Week 33: #52 Ancestors – Troublemaker By Eilene Lyon Henry Z. Jenkins rose before dawn one morning in June 1827 in his single room in north Philadelphia’s Penn Township. His workday normally began at sunrise and ended at sundown – just like that of every other journeyman in the city. The master tradesmen dictated the... Continue Reading →
Absurdities #9
By Eilene Lyon The other day I dropped by the local college campus to review a book in their research library. As I headed back to my car, I encountered a mule deer buck in velvet, blithely using a rear hoof to scratch his ear, like a dog, as he idly chewed some leaves he'd... Continue Reading →
The Slide Years: Last Family Photo
By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. There’s something so prescient about this picture, taken at Christmas time in 1980 or 1981. As far as I know,... Continue Reading →
Erasing History
By Eilene Lyon “There are those who wrap themselves in flags and blow the tinny trumpet of patriotism as a means of fooling the people.” -- George Galloway I recently saw this meme posted on Facebook and felt it brought up issues regarding history that this blog ought to address. Taken at face value, I... Continue Reading →
The Drought Diaries: Innovation
By Eilene Lyon The Drought Diaries has been on hiatus, but the issue is at the forefront of my mind once again as we head into another season of extreme drought here in the southwestern U.S. Runoff from the area snowpack is expected to occur quickly and at a lower volume than average. There has... Continue Reading →
Mothers of Invention
By Eilene Lyon – May 5, 2020 “Necessity is the mother of invention” – a proverb Why “mother” and not father? I suspect women frequently find themselves in need of a solution to a problem. We tend to be multi-taskers by tradition and that means shortcuts and mechanical aids come in real handy. Plus, we’re... Continue Reading →
I Dig Compost
by Eilene Lyon The Putterer warned me several weeks ago that the compost bin was dangerously close to running over (he usually empties the kitchen slop pail). One of my spring rituals is getting the finished compost out to put in my barrels and vegetable garden. We have one of those Darth Vader-style bins that... Continue Reading →
Koch’s Disease
By Eilene Lyon -- March 24, 2020 It felled Egyptian Pharaohs and Greek warriors. It’s likely been around for 9,000 years or more. An estimate is that one in seven people who ever lived prior to 1800 succumbed to the disease, caused by a bacterium. Is this one of those plagues that have been eradicated... Continue Reading →
Back to the FANs
Week 1: #52 Ancestors - Fresh Start By Eilene Lyon To genealogists, the FAN acronym stands for Friends, Associates, Neighbors - people we should be researching alongside our ancestors to provide context and clues to family connections. My knee surgery rehab time on the exercise bike prompted me to start watching some Legacy Family Tree... Continue Reading →