Snow in Tucson

Snow: Too Much, Already or Whee! This is Fun
     Yesterday, when the weatherman said there would be snow in Tucson down to 3000 feet we all said, okay. Then this morning it was beautiful and the Accenture Golf Tournament told how they'd let the grass grow (in other words they didn't trim it overnight to it's velvety smooth World Class Golf Tournament quality) and wet the geens down. Well, they started off fine this morning at 8 am or so just fine at about 48 degrees and pretty and very little wind, but by 10 am it started raining, 10:30 am it was pouring rain, and by 11:30 am it was SNOWING!!! Big large fluffy flakes. Everyone on Facebook was posting photos and Taylor my young 14 year old friend called me from her high school, all excited. My daughter called to tell me to look out the window, and yes, I did go out and take pictures. 

Looking West from My Front Door 11:30am

Looking Out my Front Door towards the Road

Looking East Down the Ramp

     The above photos are indeed showing just a little bit of snow, but, boy oh boy was it fun to see all the comments on FaceBook by friends in Tucson about this unusual snow day. I have a photo of  my granddaughter playing out in it. But it didn't last too long, it began raining and the snow turned to slush and mud.

Tehya Lee Palmer age 2 1/2  Playing with Large Fluffy Snowflakes

     But you've got to figure, that this little girl will probably be 8 or 10 years old before she can see snow in her front yard again if she continues to live in Tucson. 
     Now mind you, I know the rest of the nation is pretty tired of blizzards, snow, ice and winter storms and I really am truly sorry that when this storm leaves Arizona that it will probably carry a wallop for them.
Oh, It SNOWED AGAIN!
     At 5 pm I looked out the window and it was snowing again. Of course I rushed outside and took a few more photos. This time I tried to be a little "Arty" and took 30 more photos. Ahhhh, I know, but you see I am not a very good photographer. So I figured that I might get one or two good ones. However this time, I had to juggle an umbrella and tread very carefully in the slushy ice just outside my door. The rain was cascading off my roof onto my head, thus the umbrella was a necessity. 

Feb 20, 2013 5:30 pm

What a difference a month makes!!!! Compare these two views of the ramp at my house.

Working as Volunteer in my Family History Center

FamilySearch Center or Family History Center?

     Today I work from 9 am to 1 pm at the Tucson North & West Stake's Family History Center located on the west side of Tucson, 3530 W. Magee, Tucson. I travel from my home in Picture Rocks East out Cortaro Farms Rd. to Thornydale and go south or right to the first light which is Magee.

West Stake Family History 

Center open hours are:

Tues 9AM-5PM

Thu 4PM-8PM

Wed 9AM-5{M

Sat 9AM-1PM

     The Red Cross is holding a blood drive this morning at our West Stake Center on the west side of the building,  and my friends, Jim and Linda Knight stopped by to see their friends, David and LaRein Marx, who have been the Directors for the past two and a half years. Their mission came to an end on January 31, 2013.
     The exterior door to the Family History Center is located on the East side of the building.



East side entrance West Stake Center



Interior Door where
Jim and Linda Knight entered

 

Upon entering everyone must sign in, even the workers.

     You will enter into the main area that they call the classroom. In here there is a desk, file cabinets, two large tables, chalkboard and a wall of reference books. However, the real work area is where the computers are located to the left of the classroom area. Below David Marx is turning on all of the computers for the patrons to use.

     Two large doors open into the computer area, where seven computer stations and a place to scan, make copies of microfilm pages, as well as paper copies are found. It is overall an open and inviting center for research. The offer free access to Ancestry.com and ArkivDigital, Ancestral Quest, as well as other genealogy programs such as Legtacy 7.5, PAF 5, and RootsMagic 4. 
Other premium websites available to patrons for free are: 
19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
Access Newspaper Archive
Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War
Find My Past
Fold3
The Genealogist
Godfrey Memorial Library
Heritage Quest Online
Historic Map Works Library Edition
Paper Trail
World Vital Records

    All of the patrons are urged to bring their own stick drives in case they find documents they would like to take home with them. This morning one patron found a newspaper article but to just print it would make the size of the print so small as to not be readable. So by saving it as a PDF file to her stick drive, she transferred it to her laptop and when she goes home, can print the part of it that is pertinent in a much larger format.

     There is also a room full of microfilm and microfiche readers that can be darkened so that it is easier to read the films that people order.
     Films are now ordered online at familysearch.org. You must be signed in and create a FamilySearch account to order films.  When you find a film number in the catalogue via Place name or location and time period, it will then give you the film number, and when you click on this number it will take you via  link to the place to order your film.
Films are shipped to the Family History Center and are available  for 60 days for $7.50. Most people can find everything you can extract within that 60 days. However, for another $7.50 you can extend an order for another 60 days. You can extend as many times as you like, paying the extension fee. But if you know up front that you will want the film indefinitely, then you can order it for $18.75.
     Microfiche are $4.75 each. Online methods of payment include Visa, Master Card, Pre-paid cards, and Pay Pal. There is an online interactive tutorial under Ordering Help at the FamilySearch website.
     My friend Ann Bodmer just came in after donating blood, what fun!!! It's her first time visiting the FamilySearch Center .... or is it the Family History Center?
On the FamilySearch.org/locations website they say they are FamilySearch Centers, but when individually listed they are still Family History Centers. This is a transition period of what advertising people call re-signing or introducing the public to a new image or name. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City now has FamilySearch in very large letters on it's building entranceway. You really have to look for the old sign outdoors that says Family History Library.
It is a time for change both for me and for Family History. Hope you will join the fun new changes that I'll be talking about over the next two months.

Technology Can Be Very Maddening

     Over the past year, several  people have commented on having problems viewing my blog because the background image is so distracting. Others have tried to post a long comment only to have it disappear into cyberspace. Technology can be very maddening sometimes. I've learned to copy into a word doc if I want to be sure what I am writing doesn't "disappear." This past year, with my husband Bob's death, I've been left with what I call "grieving holes" in my life. I can't seem to get back into a pattern and my blog has suffered from it. A recent friend's comment on my blog has awakened me to the original concept of my BEE postings: that during my life, I’ve enjoyed sharing the interesting things that I’ve discovered in my daily studies and travels with my friends. Sometimes this has enriched their lives.

     So, I will be attending RootsTech 2013 in Salt Lake this March to learn more about where technology in Family History is trending and share what I learn on my blog. Also, I've committed to the local Family History Center to volunteer every Saturday morning. Perhaps I can get back into regular posting on my blog about that, too.

Update on my life

About grieving: Although the Holy Ghost is the comforter, I've noticed that my life has been relatively level. I have moments of tears because a song played reminds me of my husband. Or where I see a scene on a television program that reminds me of something that we've done together in the past and now, we won't be doing that anymore. Yet, through all of these tear filled moments, I know that we are eternal companions and linked together forever. I see Bob's influence in my current life in the details. Like when the cashier at my local Fry's market gives me a bouquet of roses, after a prayerful desire to have Bob around. The rose was "our" flower. Since yesterday was Valentine's Day that Fry's cashier inviting me again to take a dozen free roses that were going out of date, was appropriate. My Sweetie remembered me from the other side of the veil and I got a dozen long stemmed roses!

     My daughter has also had a rough streak of grieving this past month. She is taking college courses mostly online and her math class has been difficult for her this timea round. Her dad used to tutor her in math. He was a gifted teacher and as we homeschooled wherever we lived, he became more and more involved. Finally in Guadalajara, he became her math teacher on a regular basis. Always patient, he would explain things to her in a way she could understand them. Now, she has to struggle doing it alone.

The above photos were taken on Kwajalein where we lived from 1991-5 showing Bob giving Brianna a music lesson and working on a science project.

     I had planned on keeping my grieving process on this blog, but when it came right down to it, I somehow just couldn't do it. I did, however, keep a journal, where I wrote extensively. Recently, I've just made contact with Bob's son from his first marriage (Ann died at a very young age, leaving him with two small boys) and shared with him the many photos we put together for a slide show of his life for his memorial service. I'd put that slide show here, if I could figure out technically how to do it. Hmmm, a future goal is in the making.

About Remembering Our Parents: I was reminded recently about how much I looked like my father, Joseph Marvin Eckles. Apparently as I grow older, the family facial characteristics seem more remarkable. So I posted these photos in Facebook as a comparison. But quite frankly they are the ONLY ones that show the resemblance:

 

 

 

My father above is age 27 and this is me at age 23

 

     My mother, Vivian Ruthe Utterback,  was born on February 1, 1912 and so this month to celebrate her 101st birthday ...she died in 15 Dec 1985, I have been posting quite a few photos of her on Facebook also. I've posted photos from just a few months old on up through her life. My next blog will be about her with some of those photos.