The Quest

When I started writing about Flora Zogg a few months ago, I reached out to extended family members with whom I hadn’t communicated in years, hoping they had memories to share. After a few email exchanges, I hadn’t received much information other than what my more immediate family had shared. The eldest cousin had already passed, and the younger ones never knew Flora. In one communication with the youngest cousin, we exchanged contact information for her older brothers and she asked for my own mailing address. I didn’t think much of it, until weeks later when a well-secured package arrived in the mail. I couldn’t imagine what it might be, but I opened it eagerly. I gasped as I pulled back the layers of bubble wrap to reveal a glass cup with my great-grandmother’s name inscribed around the lip! I had never seen it or anything like it, and couldn’t believe my dad’s cousin had sent it to me. Since Flora married in 1906, I knew that the cup had to be older than that, as it was inscribed wit...

Flora Margaretta Augusta Zogg stood rigid, her feet wobbling beneath her, boots digging into the cushion of the chair. Her light brown curls had been perfectly arranged for the occasion, and layers of white ruffles rustled around her as she tried to stand still for the photo. It was hard to do, though, without holding on. Luckily the wood-carved chair back was almost as tall as she was, providing the stability she needed. Stability was a luxury indeed for four-year-old Flora. She was still missing her mother, although the two had been separated for more than a year now. Uncertainty was her constant companion, only slightly alleviated by the comforting presence of her grandparents, cousins… and of course her imposing father.  Mathias furrowed his dark brow as he looked on, ensuring that Flora was appropriately composed, embodying the powerful names he had given her. She had outgrown the bracelet his parents had gifted her as an infant, carefully chosen with the word “Darling” engrav...

Since I wrote the post about genealogy writing, it's really bugged me that I didn't write about our Virginia trip. Mother and I had planned for years to make it to Virginia, where many of our family members first landed in America long before the American Revolution. We knew it would be one of our toughest trips to find actual information, but we had high hopes.  Starting out at my home in Troy, we drove south through the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland on our way to Virginia. We took a little side-jaunt to look at The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, America's first Saint of the Catholic Church. The only reason we knew this was here (besides the billboards on the highway) was from a historical information marker at the Mason Dixon Welcome Center at the Maryland state line. Our first stop of the trip was Culpeper, Virginia, land of our forefathers. We arrived to our Airbnb in the early evening and had some great dinner at a local Italian R...

I've recently joined in a genealogy writing workshop with my local genealogical society. I've clearly not written for a while, and even the things I thought  I wrote about have gone by the wayside. My mother and I took a trip to Virginia last fall to work on all of our lines who came through there (i.e. almost all our lines). Unfortunately, I didn't write at the time, here nor on my travel blog. Ugh.  But there is hope! The writer's group has gotten me started on a path to writing more regularly. The first item up is a series of biographies I hope to write about "the oldest generation's" memories of their "oldest generation." In other words, I want to gather the memories that the current oldest living generation in my family has about the oldest generation that was living in their lifetime. It will be a bit of a challenge, since many of my parents' grandparents died when they were quite young, and many of the eldest cousins have already passe...

I can't even believe I haven't blogged since last October. I haven't written since I closed on my house on Halloween, dressed like a jester (Emma Willard's mascot). I haven't written since the movers came with all of my stuff just as I was recovering from a stomach bug. We've had friends' Thanksgiving at the Horn-Eldred home in Holland, and Christmas Eve in my new house, and Christmas Day at Kef's house. We've had Revels at work (a crazy, fun holiday tradition), and launched ourselves into 2020. I got into a rhythm of going to work and coming home and settling in.  In January sometime, there were news reports beginning about a new virus that had started to spread in China. This had happened before with bird flu and swine flu, and I really didn't think much of it. As time marched on, the reports became more dire. They were having to build more hospitals. What?! Since we have a large population of Chinese students, it started to become evident that...

When I wrote that title just now, I decided settle might have a bad connotation. I don't mean settle for less than the best;  I mean come to rest . So I went to thesaurus.com for some alternatives. I had to laugh out loud when one of them was "plop." A season to plop. Mmmmkay. We've just enjoyed a long visit with my parents, who decided that fall was a much better time to come to New York than Christmas. On the plus side, they came early enough that we could celebrate dad's birthday together. On the unfortunate side, the fall colors really haven't peaked yet. So they didn't get a fall color fix, even though we tried. It is, however, very definitely autumn. The temperatures are much cooler; the heater even kicked on when it got down to 37 degrees the other night. Every day when I go to work, there are new trees starting to display the tell-tale golden hues of letting go. I, too, am starting another season... one of settling in. At the end of the mo...

I suppose it was inevitable that shortly after I announced my return to full-time work, my career as a daily blogger came to an abrupt halt. I had all good intentions of keeping up with it, but a tiny voice in my head told me I didn't have to because things were going back to normal. At first, my mind was solely focused on preparing to re-enter the work force. I needed to unsubscribe from all of the job-search notifications, de-activate my open resumes, and decide what to wear the first day of work. Then there was the first day. I felt, in a way, that I was narrating my life much like Genesis. In the beginning, the job front was formless and desolate. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. I went to work, picked up paperwork, got an ID, met with my new boss. There was evening, and there was morning. The first day. Then God separated the sky and the waters. I had projects assigned, had more work than I could finish, and went home to a busy weekend. A...

Today was a beautiful day in Albany. The sun was radiant, the few clouds withheld rain, and a swift breeze cooled the air... a perfect day for a walk through Albany Rural Cemetery. Many times, I have tried to photograph entire sections of the cemetery. Today, however, I wandered through taking photos of Celtic crosses and checking here and there for headstones that haven't been added to Find-a-Grave. There are many of both. One memorial in particular caught my eye today... a unique carving of stones, draped with roses and calla lilies, topped with a cross and anchor. It belonged to a young woman named Hettie Ten Eyck. The Ten Eyck name always catches my eye because that was the surname of the woman who worked in the communication office at FUMC Grapevine before me. That, in combination with the stunning headstone and the fact that she died on my birth date (87 years earlier), made me curious about Hettie and the life she led. I thought the anchor was interesting and won...

Today I was back in Troy to go on a tour of the Emma Willard School campus before I begin work. This was my first introduction to an "Emma Girl" as well. The young woman who showed me around, a senior day student, was excited to tell me everything about her school, her interests, her projects, her friends' projects, what she's learned and what she hopes to learn. At the same time, I got to see the inside of each of the original buildings on campus, as well as the new additions over the years. I also got to see my office, which is ready and waiting for me to show up next Thursday! When I left Emma Willard, I drove through the surrounding neighborhoods to see whether I might like to live in any of them. There are several houses for sale that are within a few minutes of the school, and even some that might be in my budget. That will be another upcoming adventure! On my way to the school, I had passed a sign that said "Welcome to Troy - Burden Pond." I have ...

I've been "blog silent" for a couple of days and much has happened in our world during that time. Domestic terrorists (meaning, our neighbors) have killed many people, among them a young mother (the great-niece of a dear friend of mine) and her husband. Three children under the age of 5 were orphaned by a man who held hatred above all else. (And that's just the one family I'm most aware of... how many others are there?) On the other side of the country, another friend was verbally insulted and made to fear for his safety and that of his family. Why? Because he was skipping with his daughter. A stranger felt hatred above all else, and felt it so profoundly that he ruined a perfectly innocent moment between father and child. These acts of physical and verbal violence have hung heavy over my spirit these past few days. This morning I was at a breakfast meeting with a room full of people I've never met. The last thing on our minds was hatred. Our interaction...

It all started one mornin' on Kef Mason hill... the workers had gone and the air it was still. Our brood was itchin' to get on outside, when there in the distance we saw a fox stride. 'Ole Roxy was chompin' to give 'im a chase, while red tail a-flippin' he crossed the fence base. At lunch a bit later I says to my sis, that fox he was Irish 'cause red 'is hair is. Well I can't seriously write a whole blog like this because I'm done with the rhymin' and droppin' my g's. But you get the idea. This morning after the yard guys had finished up, we were preparing to let the herd loose when I spotted a fluffy red tail following after a tall, slender fox. Inside the yard. The doodles saw him too, and my two were oblivious. As Kef was about to go shoo him away, I was preparing to close the dog door so the hoard wouldn't go after this poor soul. Before we could act, he slipped his slender body through the fence and out into the...

Here it is... the moment we've all been waiting for! Many of you have been as eager as I to discover where I'll land next... and probably just as many are ready for me to get on with it already. I'm overjoyed to say that we're all getting what we want! I'm starting a new job and you all get a reprieve from reading about the in-between! So, the winner is.... Emma Willard School ! I am amazed beyond reason that I'm going to be working on the communication team at the "first women's higher education institution in the United States" ( Wikipedia ). It started out as higher education in 1814, and is now an all-girls high school. The girls can board or be day students. There are many students from other countries as well. Growing up in a small town in West Texas, I never knew about boarding schools. I didn't have the benefit of Harry Potter to fuel my imagination about what going away to school might be like... at least not as a teenager. I did,...

Pupstraction: Being distracted by puppies. We stood in the dining room this evening discussing possible blog topics while the pups entertained both us and themselves. Roxy's CleverPet was the source of much of this distraction. In case you haven't heard of the CleverPet... it's like a flying saucer full of dog treats has landed in your home. It has blue lights across the front a la 2001: A Space Odyssey , only less spectacular. If your pet taps the lights in the right order, they are rewarded with a treat. Unfortunately, it doesn't ever respond with Also sprach Zarathustra . (That would be super entertaining if it did, though.) Meg has decided that the CleverPet is the best source of nighttime snacks, but she doesn't really know how to open it. Her mom helps out when she gets the first one right but can't figure out the second one. Her Aunt Kef's tactic is to point to each correct light and encourage her to do it herself. She can do it with Kef's hel...

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was in Schenectady for a PRSA meeting, that I took pictures, and that I'd share them later. Later is now. Schenectady is one of those towns I've always heard of but don't know why. I just remember the name, but not why the place might have been significant. Maybe it's because Grace Adler was from Schenectady, but I doubt it. All of the other popular references are ones I wouldn't have known, but I can't imagine that I paid attention that closely when watching Will and Grace . Regardless, I knew the name before I moved here. It's about a half hour drive from our house to the downtown area of Schenectady, where we have had lunch, enjoyed a show, and I have had some meetings. It's a cute downtown area, with historic buildings along a very walkable main street called State Street. The place where we had our PRSA event is called Urban Co-Works. It's an interesting flexible office space that allows non...

I've often wondered whether the technology effect is good or bad. By the technology effect I mean the fact that you can readily find information on just about anything online, and you can use your devices for almost everything. For the most part, I love it. What I don't love is the fact that I don't seem to really know things anymore. I rely on Google to give me answers to my questions, my digital calendar to remind me of appointments, my phone to wake me up and do basic math, Facebook to tell me when there's a birthday and remind me what I was doing at this time last year. Growing up, my parents always encouraged us to find answers to our questions. Any time we asked them something, they'd say, "Look it up." What they really meant was that we should consult an encyclopedia or a dictionary. We had about four different sets of encyclopedias (maybe five?), which are now sorely out-dated. I miss looking things up in a book. Searching for subjects in Funk...

As I was walking through Petco today, I passed the ferrets and parakeets. Both reminded me of other ferrets and parakeets I'd encountered. I could tell the story of the diseased ferret that came into my life for a brief moment a few years back, but many of you already know the story... and that's not the one on my mind today. What's really on my mind is Pete. Pete was my green parakeet. My parents gave me Pete for my birthday (I don't remember which one), along with a custom cage that my father made. It had a sliding tray in the bottom that you could remove to clean out the cage and replace the paper. Pete came from my babysitter's house. She raised parakeets. The first challenge I had with Pete was naming him. Apparently, my parents had had several parakeets. I honestly don't remember the birds themselves (maybe they were before my time?), but I remembered that their names were Pete 1, Pete 2, Pete 3, etc. Because I knew this, my young mind could only think...

Today's post was going to be a photo gallery hodge podge. I intended to write something about a few of the  pictures in my phone that I haven't posted for whatever reason and explain why I took said picture. Well, apparently the wifi adapter in my computer has chosen to take the night off, and this is rather difficult to do on my phone. So, I'll just do one tonight. This info graphic was on display at the Kate Mullany house. It describes the discrimination that many Irish Catholics faced when they immigrated to the United States. I admit to being fairly uninformed about this.

I spent this afternoon in Troy, the Collar City. It is so named because of the detachable collars that were first imagined and then manufactured there. The purpose of my visit was primarily to visit the campus of the Emma Willard School for a job interview. Emma Willard was a pioneer in education for women, and felt there was no reason women could not be as well-educated as men. She was right. Over 200 years ago, she started a school for women and it is still going strong (although it has moved locations over time). The campus is stunning, and the staff are friendly and engaging. In addition to the advancement of education for women, Troy was also the home of Kate Mullany, the first woman to organize a labor union. She was a young Irish immigrant who took issue with the dangerous conditions and low wages paid to laundresses who washed and ironed the detachable collars Troy was known for. Kate organized her co-workers into the Collar Laundry Union in 1864. After my intervi...

When I was visiting the Horn-Eldred family last weekend, the end of my visit was punctuated with a much-anticipated geode smash. I have never had an unopened geode, much less participated in the process of breaking one open. Apparently this is something that Emma has done often, and each time she hopes for an interesting color other than white. When Emma took a hammer and broke the stone open, it was indeed filled with white crystals. Although that's not what she'd hoped for, they're beautiful nonetheless. I was gifted with this part of the stone... This entire experience got me to wondering... what gives a geode its color? The answer, I've found, is that it's the composition of minerals in the stone. Most are filled with white quartz. Sometimes you'll see brightly-colored geodes, but the brightness of color generally means it has been artificially colored. Certain minerals can contribute colors like blue, purple, pink or green but these are rare. You ca...