Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I Dream of Jeanie Ology

Have you ever seen the stage show or movie of Fiddler on the Roof? There's a scene in which the main character, Tevye, describes to his wife a nightmare he is pretending to have had. Lots of ghosts, confusion, and screaming ancestors. That's what the last few nights have felt like. I close my eyes to go to sleep and names and dates swirl through my head.

In an attempt to make full use of my limited-time membership in Ancestry.com, one of the leading genealogy websites on the Internet, I have devoted about 90% of my recent waking hours to researching my relatives. When I feel I've exhausted the resources for one branch, I switch to another one. I've been creating files on my computer with family trees, historical facts, and citations for as many of those facts as possible. I've started manila file folders, labelled and sorted. Alphabetically. Of course.

It's been fascinating, frustrating and exhausting. Frankly, at the moment, I'm sick of doing it!

That won't last, but I have to say I welcomed the chance to take a break today when Meital had a friend over to swim. I sat outside, one eye on the girls, and the other on a great book my neighbor Ellen loaned me: The Woods, by Harlan Coben. I couldn't put it down, and just finished it about twenty minutes ago. I also found time today to start yet another washcloth. That's about all I can manage these days: small, made of cotton, garter stitch. I still haven't finished Liat's Shetland Shorty, and while I have worked on my niece's knee sock, it hasn't seen much action for the last couple of days. It just feels too hot to knit (heresy, I know, but there it is).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amy, Good to read you again. Its 95* here today but as long as its not humid I don't mind.
No one I know has time for much needle work these days. I am trying to redo my house, long over due . A little at a time , New house carpet this spring and carpet on patio instead of paint. Now getting ready to paint inside.
I guess I am just doing to keep busy.
I also am doing a lot of reading .I used to love to read. i am into the Wanda E. Burnsetters series about Amish Life in story form.
later.Elsie <><

Joansie said...

How many generations back have you gone? Researching family really is a lot of fun. You're just a little burnt out right now but the enthusiasm will return and you will resume where you left off.

Anonymous said...

Jeanie Ology. Too funny!

My husband and I once ran our names through a genealogy program and found out we're both direct descendants of the same Mayflower person.

Sandy said...

I hope you are finding some interesting information. I did a brief search once and didn't come up with a lot of information. My aunt keeps the history as far back as her mother and father. It gets very convoluted. My husband's side of the family has been researched quite a bit and the information is documented on a website. It's always nice to take a break and do something enjoyable like reading. I have read 2 books on this road trip. I hope to start one more this week. Enjoy your brief hiatus from knitting.