Photos and comments from Arizona and around the world
This new announcement in the form of a pop-up began appearing today on FamilySearch.org. Clicking on the link takes you to essentially the same pages that have been linked from the new header visible on the site. Here is a screen shot of the video page: It...
I am not sure that the world goes much past the iconic saguaro in its perception of cactus plants, but this photo shows how far other cactus can go to reach into the sky. I also like the fuzzy sort-of spines that cover this type of cactus.
I received a note from Google+ that started me thinking again about cursive and that led to thoughts about old scripts and preservation. Michael Helmantoler post the above image and the following question: This is an image from the FamilySearch Wiki...
Most of the cactus have some kind of fruit and most are edible. I haven't tried these, but I have eaten prickly pear fruit a lot. Cactus fruit was a mainstay of the ancient inhabitants of the desert Southwest.
I am presently working at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and in my spare time from helping attendees at the Family History Expos’ Retreat, I am focusing on the ancestry of my Fourth-Great-Grandmother, Thankful Tefft Tanner, the wife...
I am fascinated by the way erosion can leave large rocks seemingly impossibly balanced on slender points. You would think that the slightest breeze would blow them over, but they are relatively common in the rocks of the Southwestern United States.
This is a classic painting of the ancient Hopi or Pueble sun symbol. Since this is used by the State of New Mexico as its state symbol, it is easily the most recognizable of the ancient symbols carved and painted on rocks.
Through movies and countless photographs, this type of view of Northern Arizona/Southern Utah has become a recognizable standard. But it is interesting how really rare this type of sandstone formations really are. Don't think of just Arizona and Utah,...
Agathla Peak is a landmark in Northern Arizona. This eroded volcanic core is visible for many miles in all directions. It is located right off Highway 191 about seven miles from Kayenta. In Southern Arizona, this type of formation would be called a n...
The Sanborn Company began making fire insurance maps in 1867 when founded by Daniel Alfred Sanborn, a surveyor from Somerville, Massachusetts. From 1867 to 2007, the company mapped about 12,000 populated urban areas in the United States. These maps show...
We got to the area late in the day and found it hard to find good shots of the rock formations without houses, roads, and buildings in the shots. It is Monument Valley, but is like Sedona and the Red Rock area in being built up with houses and such. The...
Sometimes the cactus flowers are so unusual that I think they look like something created in Photoshop. But I can assure you that this little cactus produced that strangely colored blossom. Finding these cactus is a real treasure. They are extremely rare...
This little guy was sitting there waiting for me to take his picture. Usually, they are running around in the rocks and gravel on the desert floor and never hold still for more that a second or two. But this time, this quail decided he wanted his photo...
It is still early in the development process for ebooks and, from my experience, I find few genealogical researchers are yet actively searching for electronically available copies of the sources they are researching. The exception is online databases...
I love the vast distances in the views from the Rim of the Grand Canyon in contrast to most of the views in the Eastern part of the United States. You have to get on a really high building or go out along the ocean coast to see vast distances. There are...
arizonageology.blogspot.com
arizonageology.blogspot.com
arizonageology.blogspot.com
arizonageology.blogspot.com
At some point as you continue to accumulate names of ancestors, you begin to lose track of who all of these people are. This begins to get pointed out to you regularly if you put your family tree online in one of the larger databases such as MyHeritage.com...
Another common mistake made by genealogists when backing up their files is to rely on the "Back Up" command in some of the more common database programs. Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is a prime example of this problem, though it is certainly not the...
Almost immediately after my post concerning the new RootsMagic.com progam connecting to FamilySearch.org's Family Tree program, I got an email from Bruce Buzbee telling me that the problem I pointed out had been fixed. I downloaded the update and the...
This is a reminder that all of Nature is not tranquil and without conflict. This rock must have fallen pretty hard to have broken as it hit the adjoining rock. I think of all the noise and dust that must have accompanied its fall. We sometimes find ourselves...
If you need any further indication of the importance the RootsTech Conference is achieving all you need to do is see who will be there. One major indication is the huge commitment made by MyHeritage.com and WorldVitalRecords.com to the Conference. First,...
Where the Colorado Plateau drops off into the deserts of Arizona, we usually call that the "Rim." This is in central Arizona where the sandstone of the Plateau are visible. The Rim in this area is usually referred to by the name of a town and a creek:...
