Saturday, March 28, 2020

Saturday Serendipity (March 28, 2020)


For this weekend of continuing Covid19 physical distancing and sequestering at home, here are a few recommended reads .  .  .

1.   Randy Seaver, of Genea-Musings blog, posted his very useful, regular post "Genealogy News Bytes."  What caught my eye during this time of home sequestrtion is the list of links to 16 genealogy videos that can be viewed on YouTube.  You can read Randy's full "Genealogy News Bytes" and peruse the menu of 16 different genealogy videos on YouTube here

2.   Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, posted a piece about how folks can participate in an indexing project through Family Search.  Indexing is something almost every genealogist uses at one time or another and it could be the perfect hiatus from one's own genealogy research while providing assistance to the research of others now and in the future.  You can read Janine's post here

3.   The Legal Genealogist blogger, Judy Russell, posted a nice piece that is a cautionary tale about  accepting information in a record, even if it is one that appears to be nearly contemporaneous with the event it purports to memorialize.  You can read Judy's story here

4.   As many of us are housebound due to the Covid19 pandemic and the important need to practice physical distancing until this can be brought under control, we all can use a break from watching too much TV fare, or even being drawn too deeply into our genealogy research to the exclusion of all other activity.  Those with young children who are forced out of school by the pandemic, might be looking to limit the TV bingeing of their kids by in some educational viewing.  James Tanner, of Genealogy's Star blog, posted about trying virtual tours online of interesting and educational places around the world.  Read his post here and get a couple of links he recommends such as Stonehenge and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

5.   During this time of pandemic stress we unfortuantely read about those damaged souls who in times of crisis like this seek out opportunities for self-enrichment by preying on the fears and panic of others.  We read about price gouging on scarce commodities, short selling on stocks, and promotion of sham and even dangerous products said to protect, treat, or even cure the illness caused by Covid19.  This kind of people and conduct have always been with us in times of widespread fear and panic.  For example, during the black plague cures such as rubbing onions, herbs, or chopped up snake or pigeon over the erupted skin were encourged and marketed; as were drinking vinegar, eating crushed minerals, arsenic, mercury, and even ten year old treacle.  This week at NEW ENGLAND FOLKLORE blog, Peter Muise reviewed for us the techniques supposedly used by New Englanders to ward off the fear and panic associated with the "infections" caused by witches.  You can read the post here

6.   And finally, lest you worry that with time on your hands while being sequestered or in quarantine you are not being as productive as you could be, you might take inspiration from five people who managed to be quite productive during quarantines.  You can read about the people and the reasons for their being quarantined here

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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