Volunteer with Family History

I became a friend on Facebook of the Historical Society in the area I grew up in.  Today I saw a short entry that told of my great grandfather using his team and scraper to build the canal that eventually brought water to the little town I grew up in.  I found it interesting to learn that my great grandfather was one of the main people responsible for the canal which enabled the town I grew up in to be built.  It is really nice to have the internet where we can learn things about our family that we might never have known otherwise.

I came across a way you can volunteer using your computer and help others with their family history.  There are other things to volunteer with too. You find out more about it here:   

Do You Remember a January Thaw?

Sometimes January seems like such a long month.  It is usually cold and the days are short.  If you work full time days it seems you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark.  Usually there is snow and ice.

Every so often where I live we get Pogonip where everything is coated with white frost.  It can be beautiful to see.  Snow is beautiful too.  Even fog can be beautiful if you don't have to travel in it.

To be honest though, when we have a January Thaw it gives me hope to make it through the winter.  We just had three days of sixty degree weather.  It was so nice I went outside and cleaned up some of the yard with only a light sweater on.  But today was cold again.

Remembering back there has usually been a January Thaw.  Depending on where I lived it might have just warmed up into the fifties instead of the sixties, but it still would feel so good.  If there was a lot of snow, it would start to melt.

One year back in the 1980's after Mount Saint Helen's had erupted I remember a winter without a January Thaw.  It was at least three months before we saw any sunshine.  We lived in a high mountain valley and the clouds never lifted out of the valley for those three months.  The snow stayed on the ground the whole time.  That was one winter I was glad to see end.

Do you remember any January Thaws?  How did you feel when the temperatures started to get warmer?  Did you feel discouraged when it got cold again?  Record your memories of January Thaws in your life story.

Decorating your Christmas Tree

Every year I have decorated a Christmas tree.  Many of the same ornaments are put on the tree over and over again each year.  Some ornaments I have had for thirty five years or more. 

When we lived in a large city we attended a Festival of Trees.  It was a charitable event where you made a donation to see hundreds of trees decorated in different ways.  It was fun to see the different ways the trees were decorated.  I would imagine being able to decorate a tree with a certain theme, but each year practicality wins out and I decorate with what I have.  Once in a while I'll receive a new ornament or I may make a new ornament, but most of the decorations are repeats from previous years. 

This year I have been thinking of decorating the Christmas tree with family photos and turning the Christmas tree into a family tree.  I've made a few ornaments with some of my ancestors' photos, and I plan to hang them on the Christmas tree.  Still many of the ornaments from over the years will still be hung.  Some were gifts from family members.  Some were handmade.  Many of them bring memories from the past.  I feel they all fit in with a family tree, so this year my Christmas tree will be a family tree.  Below is a picture of some of the ornaments I've made.  I hope by next year to get some more long lasting ornaments made like the ones available here.

Do You Remember Any Special Gifts You Got for Christmas?

Another question for your story:

Do you remember any special gifts you got for Christmas?

When I was in fifth and sixth grade it seemed all of the other girls got Barbie Dolls for Christmas.  I was given an inexpensive craft doll.  The legs didn't move on the doll.  Her hair wasn't as sturdy and full.  She was a little smaller than the Barbie Dolls.  My mother had sewn clothes for her, and I brought her to school when the girls had all agreed to bring their dolls to play with at recess.

When I was in sixth grade I received a Tammy Doll as a gift.  A Tammy Doll looked more like a real person than a Barbie Doll did.  The Tammy Doll came with a couple of outfits, and my mother had sewn more outfits for her.  I still had a different doll from the other girls, but I cherished her.  

I still have my Tammy Doll.  She has been held and played with by my daughters.  I am grateful I got the Tammy Doll because she looked more like me and  I think she gave me a better feeling about myself. 

What Kind of Candy Do You Remember?

Here's another question for your life story:

With kind of candy do you remember?

Growing up I remember penny candy at the small store in our town.  You could get one or two pieces of candy for a penny.  If you had a nickel, you could buy 5 to 10 pieces of candy. You could buy candy bars for 3 cents or for 5 cents. 

In the summer time to remember the pioneers, my mother would make honey candy.  We would pull and stretch the candy just like taffy.  It reminded us of how nice it was to have candy we could buy.

Trick or Treat candy at Halloween were a variety of different candies.  Today most of the candy handed out seems to be mini chocolate candy bars. 

Homemade candy was a part of getting ready for Christmas.  Standing and stirring a pan full of fudge to prevent it from turning to sugar was a lot of work, but the results were wonderful tasting.  Beating the egg whites and adding the hot syrup to make divinity was fun to do.  Testing the consistency of the syrup in a cup of water was fun and delicious too as you got to eat the tested portion.  Pouring hot syrup over peanuts to make peanut brittle was fun too.  Sometimes the candy didn't come out just right, yet we would eat it any way.  When it turned out just right, it was so good.

At a dinner with friends some started talking about the kind of candy they had when they went to the movies.  They would buy the long lasting kind of candy so it would last through most of the movie.

When my daughters came to visit this year, they brought ingredients for making good for you chocolate.  It was a lot of work melting the cocoa butter at a very low temperature.  Then we added different ingredients like nuts and fruits.  The best ones had lots of nuts and fruits in them.   

Writing down your memories of making candy or buying or receiving candy is a part of your story.  Write down the people who gave you the candy or who made the candy.  Did you have a certain kind of candy at certain times of the year?  Have your tried to make candy that is better for you or have you banned candy from your life?  Record your experience with candy and add another interesting chapter to your story.

Did You Ever Have the Fire Department or the Police Come to Your Home?

Another question for your story:

Did you ever have the fire department or the police come to your home?

Today I called the sheriff's office because my neighbor was not home and there was a strong smell of propane from his propane tank.  A deputy came and checked out the tank, then called the fire department to come.  Fortunately nothing disastrous happened.  The problem was taken care of.  
One rainy night about midnight I awoke to my dog barking and realized someone was knocking on the door and I heard a deputy yelling through the door asking if I was okay.  Fortunately it was a deputy that I knew.  He said there had been a 911 call from my address.  I had been sound asleep.  I jokingly said, "Maybe my dog called, but I hadn't.  I checked my phone.  It was on the hook, and there was a dial tone.  He said he was sorry to wake me, but they had to make sure I was okay.  He then commented that they had had a problem with some of their phone circuits and thought it might be due to the moisture.  Although I hadn't enjoyed being awakened in the middle of the night, I was glad to know the sheriff's office was following up on 911 calls.

When we were living in a duplex, we were startled one evening to hear a fire engine pull up outside with it's sirens going.  We hurried outside to see why they were there.  They were putting out a fire that had started in the swamp cooler for the other half of the duplex.  We were so grateful they responded so quickly.  No damage to the building was done because of their quick response.
As a child I only remember one visit from the fire department to our farm.  Our main chicken coop had caught on fire.  The volunteer fire department from the town five miles away responded.  So did the department from a town fifteen miles away and from the largest city in our area that was fifteen miles away.  Unfortunately the coop was too far gone for it to be saved, but they prevented the fire from spreading to the other coops, corrals, and grainery as well as protecting our home.  That was a sad time for our family, but we counted our blessings for what did not burn.

Whenever I hear a siren from a police car, a fire engine or an ambulance, I am grateful for those who will respond in emergencies and who are there to help us.  Think about the times in your life when you have been helped by the police, the fire department or an ambulance.  Record those times in your story.   

http://www.pdclipart.org provided the public domain clip art above.

Who Was a Favorite Teacher in Elementary School?

Here is another question for writing your story:

Who was a favorite teacher in elementary school?

I think my third grade teacher was my favorite teacher from elementary school.  I remember her as being kind and gentle.  She taught third, fourth and fifth grade.  Her husband was the principal of the school and he taught sixth, seventh and eighth grade.  I only had her for third grade since our school district changed the way the schools were the summer after I finished third grade.  The four room school house in our town was closed, and we were bused to the town five miles away when I started fourth grade.   She and her husband were friends of my parents.  I remember her giving me two store bought dresses that her daughters had outgrown.  My mother sewed all of my clothes, so they were the first store bought dresses that I owned.