Joining the "cloud"

We’ve all heard about the “cloud”, an elusive storage service somewhere in cyberspace, and some of us use it regularly. But for the average person, who thinks about saving or sharing everything with the “cloud?” I was just introduced to a new concept…new to me and likely you, too. Share family photos with the cloud. Yes, we all share via Facebook , Instagram and countless other sites and programs. But keeping and sharing at the same time with family across the nation, around the world and…across time? That’s a new one to me. I’ve shared old family photos through Facebook and through family sites, but a whole program just for sharing new…and old photos. Well, there’s a project for the New Year. Everyone has countless albums and shoeboxes of old photos. The really industrious and crafty among us have dozens of scrapbooks, but what about putting those ALL on the computer? And in the cloud? Wow, suddenly all the old photos tucked away with the intention of sharing them with the rest of family suddenly got “do-able.” I really have lectured myself about getting organized, copying all the old photos and films to disc to share with distant family members. Or paying a service to do it for me. That way you’ve preserved the old photos, gotten them out of the attic or the deepest closet, and maybe simply taken them off the shelves where few people ever take the time to pick them up. Now there’s a better way? It was bound to happen. You, and likely your relatives, are on the computer, a tablet or phone every day. You can step back in time to see your grandparents, great grandparents or maybe just your younger self or grandchildren while you’re waiting for the repairman or the overbooked doctor or dentist. You know your children and grandchildren will sign on without hesitation just to kill some time or to take a break from the latest online game. Now all it takes is some time, and self-discipline, to share the best of those old pix. Truthfully, I’m just beginning to explore the possibilities. I’ve scanned some photos and they’re backed- up through Carbonite. But that only means I’ve saved them and we won’t lose them, but shared? That’s another program. Apparently we can share through Dropbox, Google Drive and some other programs like CrashPlan for Business, SOS Online Backup and SugarSync, all in the top five in sharing cloud websites. (https://www.cloudwards.net/best-cloud-storage-for-families/ ) And maybe there are more. Those are the ones recently rated and promoted…the key is the sharing element. Some are free, some have free trials, and yes, others have a monthly fee…but maybe you can share that, depending on how you hatch your cloud sharing plan. But moving forward, I think a lot of my photos, old and new, will be shared…somewhere in the cloud…not just on Facebook or on my phone…and may be you’re way ahead of me….do you already store photos in the cloud? On a shared site? It’s new to me….so sorry I didn’t think of it earlier!

Gift a memory this year

Make a memory! Of course, always. That’s what I’m all about. But I heard that on morning TV in a spot about good gift giving. What a concept! They were talking about personalizing gifts….now we’re going in the right direction. But maybe you’re not a crafter or have lots of extra cash to buy personalized gifts or buy THE one thing you know someone wants or would buy, if they could. There is still room, and time, to make a memory. Maybe it’s as simple as making a special dinner, contributing something memorable to dinner or making dinner memorable. Keep thinking. We all buy special gifts and most of us put a lot of thought or decision into selecting gifts. But make a memory or recall something special for someone. Is there a special picture from some summer fun or special event this year? Maybe it needs to be enlarged, framed or even put onto a canvas. If you watch, often, the Canvas People or maybe something like Shutterfly offer canvas prints free or for the cost of shipping. You can order personalized note cards or stationary with special pictures included or a calendar. Or maybe you just need to write….yes, write in longhand (cursive), a memory from the year or past years that make that person special to you. Maybe it’s sharing a favorite recipe, new or an old family favorite. Of course, you should make it, then attach the recipe. A couple years ago, I discovered “The Family Cookbook Project”, a site for entering Your recipes and They make the cookbook. Even better this particular website allows you to download a PDF copy of your cookbook to print at a local shop. Locally you can print a spiral/comb-bound cookbook for as low as $10 a piece, depending on how many you have printed. Cooking not your “thing”? Is a collection of pictures more in line with your thought process? There are sites that put them together for you. I mentioned Shutterfly and I know there are many more..Snapfish, Blurb, Mixbook , Heritagemakers, Picaboo and more. But really all you need is your computer or maybe just an empty scrapbook or photo album and copies of your favorite pictures….send the pictures to Walmart or some other photo site, they’ll print the copies…for you to pick up! Walmart also makes photobooks! Of course, IF you’re ready a lot of sites will print your entire genealogy. I’ve done it, but I did it myself on my own computer, then had it copied at a local shop…less expensive...because that can add up! So here’s your challenge…don’t give just a gift….give a memorable gift!

Driven to Write?

Some of my friends “have to write”. They are driven to write and be creative. I’ve had those feelings, but I get over them. I think I irritated one friend when I said, “I write because I can.” I’ve been blessed with an ability to put words together. It’s been nurtured over the years by some excellent English teachers, the kind that stressed grammar, structure, tenses, plurals and contractions…the basic foundation. Writing daily for more than 30 years helped and there was a writing coach for a few years…great help! I also read about writing. And I’ve read some excellent writers! But truthfully, I find it easy to set down and write out my thoughts. To be sure, I always edit, rewrite, correct and generally “fix” anything I write until it’s what it should be or at least what I want it to be. I’ve run into countless people over the years who claim they can’t write, they “wouldn’t know where to begin,” and are generally “clueless” about putting words to paper. Mostly it’s fear, but they don’t think it’s that. Afterall putting something, anything, down in print leaves you open to criticism. And few people relish that. But without writers where would we be? Writers are the reason we know how and want to read. We read to learn…about new things, lessons, activities, current events or history. There’s a whole new generation of writers now, writing for the Internet, many publishing their own books, blogs, columns. Every day people writing about every day things! They write to make their opinions known. They write to share what they know or in some cases, think they know. And some people write in response to other writers. Everyone has a reason to write, yes, everyone! There is something in your head you need to write down whether it’s your favorite recipe for family dinners or gatherings or maybe it’s your experience in just living. If you’re fortunate to have a good memory, you may need to pass on some of that memory to someone else...you know, so it’s not forgotten. Did you have a special profession or a great work experience or do you want to warn someone not to follow in your footsteps or make similar mistakes in their lives? Regardless of your reasons you have experiences to share, family and life lessons to pass on whether to the next generation or a far future generation you haven’t met yet. What I wouldn’t give to know why and how my great-grandfather built the house he did, where he did and for who, a first wife, the second? Did he do it himself? Did he hire it done? When was the addition built? How did his profession start? Why was there a first wife and then a second? We all have similar questions we wish we could have asked earlier generations. But no one wrote down the answers leaving us to depend on records to fill in information through birth certificates, marriages, deeds, town records. We can provide those answers about us or perhaps even earlier generations to subsequent generations. We can “write it down.’’ I keep trying to remember what I want future generations to know about me and the ancestors I knew. I write long and short stories and put them in a file on my computer and I print them off for a notebook. You may be one of those people who “don’t know where to begin.” Start anywhere. Did you take a trip this year? Did you remember a trip you took with your parents or grandparents? Did you make a memory with someone special this year, or last? Do you have a special memory of a place or person you don’t want forgotten? We all have memories and experiences someone in the future would like to know. You don’t need to write a formal story to be remembered. Write a letter to yourself, to a family member or an imaginary family member in the future. That’s family history, maybe local history, that’s writing it down, you know… so it’s not forgotten.

A writer's world?

Imagine your dream world. You know the place where everything goes Your way! I read a fun piece today “If Writers Ran the World” (https://thewritelife.com/if-writers-ran-the-world ) It included phone a famous author (for help), a calorie-burning keyboard, emails that write themselves, free coffee (caffeine!) for writers…lots of fun ideas. Imagine if all the words poured out of you, no stress, no writers’ block, no typos…everyone could be a writer! Of course, if you ARE a writer you can really imagine the beauty of this perfect world. But if you are just the average person who wants to write a story that’s “just in your head”…whether fiction or family lore, imagine what you could capture. Well, writers don’t get a choice…we write! Right or wrong, fact, fiction or speculation, we put words to paper because we have to. We have to apply words to our thoughts, to answer your questions, to tell your story or the story of the guy next door or across town and even on the other side of the world. For years, you have benefited from people who apply words to paper and screens so you know what’s happening or what happened years ago! I’ve heard so many people tell me “Oh, I could never do that!” Why not? It’s just words you use when you’re talking. You tell me a story. I write it down…that simple. And I still can do that for you, but not if you’re willing to risk doing it yourself. True some writers are well-trained. Most of us retained our grammar skills, sentence and paragraph structure. But most people don’t notice how well-structured your story is if it’s something they want to learn about. If you’re telling them about your childhood, theirs or their grandparents, they won’t notice a misspelled word or incorrect verb. They will hear You telling a story…maybe one they’ve heard before, but this is different. This one is recorded. It’s saved. Yup, I’m beating that drum again! Preserve your stories or your parents’ or grandparents’. I’ve heard so many great stories sitting around the campfire, the dinner table, by the shore at the lake…but they aren’t my stories to tell. So today, write a letter to your grandchildren tell them how you spent your day, or yesterday or the summer you turned 10 or 20. What was different about your day than theirs? Imagine if they are reading it 10 or 20 years from now…how different will it be then? It doesn’t matter if you mail it. Maybe just put it in a favorite book, the family Bible, yes, even in your junk drawer… in a well-marked envelope! I have My Stories on my computer and in a three-ring binder…and truthfully I’m probably not done. I had a friend who simply made a list of what he remembered about his hometown. A 100 years ago, one Maine town had the luxury of having a doctor write a book simply reporting where everybody lived or where they moved to in that town! Simple actions that report what amounts to local history. Local history buffs, genealogists lap this stuff up…I know I’m one of them. Thank you to everyone who decided to Write It Down!

Ditching the “stuff”

When I get an “itch” to write, I often have no idea what I want to write. Sitting at my computer, I am eager to record memories (before I forget again!) or urge someone else, to capture their memories and share them with the rest of us…or simply share with their own family. It’s May and finally there is some warm weather. The grass is beginning to grow green and flowers are peeking out of the soil. It’s a time for renewal, cleaning and generally sprucing up before a (hopefully) long, hot summer. A few things were dragged to the dump this week and a large stash of books hauled off to the library. I remind myself stacked or boxed books in the attic aren’t doing anyone any good, and especially me. I have more space and less clutter as well as less guilt over buying books that I never used to their potential. I had books on writing, quilting, crafting, photography….books dedicated to unraveling the mysteries involved in those pursuits. And for the most part, I learned a few things. But there they were sitting in boxes or on shelves not used and benefiting no one! And yes, there was some fiction in the cast-off collection. Now I know at least someone can gain some benefit, even if it’s just the library selling them off to another reader. I hate collecting junk. And I have my fair share tucked away in the attic. A few keepsakes to be sure, but why do we keep them? To fawn over in the future to remember an event, a person or a place? There is outdated furniture, knickknacks, cast-off pocketbooks and totes. I have a great stash of fabric just waiting for the right project. I have craft supplies and equipment including my sewing machines, cutting and storing tables. You know the kind of stuff you might Need! Yet there is still some stuff that is simply that…stuff! What do you do with stuff? My stuff includes boxes of pictures from several family collections and years gone by…some of which I wasn’t around for or even know about. I have a grand plan to organize them all, scanning and digitizing, and sharing some for future generations. But how many pictures of unidentified rivers, streams and mountains do you really need long after they’ve passed into memory and forgetfulness? Remember when we always got duplicates to share? Did you really share or are you like me and still have twice as many pictures as you actually need? That’s part of the grand plan to eliminate duplicates and multiple shots from the same event or trip. The online photo sites let you turn pictures into books, albums or maybe a coffee mug, a tote bag or even a blanket. But there it is again more stuff! My Yankee background forces me, urges me, to be practical. I have to keep what can be used or share it with someone who can use it or wants it. But I think I really need to change the parameters and ditch some of the stuff that no one wants, needs or even thinks about anymore. I don’t need to be the perpetual storage unit for all castoff memories! This column/blog is to castoff some of the guilt that goes along with being the person tossing some of the memories. I “write it down” IF there is something to remember. I’ll try to digitize pictures of lost generations. I’ve shared castoff pictures of long ago memories, but once the bulk of what needs to be shared is actually shared or recorded…what’s left is GONE!

Remember May baskets? It’s almost May Day. Have you ever had a May basket or remember the tradition? I got my May baskets back in the 1950s. Not just decorated Dixie cups laden with a few pieces of candy, but elaborate crepe paper covered holders with woven crepe paper handles and streamers. I don’t recall ever receiving an actual woven basket. But that wasn’t the tradition on the coast of Maine at the time. The Burns boys would hang baskets on Cross Street. Their mother and grandmother made them! The tradition calls for hanging the basket on the door, ringing the bell, if there was one, and running away quickly. The recipient had to chase the gifter, and I think you were supposed to kiss him or her, but I don’t remember following thru on that part. There was supposed to be great fanfare in the chase, and equally grand embarrassment, if you couldn’t catch the gifter, whether male or female. But I do remember the chase. It wasn’t all meant to be romantic, all tho’ that’s the way some people choose to remember it. For some, it was just a neighborly thing to do on a singularly great day in May. The well-known basket artists had quite a business, if I remember right, at that time. They started weeks in advance, preparing the elaborately decorated containers, taking orders and delivering throughout the area, just in time for someone to fill it, and surprise a lucky recipient. Mrs. Burns and her mother or mother-in-law were the resident artists of the time. I know exactly where they both lived, and I remember seeing the elaborate baskets hanging in the window of the lady in Rockport. They hung there to mark “Her” house on the old Route #1 and the location of the best made baskets anybody knew at the time. I always dreamed of getting one of the really Big ones all purple or pink, with layers of crepe, pulled into delicate curls and fringes surrounding the opening or there may have been a longer “apron” to an elaborately-designed basket. They were not simple concoctions and were quite a prize for anyone lucky enough to receive one. At some point, I remember someone using wallpaper samples and crafting May baskets to take advantage of some nice floral prints. And people also would use Dixie cups or simply paper cones, but none of these fill the bill in my memory. I think they actually used saved oatmeal cylinders or something of equal size and shape. I’ve searched and there is little out there that compares to those elaborate concoctions that fill my memory bank. A quick search on Pinterest came close, but even they didn’t have the right combination, but close. When I moved inland, I was surprised and disappointed that the tradition wasn’t the same. They didn’t observe just May Day, but mistakenly (by my estimation) believed you could dole out May baskets anytime during the month. What fun is that? There is no special day, no anticipation, no fun-loving chase and capture. In recent years, many writers have lamented the passing of the May Day tradition, some tried to resurrect it with crafting tips or suggestions of what constitutes a May basket ( they’ve got it All wrong!) And then there are those that fear it will be brought back, but by some commercial operation with plastic do-dads and lots of commercial candy and gifts….sort of like what happened to Easter and every other holiday that might involve small gifts. REAL May baskets are committed to memory now, but if they’re in your memory maybe it’s time to “write-it-down” so it’s not lost on another generation. Did you hang a May basket? Did you receive one and more importantly perhaps, did you catch the gifter and whatever happened to him or her? Maybe it’s a memory you share with someone else? Or perhaps you should before it’s lost along with those other remembrances you’ve been meaning to share. Brighten someone’s day hang a May basket or share your memories of an old tradition. To learn more about the May basket tradition check out: http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/04/30/402817821/a-forgotten-tradition-may-basket-day

Your Snow Day assignment

The weather forecast calls for snow...again. What to do on a snowy day? If you're like me, you have stacks, boxes or pages of family photographs. But are they marked with identification? Have you poured through boxes of pictures from your family's past, and lamented that no one ever identified them? If you truly have nothing to do on a snowy day consider pulling out some of those old pictures and identifying them for your family. Let them know which one is Uncle Joe or Cousin Lulu. Better yet, tell the story of how you're related to this batch of photos. I'm not suggesting you start a scrapbook, but maybe that's your next calling. The point is, of course, someone needs to do it....why not you? You're actually accomplishing several tasks. Yes, you're identifying obscure photos so your family will know who is who years after you're no longer around, but perhaps you're also weeding out the duds, the misses and the unidentifiable! That chore could reduce the boxes of long-forgotten "stuff" in your attic or junk room. Haven't you said, several times, you've wanted to do just that? I had a mentor once who was fond of saying "inch by inch, it's a cinch, but yard by yard, it's hard." He was referring to writing your memoirs, but it can be applied to any task. The point is to simply start...somewhere. My suggestion, and the way I've done it, is to start with one box. Pour through and decide what needs to be done with ALL those pictures. Remember when we all had doubles printed? Do you really need two copies of Aunt Bea's prize rose or even one if she's gone and you don't like roses? Or maybe you need just one for your garden idea book? It doesn't belong in a box in the attic either way. How many pictures of your cousin's wedding from 1983 do you really need to remember the event? And who is that standing next to your mother? Will your children know or care in 10 years, or 20? Maybe you'll find a picture of the only trip you ever took to New York, or Europe, or maybe a local historical site. Why did you go? and what happened there? Maybe you can write a short description or explanation to file away with the picture. Or maybe there are a dozen pictures that really do need to go into a scrapbook or that empty photo album you found with the pictures. Maybe you’re into scanning your pictures to preserve them beyond their printed form. Consider it an assignment, with a deadline, the next time it snows. One box or two with each snowstorm could really get a bigger project a long way to completion and a sense of satisfaction for your to-do list and for preserving memories for your family.

All the time there is

Today, I took a look back at some of the blogs/columns (31 on Blogger in nine years) I’ve written over the past few years. I had a lot to say. Sometimes repetitive... Sometimes insightful…sometimes seemingly random and disjointed, but I wrote. And I believe everyone should. Even if it’s only a letter to yourself or your family….everyone should write something down about themselves, their life or their family’s life. That’s history! I know the academics of the world will research the day away in old books, records, photographs or albums. They will carefully match world or U.S. history to local events, and their own experience, recollections or the stories of their ancestors. Great! But not everyone has that kind of self-discipline, and you don’t have to. Did you write a diary page or a letter to yourself about the trip you took to the coast last summer? Or the ride through the woods last weekend? That’s all it takes. One page at a time, one memory at a time and you’ve helped your memory of life and for your children or grandchildren. Believe it or not they will want to know how you spent your days before….whatever the latest technology may be offering. I remember my mother wheeling the wringer washer into the floor, filling the tub and winding a load of clothes through to take it outside to be hung on the line to dry….all four seasons! Now, I push a button to wash, move the load and push a button to dry. My dishes are done! I pushed another button. Now I have time to write again or maybe vacuum…or not. We all say “there isn’t enough time….” for anything, but that’s not true. A school administrator once told me one of the most valuable lessons he learned was from a custodian at the school. When he lamented, “there’s not enough time…” the custodian had the answer, “you’ve got all there is son.” We all have 24 hours in a day, seven days a week, etc. It’s how and where you use the time that makes all the difference. It’s okay to waste time after you push that button. It’s okay to enjoy the sunshine or snow whatever the season may be, but there is no more time. But time also passes…sometimes too quickly. Grab your computer, your tablet or even your phone or a piece of paper and start a page. Tell your grandchildren how you spent your day or your first day on the job. Tell them about the chicken you burned or the great steak you marinated. Tell them your memories of your grandparents, or paddling on the river or when you first met them. Just one page….and yes, even if you never do it again, but while you’re thinking of it. I know my message is repetitive and I sometimes have to remind myself to do what I say. But I truly believe everyone wants to know about their family, or their hometown, or childhood home or perhaps it’s a special family home in a distance place or memory. I have many fond memories of long-gone relatives that I wish everyone, my family, could know. How will they know if I don’t “write it down”?