Photos and comments from Arizona and around the world
Walking Arizona The combination of desert and water is irresistible. We used to go boating all the time in my teenage years by driving to the very accessible reservoirs near the Salt River Valley. But it is only as I have grown older that I appreciated...
Genealogy's Star In a recent post, I talked about the future of genealogy software. In this post, I decided to peer into the future of the online genealogical community. One of the most remarkable aspects of the recent changes in genealogy is the accessibility...
Genealogy's Star In a blog post from BillionGraves.com, they introduced a new FamilySearch Family Tree Connect feature that allows you to attach BillionGraves images to their corresponding FamilySearch record. These images aid family members by...
Genealogy's Star Recent changes in FamilySearch FamilyTree and FamilySearch Photos have altered the way to change the default photo. This segment of Quick Views of Genealogy shows how to change the default photo that shows in the Details view of FamilySearch...
Genealogy's Star I think I can safely say that the answer to the question in the title of this post is yes. There seem to be major and minor changes a couple of times a week. Spotting the changes and figuring out how to do things is becoming an interesting...
Genealogy's Star There are dozens and dozens of online programs allowing people to either enter or upload their family information. Most of those programs store the information in the form of a modified pedigree format based loosely on a traditional family...
Genealogy's Star Some of us older folks have lived enough history to have an appreciation for the impact of events and circumstances on our lives. It seems to me that many genealogical researchers are so busy swimming in that stream of history, they tend...
Genealogy's Star Likely very few genealogists realize the slow but extremely effective additions to the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. Volunteers are continually adding information, links and explanations about how to find valuable genealogical records....
Walking Arizona The local buzzard population sits on the side of a south-facing hill waiting for the summer sun to rise high enough to form thermal currents that are the buzzard's ride to work. The birds all watch for the signs that one of their number...
Walking Arizona Most of the detail of the photos is lost in the thumbnail copies that appear online. If you haven't clicked on the images you haven't seem them. This is a sotol. It is not a cactus but falls into the greater category of succulent. It...
Family History Expos David Rumsey Map Collection, Map of the United States, 1809. Published by Abraham Bradley. Question: An ancestor lived in early Virginia which was subsequently divided into other counties and state. Assuming that person lived in the...
Genealogy's Star Proof is a slippery subject. How do I prove anything to a person, if that person does not want to accept or believe the proof I offer? The world if full of people who believe all sorts of things based on their own concept of proof such...
Walking Arizona This is an obvious man-made oasis. This small pond is located in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, just south of Superior, Arizona on U.S. 60. Absent constant additions of water, this pond would disappear in a very short time.
Family History Expos David Rumsey Map Collection, Map of the United States, 1809. Published by Abraham Bradley. Question: An ancestor lived in early Virginia which was subsequently divided into other counties and state. Assuming that person lived in the...
Walking Arizona Spring flowers in the desert seem to be an anomaly. How can there be flowers if it is so dry and hot? Well, the key is that it is not so hot in the Winter and it is also not so dry as it is portrayed. There is always enough water...
Walking Arizona Not all the flowers have huge showy blossoms. Some are more subdued but just as interesting. I can't decide which I like best. Each season has its own display of flowers even in the Winter and hot Summers. You just have to work a little...
Genealogy's Star Warning: This blog post contains my opinions. In the past, these opinions have proved to be controversial. So, if you are avoiding controversy right now, for any reason, you might want to wait to read this post until your controversy...
Genealogy's Star This is the third in the series of Quick Views on the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. In this segment, I discuss namespace, those mysterious subdivisions of the Wiki that appear in the titles to the pages. For example thee Wiki's page...
Genealogy's Star Aspen's Roots is a delightful and beautifully illustrated children's book with a message about roots; that is family roots. Here is a link to the book. It is also available on Amazon.com. The author of the book is Paul Sullivan and...
Genealogy's Star This past week or so helping patrons at the Mesa FamilySearch Library raised some interesting issues. One patron, who was just beginning her research to extend her line, began finding records on her ancestor and almost immediately found...
Walking Arizona These spider webs are a bit untidy. They need some serious house cleaning activity. We would have offered to help, but then the spiders would just have to build them all over again.
Genealogy's Star The newly designed website for FamilySearch.org seems to work just fine and according to reports from FamilySearch, they have seen activity increase. But a few of the resources that were easily accessible on the older design, have disappeared...
Walking Arizona It turns out that columbine flowers come in a huge array of colors and forms. These bright yellow flowers are the ones that grow as wildflowers in Arizona. The usually are found at higher elevations. I remember some we found on the...
Genealogy's Star Thanks to Renee Zamora in her Renee's Genealogy Blog this morning for a link to this announcement: FamilySearch is pleased to announce the official release of the FamilySearch API. Thank you to all who participated during the beta and...
Genealogy's Star In the last two weeks or so, two of my really good friends and genealogists passed away suddenly. One was 88 years old and we kind of expect that sort of thing. The other, one I worked with almost every week for the past eight years,...
