you really wish your small digital camera, which seems to take really good pictures, isn't as good as it could be, and that it had a better telephoto lens on it. I could see the deer but couldn't seem to get a photo where they showed up any better than this picture shows them. My next camera will probably have a better lens for distance shots.
Snowshoe adventure on Mt. Josephine

My last few snowshoe hikes have been up Mt. Josephine, but not on the "normal" trail that everyone knows about. I decided to go up the back side of the ridge, going in from Highway 61. There is an old trail that runs along the spine of the ridge but it has not been maintained in years and is very difficult to see in most places. It took two trips on two consecutive days to break the trail to the summit. The first day I only made it halfway up the mountain and was completely worn out due to the depth of the snow and uphill climb. Most of the "trail" goes through some pretty thick brush, but once you get to the summit the terrain opens up and the views are worth all the effort it took to get there.




Once I had a trail packed all the way to the top I returned with a couple of friends who wanted to snowshoe the trail with me. We took our time and spent most of the day on the trail. Its only about 3 miles round-trip, but we took our time and savored the views along the way and spent quite a bit of time at the summit. Along our snowshoe path we saw 4 or 5 places where deer had bed down for the night. It was interesting looking at the indentations in the snow and thinking about a deer curled up there for a good night's sleep. When we made it back to the highway the sun was getting ready to set and the colors in the sky made for a perfect ending to an incredible day.





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