Well folks, Today is the start of something special here on DC. Some time back, Jan started a tradition of "Sunday Rockin' on Stewart. Recognizing that it was a great idea, I jumped in too.! So on almost each Saturday evening or Sunday morning one of us posts a musing.. thoughts about quiet times, sitting barefoot on a stump on a hot summer day. Eating watermelon while the juice and dust make tracks down our arms plopping in the dust at your feet... the healing power of fishing, the love of home and family....... The people on Dickson and Stewart really took to it and we enjoy doing it.. We hope you enjoy it too. Cher and Jan ************************************** Afternoon Y'all, Now I know that is not quite true as it is Saturday night when I am writing this, but fact is most folk have maybe hit the sack by now, and I got plans for tomorrow afternoon...so bear with me. Fact is, hubby and I are headed off fishin. Time to renew inner serenity and all that...nothing quite like a fishin trip to help with that one. That bein the case I got to thinkin just how much fishin is like genealogy. Ah hah! Saw that look of disbelief cross your face! Well now it IS. Just you think about it... First off, fishin has a way of gettin in your blood. Sure does. All it takes is that first big whopper to latch onto your hook (whether you can get him reeled into the bank or not) and it isn't the FISH that is hooked anymore, it is YOU!!!! Well now, that is kind of how it is with genealogy, right? You get that FIRST big break...get your family on one line back to Methuselah, hit just the right contact...then it just keeps goin through your mind, uh huh, and if I just keep fishin long enough I am gonna get another BIG one!!!! (fact is, you are generally right!). And the nibbles you get that you DON'T reel in, that don't wind up your folks?? Well they are just the teasers that keep you goin, but there are plenty of KEEPERS out there tooo, and you get your share of em. Then there is that question of bait. Every good fisherman worth his/her salt knows that generally the best bait is something that seems NATURAL...fits right in. Well so does a genealogist. Quickest way I know to get information out of my older relatives is NOT to start firin questions at em right and left...they clam up, claim they don't know anything, refuse to remember...nope, quickest way is to use NATURAL bait...get em started reminiscin about old times and by golly pretty soon they drop a name I haven't heard before being connected, pretty soon they are mentioning places, and stories and pretty soon I have a whole new direction to start searching in... Line is important too you know. You want some good line strong for its diameter and real abrasion resistant ...needs to have the ability to almost untangle itself if possible....Well I reckon that to the family lines in my files. I want em strong, and documented (abrasion resistant and easy to untangle). I goof sometimes, but that is how I want em to be..strong so the line doesn't break. Get yourself a good trollin motor too...so you can browse those banks in hard to get to places. My best trollin motor is the lists I am on... I don't necessarily run into prime fishin every where I go...but I scout out the territory. Then there is that "learning experience"...don't know of a single fisherman without some good stories to tell...now maybe some of em I listen to with tongue in cheek and maybe some of em are just plain all in good fun ...but you listen to a fisherman and you are going to get some GREAT tips...they will tell you what fish are runnin, when and what to catch em with, they will tell you what prime spots to check out and how to go bout fishin em. Same with this...listen to the ole timers and by golly you get some free advise that is mighty good! I never bought a genealogy how-to book in my life....learned from the sources...folks who have been at this a good long while (and sometimes some newbies turn up some good new advice too!), and that is how I learn how to find the "keepers". And maybe the BEST thing about fishin is that after awhile you know it is not about catchin fish at all....it is about FISHIN! Maybe you come back with nothing, but you relaxed and enjoyed the great outdoors and came home feeling good. Genealogy is a lot like that...after awhile you know it is not so much about getting your FTM chalk full as it is about the family you meet, the folks you enjoy and get to know that aren't family at all. Maybe you close down the day with nothin, but you had a few good laughs, you chatted and relaxed, you recognized the concept of "family" in a greater scheme of things and you logged off feeling good. Have a good day yall! And have fun fishin! jan