I'll be giving  you an inside view on my family study methodology so that you can see how it happens that I seem to never get anything DONE!

First, thank you Angela for being so generous in sharing the ephemera from your Dad's collection.  I spent much of Christmas afternoon scanning and researching.  Here's one example of the trail I followed until I was well off the trail.

As you can see, this is a vehicle registration from 1931 for your grandfather James.  I notice the vehicle is a Willys 6.  This was not familiar to me, so I can't resist doing a little further research.  And this is exactly where the scanning stops and the off course wandering begins.

This is a 1931 Willys Six Model 97.  Pretty snappy.  First it occurs to me that James had a very up-to-date vehicle for himself.  I don't really know what it might mean to be a chauffeur in Freeport NY in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  He consistently held a chauffeur's license but I don't know what it was needed or used for.  So I take another detour to check the 1930 census record which indicates his occupation as coal weigher.  This detour led me to a Freeport City Directory from 1926:

James is listed with Margaret as foreman but, interestingly for me--also listed are James' elusive siblings Elizabeth and Phillip!  Bazinga (as Sheldon would say on The Big Bang Theory).  Of course, I have to link this to these two as well and now the original research is well off track.  But I'm having a grand time and I'm so happy to be able to share it with you all.  More to come.

They Are All Our Children

I've had a difficult time coming up with words for blog posts in light of the Newtown murders.  I can barely think about the shootings, let alone find words.  I know I'm not alone in this.   President Obama delivered a powerful message to the nation to address this and did so in a manner I only wish I could approach in my writing and speaking.

And he's absolutely correct.  Our first job is to take care of the children and we aren't doing it well enough.  Change is needed. 


OK.  Taking a turn now.  I intended to issue this challenge closer to New Year's but it seems appropriate now to reflect on the good things that have happened in the last year.  The challenge is to post ONE single image that sums up what was best in 2012 for you.

Here's mine.  It wasn't so easy to pick just one.  Try it.

My images from this past year reflect my new eye to detail.  Taking time to look, listen, smell and absorb atmosphere and surroundings has brought great rewards.  This picture was taken on a beach in Gloucester on a Sunday morning.  We hadn't been to this beach before and it was another beautiful gem we've discovered in Gloucester.  I love the shadows and the relative size of this clam shell left behind by the tide.  I got down on my knees to take this.  It's a great exercise in perspective to do so.  Perspective is a tool I don't use enough!

So what's  yours?  I challenge you to pick one and post it here with its story.  

It was great to see Jean, Bob, Hailey, Kathleen and Nick over the weekend.  We are looking forward to Christmas Eve when we can hug all the children a little tighter than usual.  You parents might want to give them a heads-up about that :)  

Trentino Blog for you to consider

I get occasional emails from this blog alerting me to interesting new posts.  The two most recent posts are ones I thought you might enjoy:  check it out at http://trentinoheritage.wordpress.com/author/trentinoheritage/

Touring your Trentino Village online and checking out the photo collection are the two posts I'm referring to. 

Enjoy.  Happy Birthday tomorrow Jake!

Your Christmas Bonus

This is quite adorable.  And you thought all I did was waste my time on Ancestry.com!