Sunday, December 26, 2010

The day after Christmas 2010....


I hope all of you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I know I did. Ashley, Becky, Jason and Watson and I had a fabulous day together. Getting us all in the same place at the same time is rare so I truly appreciated it.
This is my last day off for Christmas vacation and there are many things I still want to accomplish today: organize finances, clean a few rooms, relax, read, write and prepare some presentations. Will i get it all done? I doubt it, but it doesn't bother me. I will take it in stride.
I know I will get to the essentials and I am fortunate to have a four day weekend around New Year's Day. And, that is when I will really cross items off my to do list. Here are the top family history things I want to do today:
1) Make my hotel reservations for the AHSGR annual convention in Salt Lake City for next year.

2) Review my three workshops for January...one at Changing Hands Bookstore and two at the Family History Expo in Mesa.

3) Play with my new Kindle (thank you, Becky) and see what family history books I can download.
If you feel like me and don't want to accomplish everything on your family history list today, start to make some plans for the New Year. We have all of 2011 ahead of us and if we set our sights now, think of what we can accomplish, hour by hour, day by day.
And, don't forget if you want to win free tickets to attend the two day Family History Expo in Mesa, send me your best genealogical or family history story of 400 words or less. Photographs and/or scanned documents are welcome to tell your story.
Entries will be posted to this blog and a winner selected on January 2, 2o11. Please email your story to amb0457@cox.net with "I want to Attend the Arizona Family History Expo" in the subject line.
And, have a relaxing, restful and blessed day after Christmas.

Friday, December 24, 2010

An Early Christmas Present...


I received an early Christmas present when the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia sent me the winter newsletter. It is always packed with good information but this one was very special.


On page eleven, the article entitled "Visit to Mariental (Sovetskoye) Russia- April 2010 by Ray Rohr was my present. I met Ray in Medicine Hat at the AHSGR convention and we had an opportunity to talk about our ancestral village. During our chat, I learned Ray, who lived in Canada, spent winters in Sun Lakes, Arizona which is pretty much right next door to my home in Chandler, Arizona.


His report on his travels gave me new insight into what it is like to travel to Russia. I know Ray, who is a pilot, prepared as best anyone could with the short notice he had.


Ray and I knew we must be related since we both descended from one of the original Mariental settlers, Nickolaus Herman. I emailed Ray and thanked him for sharing his experiences. I also asked if he was in Canada or Sun Lakes. Turns out he is heading to Sun Lakes after Christmas and we will find a way to get together this year since he does not have to plan for a trip to Russia.


I love how these connections make all of the research and time and effort pay off. It is a great Christmas present for me to build on the Mariental story.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Plan to start the New Year right--Win Two Free Tickets to the Family History Expo!


The Arizona Family History Expo will be held January 21 and 22, 2011 at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Arizona. And, you could win two free tickets to attend!

As a blogger of honor and a speaker at the expo, I receive two tickets to give away to readers of my blog. Again, I will sponsor a contest for people to write a short 400 words or less explanation of their best genealogical or family history discovery. Photographs and/or scanned documents are welcome to help tell your story.

Entries will be posted to this blog and a winner selected on January 2, 2011. Please email your entry to me at amb0457@cox.net with "I want to attend the Arizona Family History Expo" in the subject line. And stay tuned to read all of the entries.

BTW, my two workshops at the event are: WRITE to the Heart of the Matter for Genealogists and Discover Your German Russian roots. More details on the expo will follow over the next few weeks.


Saturday, December 04, 2010

I'm Caught between Two Christmas Worlds


so it must be time to write my annual Christmas letter. I use Facebook, twitter, blogs and e-greetings. Call it nostalgia or whatever, but I can't resist buying new Christmas/Holiday/Kwanzaa stamps. I went to the post office last week to mail my Christmas packages. The clerk asks, "Do you need stamps?"


Now I really don't need stamps and yet I answered, "Can I see the holiday stamps?" Like a novice, I bought one set of each.


There is a bit of history on my stamp fascination. As a child, I collected stamps. I loved the artwork and the designs. The color? Just unbelievable. When my oldest sister, who worked in Los Angeles at Carte Blanche at the time, shared with me some of the foreign stamps which came to her office, I was hooked.


Stamps are almost like family history. I can page through my collection and remember things about times and days long forgotten. Years are erased when I view how neat and organized my collections is.


So, because I love stamps, I will continue both e-greetings and snail mail Christmas cards. I love the art, I love the tradition. My Christmas letter is in the final editing stages. Fresh ink is in the printer. And, despite being caught between two Christmas worlds, I believe I have the best of the celebration and tradition. Mailbox, here I come.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Going the distance without backing up

I know we live in a mobile society. Trains, airplanes, automobiles, and motorcycles all make it easy to move from point A to point B.



Moving from Wisconsin to Tennessee and from Tennessee to Arizona were huge transitions for me. I was excited to start over in new communities with my daughters. Lucky me, my employers paid for the packing, moving truck, and transportation to my new home.

Earlier this week I discovered I was not immune to moving jitters. My oldest daughter left Arizona a week ago for a new job and apartment in Palm Springs. I promised I would help to move her furniture.

For the first time in my life I planned to drove a ten foot U-Haul truck (www.uhaul.com). The truck was not entirely the scary part, even though it was Halloween. The drive to Palm Springs is about 294 miles give or take, and a one way rental offered the most reasonable price. I didn't want to fly back so I decided to tow my car on an auto transport...a trailer adding another twelve feet behind the ten foot truck I had never driven before.

To say I was apprehensive or nervous didn't do my feelings justice. It was at most a four or five hour drive, but what nagged at me was: Could I drive the distance without backing up? I distracted myself until I could pick up the truck by reading the latest Nicholas Sparks book. It gave me some comfort.

As I read Safe Haven (www.nicholassparks.com), my mind relaxed a bit. I began to remember my other moves and I wondered. How could I be nervous about a small trip like this when my ancestors bravely boarded trains and ships to a country they had never seen? I suddenly felt somewhat spoiled and embarrassed to be so nervous.

Caution is one thing, undue anxiety is another. As I thought about my great grandparents, I checked my passenger lists and realized this year was the one hundred and tenth anniversary of their journey from Reinwald, Russia to Ellis Island. And the conditions on board the ship Astoria were not nearly as comfortable as an air-conditioned ten foot truck. The more I thought about it, the more grateful I was for the opportunity to drive a truck.

I picked up the ten footer at U-Haul and with the help of a friend, the truck was quickly packed. It was fully loaded when I drove back to U-Haul to have the auto trailer attached. Then I slowly and carefully began my drive. First, back to the house for Halloween, then on the road at 3 a.m. the next morning.

The drive went smoothly. The weather was sunny and warm in Palm Springs, well over 90 degrees. With three people to unload the truck, we moved everything to her new place in under an hour. By 1 p.m. Monday, we were exhausted and ready to sit in her air conditioned apartment.

We enjoyed our time in Palm Springs. We visited the Book Exchange, Revival, Thai Smile (www.thaismilepalmsprings.com), the Ace Hotel (www.acehotel.com/palmsprings) and made time to shop for finishing touches for her apartment.

Best of all, I never had to back up. And I am certainly grateful my ancestors never did.











Friday, October 15, 2010

Did I say Florika?

OK, you know my dilemma on my great great-grandmother's first name. If not, just review the last couple of entries and you will understand.

After I wrote the last blog, about someone from Reinwald born in 1859 with a similar name, I was informed Maria Florika Reimer's name was actually Maria Flonika Reimer. So, I read the original name in English but completely missed the correct spelling. The r and the i really blended together for me.

I know what you are thinking. You think I was a passenger list recorder or a census taker in a former life. At this point, with reading Florika for Flonika, I think you could be right.

All this does is support my point. Even in English I messed up the name. I think I have followed a time honored tradition of Germans, Russians, Germans from Russia and Americans messing up this name but I did it in my native language. I hope I have now set the record straight.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Will the Fronika story ever end?

I met someone on Facebook who was born in Sheboygan and whose ancestors come from Reinwald, Russia.

After he shared some pictures he had taken during his trip to Reinwald, I mentioned I was researching the surname Reimer. He told me his family tree includes a Maria Flonika Reimer born in Reinwald in 1859. She married Johann Kraus.

Flonika? Really? After all of the versions of Fronika that I had researched, could another spelling be possible?

Maria was born in 1859, two years after the 1857 census. Was it possible that she could be my great-grandfather's younger sister? Another child of Fronika Gusman Reimer? Or, a niece? With a name like Flonika, my instincts tell me Fronika Reimer would have likely used her name for a daughter's middle name. I know I did. I used Ann instead of Anna for my oldest daughter's middle name. It is a centuries old tradition, especially with Germans from Russia who felt obligated to have four Anna's and five Maria's in every generation. But, I digress. The point truly is Fronika vs. Flonika. It is merely a coincidence? Or, would you wager Flonika is the daughter of Fronika!

Share with me your thoughts. What does your gut instinct tell you?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sundays in Fall are for Football, Family and Food


I woke up this morning at 5 a.m. It may be early to some for a Sunday morning, but since I wake at 4 a.m. during the week, I actually slept in.


Waking at 5 a.m. gives me a chance to welcome the day slowly. I stretched for a few minutes until I pulled a muscle in my shoulder which gave me a good excuse to head straight to the kitchen and start the coffeemaker.


Sunday is my day to get organized in the kitchen. Sunday is football from 9 a.m. Arizona time until I go to bed. I grew up in Wisconsin knowing my team, the Green Bay Packers, would be on television because their games were always sold out. Our Sunday meals revolved around the game and, of course, unless it was Thanksgiving and the Packers were playing the Detroit Lions, the game was only on Sunday. It might be hard for this generation used to NFL Network, Football Night in America, Monday and Thursday night football to understand how simple our team's schedules were at that time.


There is something in the air that innately changes my perspective after the autumn solstice. Could it be that despite the 100 degree days in Arizona I sense a bit of coolness in the air? Could it be that without the constantly scorching sun I realize I can turn on the oven and not turn my house into a sauna? Could it be that you can take the girl out of Packlerland but you can't take Packerland out of the girl? Despite my team playing on Monday night, the Sunday tradition is too hard to break.


Whatever it is, after making my coffee, I immediately started to make raisin bran muffins. As they bake in the oven, I plan the rest of my cooking schedule: fresh green beans, Brussels sprouts, and butternut squash. Cantaloupe and honey dew melons need to be cut and stored.


It also makes a perfect day to continue revising my first book Value Meals on the Volga. Everything needs a face lift after a few years and now it is this book's turn. Who hasn't seen their first book published and saw a few little flaws? That is part of the business. This second chance to get it right has not been a chore. It has taken effort to review each page, update a few key phrases here and there and put more punch on its front and back covers. It has been a work of joy. And, I know my Mom is still watching over me as I write and cook, adding her two cents to help me get it right.


So as I sit peacefully at my table, I sip Java Time coffee from my Grand Canyon mug. As I type and watch the sky slowly change from black to a pale gray blue with bright white edging out at the horizon, my oven timer beeps and my muffins are ready to come out of the oven.


What a wonderful way to welcome the day of football, family and food.


Sunday, September 05, 2010

Nicholas Sparks was not my favorite author...


Nicholas Sparks was not my favorite author, he was my mother's favorite author. She read everything he had published, saw the movies inspired by his books, and looked forward to each new novel.


Yes, I enjoyed the movie "The Notebook" and listened to "At First Sight" and "Dear John" on audio book. I read "Last Song" and cried during the movie especially when Luke Benward, who I knew when I lived in Franklin, Tennessee, was on the screen.



I routinely tracked the new fiction arrivals in bookstores so I could buy the book for my Mom for her birthday, Mother's Day or Christmas. Usually the Nicholas Sparks book was a Christmas gift.


Last April, I was dismayed there was no new book or DVD by Sparks which would be available before her birthday on May 7. The "Dear John" and "Last Song" movies were weeks away from distribution. What could I possibly get her that could compare? There was nothing.

But, then I thought, what if? What if I could contact Nicholas and ask him to send my mother, one of his biggest fans, a birthday card? I searched his website http://www.nicholassparks.com/ and sent my request to the first email address I could find. What did I have to lose? He was a busy man and it was doubtful whoever received the email would even pass it along much less respond.



Within two weeks, I received an email that Nicholas would sign a card for her. I was astonished and tickled pink that this busy author considered my request and would make time for her. Within one week I received a wonderful belated birthday card signed, "I wish you the best and many more years! Nicholas Sparks."


With great anticipation, I delivered the card to my Mom at Desert Cove Nursing Center. She saw the card and opened it cautiously, wondering who was sending her a card after her birthday. She read the card and it took a few minutes to register that it was from her favorite author. "Is it really from him?" she asked. "Did he really send a card to me?" I assured her it was and he did.


The joy on her face was worth my small gamble. Her heart was touched and I so enjoyed when she told others he sent her a card. She was amazed and awe-struck by his acknowledgement.

Mom only lived another month after receiving Nicholas' card. Since that time I framed the card and hung it in my mother's room. When I created the movie of her life, I closed it with Miley Cyrus singing "The Last Song," which was the final movie my Mom saw in a theater. She lived long enough to see "Dear John" on DVD in the hospital room for the second time.


I told a number of people this story so they would know the extraordinary act of kindness Nicholas had done for me.

One friend said, "He writes those sappy novels, he had to do it." I thought, no, he didn't have to do it. He heard my plea about my mother's health but there is no way he can honor every request. Nicholas touches our hearts with each book, he has an extremely busy schedule, he helps his community and has children of his own yet he chose to take a few minutes to write a card. He went above and beyond what was needed.


Last week I closed the chapter to this story by sending Nicholas a thank you note with a card from my Mom's memorial service. He helped us both during a difficult time and has added a wonderful story to our family history. I hope he knows just how grateful I am for pleasure the card gave my Mom and me.

Sappy novels? If heart-warming, heart-wrenching, beautiful stories of love are sappy, so be it. I may just have a new favorite author.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Fronika, Fornika Fronia,or Friedrich?


My great great grandmother has captured my attention since I have yet to find two spellings of her name that match. Here is a recap of the records in which I found her listed:

1) My great-grandfather's death certificate lists her as Fronia Gussman. At least that is what I thought her name was when I first saw it in 1983. Now when I look at it, I am not so sure.

2) The 1850 Reinwald census lists her as Fornika (yes, my friends had a good laugh with that one). Footnote 7 after her name leads to the bottom of the page which read, “Cyrillic = ФронИКа. Perhaps Veronika.

3) In the 1857 Reinwald census, she is listed as Friedrich Giesman (?).

Hence, my dilemma. How should I record her name in my family tree?

I decided to use Google to find out how the traditional name Veronica translates. I entered Veronica in English and requested a translation to Russian. It translated Veronica to Вероника. Since I don't read or speak Russian,
this appeared close to the 1850 census
translation of ФронИКа to me.

Next, I used ФронИКа from the 1850 census in Russian to see how it translated to English. It translated to FronIKa.

My instincts leaning to Fronika were definitely reinforced.

When I attended the AHSGR convention in Lincoln, Nebraska earlier this month, I asked my friend, Alex Herzog, for input. Alex, who was born in Russia and escaped by the skin of his teeth during World War II, speaks both German and English. He is acknowledged highly for his translatations done for both the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and the German Russian Heritage Society. For more information on Alex, please visit http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/aboutus/aherzog.html.

I shared my research with Alex and asked him what he thought her name could be. Alex explained that the V and F in Russian are interchangeable. He believed her name was Fronika which is a shortened version or nickname for Veronica.

That settled it for me. I will call her Fronika unless I uncover evidence to the contrary. As I mentioned in an earlier blog,my next step is to the Urbach censuses starting with the G's since I have Gussman and Giesmann as potential maiden names. But, what if the G isn't the answer?

More questions for another day.

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Reinwald Research Update from Lincoln, Nebraska


Since Monday I have been at the 41st International Convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia in Lincoln, Nebraska.

As newsletter editor for the convention, I recorded the daily activities for print and blog distribution. You can link to the blog and get complete access to the convention workshops at http://ahsgrlincolnnebraska.blogspot.com/
I did get to the research library and bookstore here and will have much more to investigate when I return home. The biggest plus of this convention? I actually met others with Reinwald as their ancestral village and, naturally, they had ties to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We may be able to build a better information base with this group.
More pictures to come after the banquet tonight.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

What's in a misspelling?



While I continue to ponder the life of my great-grandmother, Anna Maria, I decided my next focus for the 1850 and 1857 Reinwald censuses* is my great-grandfather Phillip Reimer.

For most of my life, I hadn’t seen a picture of Phillip. I often asked my mom what he looked like and she would tell me stories of how he walked everyday to Fountain Park to fill a bottle from the famous mineral water bubbler. He never wore an overcoat no matter the temperature or wind chill factor. Phillip smoked a pipe and like most men of his generation wore a hat whenever outdoors.

When I returned to Sheboygan in 2007 for a book signing for “Value Meals on the Volga,” I visited my cousin, Charlotte Rudebeck Lamb. Charlotte’s mother, Sophie, was born April 10, 1910, and seventeen years older than my mom Doris. Sophie married when my Mom was four years old. Therefore, Charlotte grew up alongside her Aunt Doris since they were only a few years apart in age.

Sophie owned a camera at the time my mother learned to walk, so Sophie held the treasure chest of family photos many of which are in Charlotte’s collection now.

When I asked Charlotte what she remembered of Phillip Reimer, she recalled the same things my mother did. Charlotte also said he was a man who never smiled. When I asked, “What did he look like?” she replied, “Haven’t you seen the pictures?” She walked to her bedroom and returned with photos that neither my mother nor I knew existed. With my jaw still hanging as low as a drawbridge, I was astonished to see my great-grandfather for the first time.

My goal was to link my great-grandfather back to the original settlers of Reinwald, or at least to the 1798 Reinwald census. My records indicated that Phillip was born 24 November 1854 but for some reason I reviewed the 1850 census first. I remembered Phillip’s father’s name was Peter so I hoped I could find a link. The Reimers were listed in households 399, 458, 1070 and 1078 in the census.

In household 399 the head of the household, Martin Reimer, passed away in 1840. The 1850 census also cites ages from the 1834 census where Martin was listed as 44 years old, so it is reasonable to assume he was approximately 51 years old when he died.

There is no widow listed for Martin but his sons carried on in this household. Martin had six sons, ages 17 to 2 when he died. Was it possible his wife died in childbirth? Many unanswered questions but I continued to read the household list. The six sons and their ages in 1850 are:

  • Christian, 32
  • Peter, 30
  • Friedrich, 25
  • Gottfried, 23
  • Gottlieb, 21
  • and Heinrich, 17

Peter’s name is followed by his wife, Fornika, age 28. Below their name is a daughter, Sophia, age 2. If this is a match in the 1857 census, my great-grandfather has an older sister.

After Fornika’s name, there is a footnote 7 which leads me to the bottom of the page which indicates, “Cyrillic = ФронИКа. Perhaps Veronika.

Before I shifted to the 1857 Census, I decided to check Phillip’s death certificate for his parent’s names. His father is clearly listed as Peter of Reinwald, Russia. His mother’s name is not so clear. For years, my best guess on her name was Fronia Gussman. I showed the name to many and we were never certain but I recorded Fronia Gusman in all of my genealogical records. Still I doubted if I had the correct name.

Why question her name? You may recall that after handwriting death certificates and before computers, there was a device known as a manual typewriter. For those of you who do remember, you might also know a typewriter had to be fed with typewriter ribbons in order to produce ink on paper. I have a feeling that before Phillips death notice was typed, they inserted a new ribbon. And, I believe Phillip’s mother’s name, unique as it is, prompted an erasure or two.

The typewritten letters of Phillip’s mother name are filled with dark shadows. In 1948 there was no white out or automatic typewriter corrections. If someone misspelled a name, they had to erase the word and type over it. Often this left smudges. With a name like Fronia or Fornika, I imagine a bit of mispronunciation and misspelling may have occurred.

Looking at the death certificate now, I can see it could be Fronika, Fornika or Fronia. A fresh copy of the certificate would probably not help much since the letters were not clear when I received the certified copy in 1983. Check out the attached scan above and send me your best guess on what the name is. At this point, I believe Peter and Fornika (whatever the spelling of her first name) were likely my great-grandfather’s parents.

Armed with this information, I started to review the 1857 census. Instead of Martin Reimer listed as the head of household 36, it is now led by the eldest son, Christian Reimer, age 39, who was listed in the 1850 census. In 1857 there are twenty-seven people listed in this household. It appears that all but one of Martin’s sons continued to reside together. Gottfried married Katharina Huwa and moved to household 37 with their two sons, Gottfried and Heinrich.

The other four brothers, their wives and children remained in household 36. In the 1850 census, Peter was listed as age 30. In the 1857 census Johann Peter is listed as the second eldest son at 37 years old. His wife is listed as Friedrich (sic.) Giesmann (ГнсмаЪ). Her age is 35 and the census does not list her age from the previous census. The name does not match that of Peter’s wife in 1850 census, however Friedrich is listed as 35 years old and in the 1850 census Fornika is 28 years old. The ages indicate that this could be the same woman since she is seven years older. Could this be one more version of the Fronia Gusman, Fornika or Fronika I originally added to my genealogical records? Did this woman go through her entire life and death with varying names?

With Johann Peter and Friedrich’s names not matching exactly to the 1850 census, I needed to review the children. Their first daughter is Sophia, age nine. This clearly matches the Sophia age two in 1850. Second, we have Christian, age five. Third, is Katharina, age four, and fourth there is a son, Friedrich, age three.

In 1857, Phillip who was born in 1854 would likely be three years old. Could Phillip’s first name have been Friedrich as listed in the census? German Russians were notorious for using, re-using and then using again a favorite name. In this household alone there are four Friedrichs, not counting Peter’s wife Fornika who is listed as Friedrich. Is it possible Friedrich was his given name but he was called by his middle name Phillip to distinguish from the four other Friedrichs? It is certainly plausible, but difficult to prove.

My next step will be to track down a census from Urbach where Fornika was born according to Phillip’s death certificate. Perhaps I can uncover another spelling of her name.

One last step on the Reimer family tree… the Reinwald census from June 17, 1798. I had never fully tracked the generations back to the original settlers. Could I find Martin among those listed?

I searched and found household number fourteen listing Konrad Reimer age 40 and his wife Katharina Steinbrecher age 38 from Krasnoyar. They had five children as follows:

  • Heinrich, 16
  • Karl, 11
  • Martin, 7
  • Katharina, 5
  • Maria Sophia, 2

Seven-year-old Martin would have been born in approximately 1790-1791 depending on his birth date. Peter’s father Martin was forty-four years old in 1834 so his birth year was also around 1790-1791. Coincidence? I think not.

Despite all of the various names and translations between German to Russian to English, I believe I may have just tracked my mother’s maternal ancestry to 1798. After over thirty years of research, I have to admit to a great deal of satisfaction and contentment, at least for a week or two.

*Reinwald 1850 and 1857 Census. Initial acquisition and translation of the 1857 Census of Reinwald was made possible by the generous contributions of the following: Mrs. Jene Herder Goldhammer, Portland, Oregon; Mrs. Shirley Hurrell, Beaverton, Oregon; Mrs. & Mrs. Arthur R. Mai, Sharon Springs, Kansas; Prof. & Mrs. Brent Mai, Beaverton, Oregon; Mr. Gerald Yurk, Fort Meyers, Florida. Census was translated by Brent Mai, Concordia University, Portland, Oregon. For more information on Brent's research visit http://www.volgagermans.net/. Special thanks to Dick Kraus for finding the census in the FHL collection.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Jacksonville, Oregon...last stop before the airport

With only a couple of hours till our flight home to Arizona, we decided to go to historic Jacksonville, Oregon http://www.jacksonvilleoregon.org/.

I was pretty tired by this time but walked through the western downtown area with the group. I loved the architecture as you can see below.



















Pear Wine in the afternoon...

RoxyAnn Winery was the next stop last Friday. This winery was founded in 2002 at Medford's century old Hillcrest Orchard.

I sampled the Stewart's Root Beer since I was driving, but the pear wine and wine tasting choices pleased other palettes. Find out more about this winery at http://www.roxyann.com/. It was a time to spend with family and continue the stories of our lives.





Wet and Wild Hellgate Excursion at Grants Pass

Last Friday we drove to Grants Pass to ride on the Rogue River to Hellgate Canyon. The excursion was exhilerating and "a good time was had by all" per Chris Martin.

Check out the photos below. If you think you are just seeing green trees, look closer for the bald eagle on a branch, or the next one when he is sailing across the greenery over the water.

We enjoyed the gift store, too, and we hope the squirrel has a good, new home.






















Images from Third Thursday--Downtown Klamath Falls


During the summer, the downtown streets are closed in Klamath Falls for Third Thursday http://www.exploreklamath.com/?p=16.

Street vendors, wine tastings, music, pony rides and families cover the entire area. I was assured not everyone who lived in Klamath Falls was there, but I doubted it. We could not walk a quarter of a block without someone in our group running into a good friend, neighbor or relative.
I was also assured not every family in Klamath owned a dog, but check out the dog bar below. All dogs are welcome at Third Thursday.








Dead Reckoning, New Web site, and New Blog

  Great News!  My latest book is now available.  Dead Reckoning is my attempt to share our heritage with the next generation. It’s about a ...