No Wandering Today!

There is no wandering except for our thoughts at this time. We are under "stay at home" orders because we are in the midst of a pandemic!

Thank You!

Only essential services are open. Grocery stores, we have to eat, so all those who stock the shelves, prepare the fruits and veggies, check out our selections still have to work so we can eat. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Drug stores, we need our medications, so to all of you, Thank you, thank you, thank you! Our Banks, our gas stations, our doctor's offices, our truckers who keep the supplies coming, the factories producing the supplies, thank you, thank you, thank you. The police, the fire men and women, the medical providers, thank you, thank you, thank you. And to all who I have not named, thank you for putting yourselves out there so that we can stay safely in our homes until this passes.

Stay Home!

And that is the least we can do, Stay Home, so we do not contract this deadly disease or pass it on to anyone else. It's hard, I know. As someone who is home more than out, normally, I miss my weekly lunch date with my friends. We need the social interactions with other humans, but right now we need to do our part to keep everyone safe and healthy. Follow the guidelines, find an outlet for news that you trust, and try to be productive at home.

Life will resume!

Life will resume one day, we will work again, meet again, begin again. What will we have learned? To be better prepared? To not take life for granted? To tell our family we love them more often? To appreciate the freedoms we have? To be kinder to one another?

A Long Cold Winter

Yes, I know  - winter in Northern Illinois starts at Thanksgiving and doesn't end until sometime in March. Our temps are in the low 30's down to 10 below and we usually get a couple of feet of snow. But, every winter is long and cold, now. Now meaning when my bones ache from the slightest change in temp, or chilly wind that blows, or snowstorm that comes rolling through!

Now when summer comes you hear the same complaints but because of the heat and humidity! So if you haven't figured it our yet, Spring and Fall are my favorite times of year. Easy to get out and about, the aches disappear for a while, and the air is fresh and crisp and sweet!

So what do I do on long winter days? I read, write, research and watch TV while the snow falls and the winds blow. Of course, I can do it all under a nice fleece blanket, with a cup of coffee by my side.

I do make an occasional trip to the grocery or drug store and to have lunch with friends.

Something worth mentioning . . . .

Last night I attended a play at the Plano High School Auditorium. My grandson had a role in the play "These Shining Lives"  by Melanie Marnich. The story is about real people and real events in their lives. The Radium Dial company  hired young women to paint, with radium, the faces used in watches. In order to get a fine point on their paint brush, they formed their brushes by running them through their lips. The radium exposure caused cancer and eventually death.

The play was moving, disturbing in its subject; but, these teens did a wonderful job of portraying the characters -  with the excitement of being able to join the workforce in the 1920's, the melding of friendships with the other girls at the workshop, the fear and realization of their situation. The marriage between Catherine and Tom (my grandson) runs through a list of concerns, from Catherine's need to work or not, to his doubts of her pain, to his support and understanding through her need to take the company to court.

I grew up near Ottawa in the 40's and 50's and heard about this factory and the radium, but not the depth of  danger and death that came with working there.

Congratulations to the theatre department for a wonderful production and a "well done" to my grandson on his very first play!

Genealogy Weekend

What a great conference! I spent two days at the Illinois State Genealogy Society's Fall Conference in Rockford. I attended six intense lectures facilitated by experts in their field's and came away with so much information I am on "overload".

Now it is up to me to put into practice all the things I learned. That is easier said than done! I enjoy finding living relatives as much as discovering those from the past. So, I took a session on using social networking sites to connect to relatives I might find there. Now the information was quite detailed, but I am still not able to even change my profile photo! OK, so I need to spend some time in trial and error.

Brick Walls - a term for that relative or problem in genealogy that brings you to a dead end! My "brick wall" is my great grandfather. I have no idea what city in Prussia he came from. I came home with quite a few ideas for seeking clues to this problem and I am looking forward to trying them.

Photo editing and repair was the third area I covered in my sessions. He made it look so easy. I'm sure with some more of that 'trial and error' thing I can improve the condition of some of my old photos. In fact, sometime in the near future I may share some of my attempts. (Stay tuned.)

Not having been to a conference for at least two years, this one was invigorating and motivating. It instilled new enthusiasm for my favorite hobby!

Surname Saturday - I changed mine!

I was reading my favorite genealogy blogs this morning and noticed it was Surname Saturday according to GeneaBloggers. So I thought I would share a little about my current surname!

On Saturday, September 29, 1962, I changed mine and for the last 50 years it has been Olson. A good Scandinavian name that means that somewhere along the way a grandfather of my husband's was most likely named Ole!! We find him in 1817, Ole Thorsen (his father's name was Thor) when he was born in Norway; in 1842 he married Berthe Thorsdatter (her father was Thor, too, but not the same one!); and in 1845 their son Theodore was born. Theodore Olson sailed to America in 1868 with his wife and daughter. And from then on the surname has remained Olson.

So as we celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary today, neither of us can figure out how the years have gone by so fast. Tomorrow we will celebrate with family and friends, and remember the last 50 years. And on Monday we will start on the next 50!

Our Annual Trip to the Sandwich Fair

Thursday, we made our one and only visit to the Sandwich Fair for this year! We stayed for four hours and managed to see all that we needed to. After so many years, its the same thing we have seen for the last fifty years. (Please note that this was my husband's 73rd year of attending the fair.) Oh the people change, but the exhibits remain the same for the most part. Most of them even in the same place they have held for years. Now, I know that is a good thing - people can find the places they like to visit.

It is me that has changed. When the kids were young we visited often, worked the various booths and even exhibited our handiwork, canning, and garden flowers. The fair was the highlight of the fall. Now it is too far to walk, too hot to manage, and too many things we don't need or want.

The best part of the fair has always been the food. Even yesterday we managed to have lunch at the United Church stand, Lemon shakeups from the Open Door and pie and ice cream. We might have stayed longer if our hips had held out and our stomachs weren't on overflow!

But, even though we go into sensory overload after a short time, we could see the excitment and enthusiasm on all the younger faces - children and parents alike. And that is what has kept people coming to the fair for the last 125 years and will keep them coming for 125 more!

Beginner's Blogging Block

Talk about "good intentions"! I promised myself that if I started this blog, I would be consistent with my postings. I may not write everyday, but I didn't mean less than once a week either. I'm not sure very many people know about this blog yet, so I'm working up to my schedule. But, once I inform all my friends and family about this site, I need to have my commitment in place. So please be patient with me.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am good at organizing but my usual "flow" has "flown". I just can't seem to find the rhythm of posting blogs on a regular basis. (Of course, like many things I do, I couldn't just start one, I started five different blogs!)

You know that saying "too many irons in the fire" was probably written just for me.

• I started the summer by cleaning the attic - now the junk is in the hallway waiting for a decision on what to do with it.
• I have decided to scan as many family photos as possible - they lay partially sorted, partially scanned, and totally a mess.
• I have hours worth of research to enter into my Roots Magic database. And attach the photos I have scanned will scan.
• I'm making a photo montage to celebrate our 50th Anniversary - it's coming along nicely, thank you.
• And I'm writing my life story (boring, but I felt the need).

But, I am not complaining. I love everything I do because I usually do only those things that I love. Now that I have managed to whine a little, I feel better. Be sure to check back next week (I know, I know, but I'm going on a retreat with my "coffee girls") and I promise my outlook will be more upbeat.