Sepia Saturday 210 Old books, photos and memories

This week's prompt appeals to me because I am a book lover a genealogist, amateur historian, and love to share family stories here.  It symbolizes memories drawn from discoveries over the last several years, with the passing on of elderly relatives, finding those old photos or documents was the good in the grief...just wish there were someone to ask about those new to me treasures. Wistful too because there will be no more discoveries in the backs of closets of relatives who have completed their earthly journeys, all having gone on now.  Well, I might rediscover something again here among our troves of albums and photos, something perhaps forgotten that reveals itself  while I hunt for something else.

Today I'm sharing a few photos from Jerry's album that was kept by his paternal grandmother, Emma Morrison who lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  When Emma died in 1987 at age 91, one of the aunts thoughtfully sent the album to us in California.  When that brown manila envelope arrived in the mail it was a most welcome surprise for which we remain grateful today.   Remember these, black papers with the  corner holders for photos, tied with a cord...Jerry was born in 1937 so this album, handsome still today,  is at least that old and if Emma had it before that date we will not ever know.  It's   brown leather with gold embossing, an iconic Indian in canoe, so reflective of Wisconsin, this Midwest, historical hearkening  to the era of fur traders.  In genealogy research we have learned a lot more about Emma Walker Morrison than Jerry ever knew, she was born in 1896 in Iowa in what was "Indian Territory" to a mother, Eva Mae who would abandon her and her sisters sometime before their father, William Walker, died.  Eva Mae herself  was a fascinating colorful character for those times, a brazen woman, she married many times, chased men it seems and  traveled or roamed  a wide area, from Iowa,  Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, the entire midwest.  But that is another long tale to be told later.  


Inside of the album cover is a  careful record of Jerry and his lucky number "7" in white ink, Emma's writing, she began in August when her newest grandson was 3 months old.  Jerry was so amazed when  he received this,  things he never knew.  His mother and father separated and divorced  and his mother as I have written before would not win motherhood awards and was not really playing with a full deck.  When we told her about this gift, she was quite snippy, I suppose she wondered just what the in laws might have written about her, but the Morrison's were not into gossip.  Emma was quite the woman, volunteering over 8000  hours to the Veteran's Administration in Tomah Wisconsin, we learned in her obituary.  She was an animal lover and requested memorials be to the Humane Society when she passed on.  

Jerry was in touch with his Morrison grandparents, especially Emma.  Here is a photo page from the album, appently Emma had a cat named Tom, and she was amused to have a photo of Tom and Jerry.  The photo on  the right that shows Jerry as a baby with his parents.  Emma labeled  all photos carefully.  76 years later the album is a testament to her efforts.  

Album page

The last  two photos  are of Jerry with Emma, the first from the album, 1937 and the last in 1980 one of our trips to this area, he always went to see his grandmother Emma Morrison.  I am glad that I got to meet her. 

This is my Sepia Post.. Blogger is acting up so the photos are not labeled individually. To see what others are sharing go to the Sepia site at http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/01/sepia-saturday-210-11-january-2014.html

Much ado about too much



Trinkets, tidbits, treasures await

I confess that I am a tinkering techie,and have indulged myself with latest smart phone, tablet, laptop, pc, and all sorts of  software and email, Gmail, Facebook and blog.. .I have avoided Linked in and Twitter although the latter appeals  in its brevity, .but after spending hours tinkering and organizing and loading and downloading the Alaskan adventure photos I  shrug my shoulders and throw up my hands and pine for the old days.  I am convinced that the pre-digital camera times were easier.   

Remember we  took film out of the camera,  left it at the photo shop or local drugstore to be developed and a week or so later had the results of those vacation photos.   Maybe the photos did not come out as expected and we certainly did not have real time option to share with  the interested and the lurking folks on Facebook.  Maybe we could not preview and redo on the spot.  We certainly could not edit in real time, bookmark, date stamp, etc, etc.  But  I remember when it was easy to  return home from vacations, have film developed, look it over, slap it into a family album or order extra copies of photos to send back to family who would enjoy them too and that was that....not so today..

Array of pamphlets to peruse, readings, and scrapbook materials

Now, it is assemble to download from phone, tablet, digital camera and even the nice DVD made enroute courtesy of  Hall's Alaska.   Trouble is that DVD of photos taken along the way is in a read only file so to work with it, those photos too must be downloaded.  I vowed I would not take too many photos this Alaskan adventure...but often I would be overcome with peer pressure and while the rest of the folks snapped every inch along the way, I resisted a lot.  But  still I would succumb to the moment and now have  over 400 photos finally downloaded to the Alaskan folder on the main PC from all the sources and have edited and labeled perhaps 150 of those. .   I was also  disappointed once  back home to discover that notes I kept as a trip log on my tablet could not be printed..I need a Samsung printer..not going to buy for that so another project to type. This is all a very time consuming process and being a fidgety person who has so much else happening and beckoning to me unlike a recluse who can do only what appeals to him/her, one or two hours at a time is my limit to set at the PC console, fingers on key board and mouse in hand, photo shop ready to edit, rename, brighten, crop, adjust in myriad ways. 

This is what sits at the computer, scan, download, get it together.

I ask my self, "Why are you fussing and causing frustration to yourself?  After all who cares?  Get to it when you want to."  There is the rest of the story, if I do not complete this soon I will have lost interest completely and moved on to our next trip planning or whatever is grasping my attention at the moment.  It is the double edged sword of our  leisurely life of retirement, I can be moving along at my own pace, don't worry, be happy, and  tomorrow is another day. And of course there is the diversion of research about a certain photo, more information to read about and best of all  36 new friends from the tour to keep updated and contacted, some are bound to the use of only email making it more difficult to communicate.  Some of us may reunite this winter.  Some may reunite using the  free cruise voucher.  But now away from those early morning risings, long hours on the motor coach and late arrivals  to destinations only to repeat it again the next day, we  have bonded with several nice people.  The joy of travel is the friends we make along the way.   Some phone calls here and there and touching base to stay on the same page as we await our refunds an vouchers for the cruise.  Some are far more concerned about that than we are...I expect it will take at least until November and as I have said over an over I am thankful we were with John Hall's tour  who took excellent care expeditiously to get us back home. Ah travel, the place where anything that can happen will, an event where Murphy will have his way and the only way to deal with it is to roll along and ride the waves.  Kind of my attitude with working through the scans and downloads....to scrapbook or to photo book ala Shutterfly, that is the next question.  



Some of our group lingered lakeside where our guide waded into the beautiful Kluhane shore,
largest lake in the Yukon, the Ruby Mts are to the right, part of the
 Wrangells St Elias range.  I snapped this back on the bus, through the window...
ahh wish we were there. That is the the sign of a good time, reverie

So, blogger pals, I have not abandoned the blog, I am otherwise entertaining myself...here in the banana belt of MN, where it is all far too warm for September.  And as our heat wave in 80,s and even 90 degrees rolls by, we ask where is our MN weather. Sadly we are also in  a drought, bad enough for us watering flowers, gardens and lawns, but the farmers are desperate.  Trying our rain dances, they've got to work soon.