Wonderful Readers' Top Picks for 2011

As the sun sets on 2011, sit back and enjoy your top 12 picks at The Turning of Generations for this past year. According to Google Analytics these are the most viewed posts this year, so they really are the top pick of my Wonderful Readers.

1. Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems. This particular series was about William Ballenger's Military Warrant file. Several individual posts in this series made the top 10 so I've combined this into one selection pointing you to the summary post which has links to the individual posts in the series. I was surprised this was so popular and I think we partly have Randy Seaver to thank for highlighting it in his weekly Best of the Genea-Blogs.
2. Metadata, Image Files and Migration. Something we will want to think more about with some of our projects this coming year for The 21st Century Organized Family Historian (see #8 below). Nira Porter Chambliss of The Door Keepers provided a link in the comments to a really helpful article.
3. 98th  Edition of COG - Document Analysis! Bessie Maud Passmore Birth Certificate. This post was actually published in October 2010 and for some reason continues to remain high on the hit list with readers. I did go a little overboard with my creative use of metaphor but why it's so popular is a mystery to me. Maybe there are a lot of Passmore researchers out there? Thanks go to Jasia, and her Carnival of Genealogy, for providing the topic for a popular post and one that has put me in contact with a distant cousin.
4. Mt. St. Helens Eruption - Disasters. A topic that surely is high in search hits, this was part of Amy Coffin's (We Tree Blog) 2011 series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History.
5. How Do You Organize Your Blog Reading? A topic I still am tinkering with, I'm glad it generated interest.
6. When is it OK to Throw an Old Photo Away? Sorting Saturday. There was some excellent discussion in the comments on this post and I suspect we will continue to ponder and discuss it in the New Year (see #8 below).
7. A Look at a Cash Entry Land File - The Summary. I'm pleased you Wonderful Readers have taken an interest in land files. It's a topic I'm finding very interesting and productive as far as making progress in my research. I haven't yet covered the ever popular Homestead Files. Look for that series in 2012. I'm putting a different spin on it.
8. Introducing the 21st Century Organized Family Historian (#21COFH). I am shocked, pleased, humbled and a little intimidated to see that this one post in the last few days of 2011 made the top 12 for the year! There has been a debate raging in my mind for the last several months as to whether or not to do this series as I wasn't sure if there would really be much interest. Considering that this one post generated an all time high in daily hits to The Turning of Generations, I would say there is some pent up interest in the community! My hope (besides getting this family archival mess straightened up) is that we all can learn from each other by going through this process. Let's get it done!
9. Treasure Chest Thursday - The Time Capsule - Part 2. This series is from 2010 and while I'm not sure why this one post from the series popped up as number 9 but I'm really glad. Examining and preserving the contents of a suitcase of my great grandmother, Frances Lowe, was a favorite project. I've updated the post to include links to the other articles in the series.
10. The Green 1964 Chevy Impala. This was another 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, the topic of which was - cars. Classic cars are always fun.
11. COG-Scrapbooking Your Family History! Frances Lowe Another  Carnival of Genealogy topic, scrapbooking of any kind is always fun.
12. Progress on the Archival Closet on Sorting Saturday. This is the perfect post to end your list of top choices from 2011. Progress has been made! More progress will occur in 2012. I think I see an Archival Room in my future!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

That's One Small Step for Man - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Photo by J. Richard Roos

I always was and still am fascinated by outer space so it's no surprise that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's becoming the first two men to walk on the moon is deeply etched in my mind.

Our family was on Whidbey Island, Washington that hot, sunny day on July 21, 1969. Our black and white TV was showing transmissions from space while us kids played on the beach, anxiously running inside every so often to see if it the Eagle had landed. I don't remember the harrowing search for a landing spot or how close they came to running out of fuel. I just remember a spaceship setting down on the moon! After the Eagle landed, I remember Mom telling us that the astronauts had to take a nap before they could go for their moon walk. That meant we had to wait. Sheez!! I've always wondered if they really slept! Would you have been able to? I don't think I could have!!

It was a long afternoon for this 9 year old girl. Finally, sometime after we had eaten dinner and us kids returned to play on the beach, someone called to us that it was time. It was so incredibly exciting then and now to think of a human being walking on the moon. I still like to sit and look at the moon on a nice evening and think about those days and what it must have been like for those men to see an earthrise. I still love to watch documentaries about the moon program.

True to form, Dad was there with his camera taking pictures of the fuzzy images from space appearing on TV. I am so glad that he did! You have to use your imagination a little to decipher the picture but then if you were watching TV on July 21, 1969, it shouldn't be too diffucult.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Scrapbook template is "Colorful Memories" designed by Story Rock and can be found at MyMemories.com.

Grandma's Kitchen - 52 Weeks

Made using MyMemories and A Fresh
Start Quick Pages by LeeLou Designs..

Grandma's kitchen was small by today's standards, and old, even by 1960s standards. I have many warm memories of "helping" Grandma cook in her kitchen. While unpacking one of the many boxes from my grandparents' house that had been sitting in the Family Home for several decades, I ran across this set of measuring spoons. I immediately recognized it because I used to love to measure out ingredients with these spoons. It now has its own place on our counter at the cabin.

One conversation I remember having with her, while sitting on the countertop one day, was asking how or where people went to the bathroom back in the olden days. Since Grandma grew up out in the country as a little girl, they had an outhouse. I was fascinated by that thought. Not so much anymore today though...ewww.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Adventure in my Grandparent's Bathroom - 52 Weeks

Former home Dick & Margie Roos taken June 1994 by J. Richard Roos.
Cheney, Washington. It's pretty much as I remember it was when I last was there in 1977.

This is part 2 of a 3 part series about my grandparent's home. Yesterday I wrote about their very cool basement. Today, I'll tell you  about a little adventure in their bathroom when I was about five.

One summer day after using Grandma and Grandpa's only bathroom, I found myself locked in. I'm really not sure how that happened but I couldn't open the door to get out. So I called out to the family through the window that was over the steps leading to the back door. Everyone was on the patio which was just beyond the steps and a conference convened at the bathroom window.

Old House Parts

After demonstrating that the vintage lock was jammed and not allow me to turn the glass door nob and open the bathroom door, the search for some rescue supplies began. I'm not sure if someone tried unlocking the door from the other side with a skeleton key, which were in abundance in Grandma and Grandpa's home. I've always wondered about that...but I have to assume they tried this and failed.

So, I waited in the bathroom and visited with whoever was hanging with me at the window. I probably stuck my head down the laundry shute and asked if I could escape that way. I always wanted to do that but was strictly forbidden...

Eventually Grandpa returned with a very long dowel or something that would reach the length of the bathroom. He always had stuff like that around. He had carved the end to fit over the jammed latch and made it a game for me to guide the dowel securely over the latch and help him turn it to unlock the door. Wouldn't you know it worked! I was free!

I was told later that the entire ordeal was made out to be a game so that I wouldn't panic. Dad and Grandpa were really good that way and it worked.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

My Grandparents had the Coolest House - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Richard & Margie Roos home circa 1930.

My grandparents had the coolest house. At least it was cool from the perspective of a little kid. Over the next three days I'll tell you three things about the house, and our adventures there, that made it so great.

First, there was the basement. It was never properly graded and so there was a slope to the floor. Dad's bedroom was down there and since there was a slight slope, if you got out of bed on one side, it was a bit of a drop to the floor! This was where I slept most of the time when we visited. I always made sure to get out of bed on the uphill side until I was older and taller. I loved this room because all of the cabinets and drawers were built into the wall and there were lots of them. They were full of old things like toy soldiers and marbles. Some of those very items have appeared from boxes this past year in our adventure of cleaning out Mom and Dad's house, where I grew up, and have brought back many fond memories.

In addition to Dad's room, there was a dark room for film developing (remember, I'm the 3rd generation of avid amateur photographers). There was a freezer and washing machine too. I don't remember if there was a drier but I do remember there being clothes lines that Grandma used to hang clothes to be dried in the winter.

There also was a door that led out the back of the house to the garage. I remember everyone using that door in the winter instead of the back door to the main floor of the house. That's probably because it was only a few steps from the garage to the basement door and then you were out of the snow and ice.

Finally, there was the back half of the basement that was Grandpa's workshop and storage. Since the floor sloped, the adults had to stoop a little when they got back to this corner. I remember the storage area being kind of dark and creepy. Come to think of it, all of these super old boxes of photos and other papers that I have inherited were probably stored there!

More tomorrow...

Adventure in my Grandparents' Bathroom

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Can You Say Giddyup? 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Horseclipart.com

Actually my first job was no where near that glamorous. I was a stall mucker for $1.50 a day. Yep, you read that correctly. I cleaned stalls and after I proved myself trustworthy, I was given the responsibilities of feeding and turning out horses and then bringing them back into their stalls in the evening. Rain or shine, I loved every minute of it.

After holding these high responsibilities for a time, I was allowed to excercise some of the horses and then I was taught how to halter break the foals. Around this time I was given a big raise to $3.00 a day. Yeah, that's $3 per day.

It was hard work. I still loved every minute of it. It kept a 14 year old kid busy and created wonderful memories and fabulous opportunities. We'll talk about those another day.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Road Trips & Smells - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

This post for 52 Weeks of Personal History and Genealogy combines the topics of smells and road trips. Our family took lots of road trips when I was a kid. None of them were of the true cross country type but we took road trips all over the Pacific Northwest. There was one we took regularly;  from our home near Seattle to my grandparents home in Cheney, Washington.

There are three places we would stop for a break on our journey to Cheney: Ellensburg, Vantage near the Columbia River, and Moses Lake. In Ellensburg there was a restaurant right off of I-90 where we would stop to eat. I always enjoyed stopping in Vantage; there was A&W Root Beer, or something like it, and the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park. Sometimes we would get out and hike around Ginko and maybe have a picnic lunch. I've always been fascinated with petrified wood because of our stops here.

The most fun place to stop was in Moses Lake. There was a park with an awesome playground right next to the lake. It was the perfect place for little kids to burn off some energy after being cooped up in the car and have a nice picnic lunch. As we got older we didn't stop there as often probably because the park lost its allure.

So where do the smells come in? Well, when I was younger, our car didn't have air conditioning and Eastern Washington gets rather warm in the summer. So we had to drive with the windows open. The smell I can remember is that of Sage coming in the car windows from the desert. I've always been fond of Sage.

One last memory I have of these road trips was doing the drive at night. Our family had a station wagon so my parents would make beds for us in the way back and we could sleep on the ride over. This was in the days before seatbelts were mandatory. In fact, I'm not sure our station wagon even had seatbelts in the backseat. My how times change. I remember one night we had stopped for gas and I woke up and my mom said to me, "we're in George Washington and Martha's in here." I was perplexed but then she explained to me that we were in the town of George, in the state of Washington, and there was a motel called the Martha Inn. I know, bad joke.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Seaview Elementary School - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and HIstory

Seaview Elementary School. Photographed by
Michelle Goodrum, August 1997.

Seaview elementary was and is a kindergarten through sixth grade school and is where I attended for those grades. It was fairly new back then and probably had around 600 students.

The classrooms were organized around four bays with five classrooms opening into each common area. These common areas had a boys and girls bathroom and a large open area where the lunch carts would come every day. Each of the five classrooms was dismissed one at a time to get their lunches and you had a choice of hot lunch or the milk cart. We had 30 minutes for lunch and then a half hour recess afterward. The lower grades had both a morning and mid-afternoon recess of about 15 minutes. each. The upper grades just had one 15 minute recess and I can't remember if it was in the morning or afternoon. We had a playground and two covered “sheds” which got used a lot because of the constant rain in the Pacific Northwest.

In 1997, Seaview was modernized and remodeled. We wandered by before they had gotten too far into the project and were able to look into the windows of some of my former classrooms. My old second-grade classroom, Miss Poor was my teacher, still had the same blue countertops and probably the same blackboard. Yes, I said blackboard, complete with chalk. Did I mention the school needed to be modernized?

Another family and the construction manager were wandering around at the same time we were so we started talking. The construction manager told us all about the modernizations that were coming to the Seaview and then asked us if we had children who attended. I replied, no we didn't but I had attended Seaview Elementary from grades K through six. The other dad looked at me like I was an alien from another planet. Either I looked really young or he couldn't believe school was that old! Moving on…


It was really fun to wander up to my old school, before they had done too much remodeling, reminisce and learn about the changes that were coming which by the way are probably completely outdated by now!

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

PE - Worst School Subject - Or Worst Teachers

For the most part I liked school and the subjects I studied. I don't particularly remember having a favorite subject but there was one I couldn't stand – PE. It had more to do with the teachers I had in elementary and junior high school than the subject.

Our elementary school PE teacher, Mr. Galbraith, probably was ex-military because he sure taught PE like we were in the military. Everybody had their assigned spot in the gym where we did our calisthenics: jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, etc. Mr. Galbraith would walk around like a drill sergeant counting out jumping jacks and making sure everyone stayed in their spot. Sheesh.  

On the positive side, every once in a while he would get out the big giant parachute. I always thought that was fun standing around the edges of the parachute, going in a circle, making it wave, throwing it up while still holding the edges and everybody would go underneath the parachute while pulling it down over us. The other activity I did enjoy was rope climing. I can remember reaching the top of that rope for the first time and feeling a real sense of accomplishment. I also remember getting rope burn sometimes if I slid down too fast.

Then in junior high school, we had Mrs. Watts. She was worse. Her grade was based on athletic ability and she would walk around while we would do our calisthenics with her grade book marking down whatever it was that she marked in it. Part of our grade was taking athletic tests such as how many baskets you made out of ten. What really made me mad about that was the “star” athletes of the school would take the tests, do well, but cut class all the time. Mrs. Watts didn’t seem to mind it because she still gave those girls As on their report cards, while the rest of us….well you can guess.

Showers were mandatory at the end class and there was Mrs. Watts standing next to the showers with her grade book making sure that we all took our showers. If you didn’t get wet enough, she would send you back to shower some more. Good grief!

I remember having PE for the first period of the day and we would have to go out and run the track. Often times it would be drizzling or foggy and always miserable; particularly since I hate to run.

Then the worst thing happened for eighth grade; I had to have Mrs. Watts again! However, shortly after the school year started, she had to take an extended leave of absence. Her misfortune was our gain because the substitute was awesome! She made PE fun and graded us on our effort. She didn't emphasize showers. From then on PE was fun and I enjoyed the other PE teachers I had the rest of my school career as well.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Lima Beans and Peas - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & Family History

My parents made me eat them anyway. Gagging notwithstanding. Didn't matter if I waited until they were stone cold and Mom had cleaned up dinner and the family was enjoying the nightly TV show. I had to eat them.

Today, I love lima beans. I also love fresh peas picked right off the vine and eaten on the spot. Mmmmm... Cooked peas, they're OK.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."
© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Hobbies - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & Family History

The top 8 hobbies (that I can remember) from childhood, in reverse order:

8. Weaving potholders. Brenda over at Journey to the Past reminded me of this fun hobby in her recent post.
7. Collecting shells, rocks and beach glass.
6. Collecting coins (well pennies anyway). I had one of those books with slots for each year and city where the coin was minted.
5. Growing vegetables (something Dad and I did together).
4. Walking the beach.
3. Reading: Nancy Drew and the Little House on the Prairie series were among my favorites.
2. Photography. Dad started me out with a really simple point and shoot that I had through college. Occasionally he would allow me to use his nice camera.

My number one childhood hobby that carried me into adulthood were my horses. If I start talking horses now I might not stop for a really long time, so I'll save that for another day.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & Family History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Vacations & Summer - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

Have you ever been fortunate enough to visit a place that becomes part of your soul? A part of your very being? A place that is seemingly timeless? Enjoyed generation after generation? Well I have. As part of my 52 Weeks catch-up, I've decided to combine Summer and Vacation into one post and tell you about my very special place.

My special place is in Puget Sound, Washington; enjoyed by my parents and my father's parents before me, myself, and my children. Spending summers on the beach is one of those wholesome things I wish every child could do: going for long walks and collecting shells, rocks and whatever else may have floated up; throwing sticks in the water for the dogs, playing with your new best friend; building forts and sometimes learning how to overcome boredom.

Some things never change and to this day one of my favorite things is to walk the beach and see the products of hours of scouring the beach for driftwood that washed up during the winter.

Summer 1968

Wood Wars. Building forts is not without its challenges and controversy. Sometimes the kids would come inside all bent out of shape because the boys down the beach had stolen some pieces of wood from their fort. This usually resulted in much plotting and planning to retrieve their wood after dark. Back and forth it would go, with the kids keeping a close eye on their forts in hopes of catching the thieves red-handed.

Other years we would build more of a one dimensional village. It turns out that this was not our original idea.  The author, Alice McLerran visited my children’s elementary school one year. She read her book Roxaboxen, about a village she and her friends built near Yuma as a child. It sounded very familiar to me and captured the imagination of my own children who built their own version that they dubbed The Burrough. They had shops, houses, signs and even money (using beach glass with different colors representing a specific denomination). As the summer wore on, The Burrough grew and grew and became a bit of a tourist attraction for people walking the beach!

To this day, the neighbors still mention our beach fort creations. I can’t wait for an excuse to build more! I still enjoy helping build these beach creations. But alas, my children are now too old for such fun. I’ll just have to wait for some more little ones to come along! In the meantime, I walk the beach and enjoy the creations made by the current generation.

My favorite creation this summer. Someone went to a great deal of effort!

My second favorite creation. Built in the perfect spot to take a break while on a beach walk, and enjoy the ships, wildlife or just relax.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

Disclaimer: Our family owns several of Alice McLerran's books. You could say we are fans of hers. The books were purchased with our own hard earned money (allowances in the case of the kids).

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

A New Sibling - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

My earliest memory is that of Sibling arriving home from the hospital after being born. I would have been around two and a half. My grandparents were staying with me. I remember going into my room, the one with the flowered curtains, flopping down on my bed, picking at the flowers on my bedspread and wishing my mommy would come home. I remember being rather distressed.

Being that it was a fairly nice day (historical weather data bears out my memories), my bedroom window was open and I heard a car drive into the driveway. I would've had to stand on something to see out my bedroom window and I can't recall what that was but it's possible I crawled in my cradle and stood up on that. By the time I looked out the window, my mom was getting out of the car with this little bundle in her arms. Naturally I was very excited. After all my mommy was home!

Later I remember getting my first look at Sibling and Mom telling me to be very careful.

Amy Coffin's series, 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History is a series of blogging prompts that "invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants."

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Time to Say Goodbye - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

The timing of this week's topic is impeccable. I lived in one house growing up and only had one bedroom. My room had hardwood floors, white walls, some very cheery flower curtains,

a cute light switch,

a little red rug on the floor, and a cradle.

Long after I had outgrown the cradle, it remained in my room as a play toy for my baby dolls to sleep in. As I grew up, some other items moved in: a blackboard, shelves for all of my stuff, an old antique school desk and later a real desk. My "real desk"was mostly piled high with things (some habits are hard to break!). Occasionally, my mom would make me it clear it off. Then as I got older I actually needed it for schoolwork so I was somewhat better about keeping it clean. Somewhat...

Over the years, some of the items were moved out: the cradle and antique school desk were relegated to the basement. After I grew up and moved away, my room never really changed, until recently. With mom's decision to downsize, it was time to clean out. My old room has come full circle; the cheery flower curtains are gone, the little red rug has been moved to our home, the light switch with the little girl was saved as a memento, the walls have been painted, the old gray rug removed, and we’re back to hardwood floors. It's time to say goodbye to my old room.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

The Old Spagetti Factory - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

One of our family's favorite restaurants that has spanned several generations is The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Seattle. As a kid, my family would go there for a family occasion with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Now that I am a parent, I understand why The Old Spaghetti Factory was the restaurant of choice; it's casual and noisy, which is perfect for kids, and it's relatively inexpensive.

Two things stick out from childhood experiences there. First, one time, when the restaurant was really busy, the adults wanted to wait in the bar but in Washington State, minors cannot even put their big toe in a bar. Since our party was large, tables were set up in such a way that the adults were sitting inside the bar and the kids were out in the very large waiting area. We thought that was pretty wild.

Second, one of my cousins was very social, so by the time we left the restaurant, we had a full report on all the people sitting near us, and on the way to the restroom. Including why they were having dinner there and pretty much their life story!

Once we moved to Phoenix and started our own family, we continued the tradition of eating at the restaurant in downtown Tempe on Mill Avenue. We would take the kids there for dinner on New Year's Eve and if we were really lucky would score a table in the cable car!

Oh, and one more thing. My favorite dish: spagetti with clam sauce and a side of misithra cheese.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.



© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Bow Down To Washington - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

My parents were big fans of college sports, particularly the University of Washington Huskies. I don’t ever remember them not having Husky Basketball tickets. They had Husky Football season tickets all through the Don James years and beyond. When the Huskies earned their berth in the 1978 Rose Bowl, their first Rose Bowl trip in many years, Mom and Dad were all about getting tickets to the Rose Bowl. For me, a high school senior, that meant my first trip to Disney Land ever!

So for our whirlwind trip to So Cal, we took in Disney, Universal Studios, New Years Eve at the Bonaventure Hotel and on New Year’s morning, the Rose Parade, and then the Rose Bowl later that day. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember too much about the game except the cheerleaders getting the Husky fans to do an early version of “the wave” starting at the bottom of the stands and going to the top.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.


© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Pinwheel Cookies - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

When I saw this weeks topic of Sweets, the first thing that popped into my mind was Nabisco's Pinwheel Cookies. I don't remember them being an all time childhood favorite but I did really enjoy them and still do on occassion.

I've tried purchasing them, a few times, in more recent years. The problem is there aren't very many in a package and we have a family member, who shall remain unidentified (but it's not me), that has a horrible sweet tooth. So a package just doesn't last long enough to make it worthwhile (for me) to buy them (unless I were to hide them away somewhere).

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Movies - 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History

As a child I don't remember seeing very many movies at all. It wasn't until my teenage years that I began to hit the movie theatres on a regular basis. I do remember seeing two classics as a kid. The very first movie was Mary Poppins and the other one I remember (and I absolutely loved it) was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Both of those movies have turned out to be timeless classics. I can't even begin to count how many times our family has seen those two movies since we purchased them on video. We all still love Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.


© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Teenagers, Cars,Physics and... an Injury

Sometimes the best stories are also the most embarrassing. Teenagers can be quite creative. They can also be really dumb. It's embarrassing to admit but I was no different.

One evening a group of us went to the movies and on the way home, someone came up with a little "physics experiment" involving the car. On the way to our house, there are a number of hills and in the last little stretch approaching home, the road is flat. Someone wondered; if we started at the top of this one big hill, put the car in neutral, coast down and up the hills, and around the corners, if we could get all the way to my house using just the momentum of the car. We gave it a try.

Down the big hill we went, with the car in neutral, picking up speed. Then we started up the next hill, turned the corner, and proceeded to coast along a fairly flat area. Gradually the car slowed down and it quickly became apparent that we were not going to make it to that last hill where we would pick up speed again and coast along the last flat area to my house. This is where teenage ingenuity and stupidity kicked in. The driver and the person in the front passenger seat opened the car doors and proceeded to use their feet to paddle keeping the car moving. I was sitting in the backseat and decided to help. So I opened my door, stuck my foot out and started paddling. All of a sudden, I felt the tire grab my foot. Out of the car I came! The next thing I knew I was lying on the pavement with the car's tire ever so slowly rolling over my foot. Once my foot was free, I hopped up, said I was fine, and climbed back in the car. It wasn't a few but a few seconds later that my foot really began to hurt, and when I pulled down my sock. There was a hole in my ankle!

So we had to go home and explain to my parents. Everyone then piled into their car and off to the emergency room we went. An x-ray revealed no broken bones but I did have to get the hole in my ankle cleaned out and stitched up. The doctor said a stud from the tire probably punctured my ankle and that I must have really pliable bones to not have broken every bone in my foot. Then he took a look at the shoes I was wearing. You remember wedges? The shoes that were popular in the 1970s with the really thick rubber soles? That's what I was wearing. He said those shoes probably saved my foot.

I don’t really remember what my recuperation was like. I probably lay around with my foot elevated for at least a short while but as I’m not one to be kept down for long, I imagine that didn’t last. So that’s my stupid teenager injury story and I’m sticking to it!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Mt. St. Helens Eruption - Disasters

   

West side of Mount St. Helens, looking up the South Fork
 Toutle River valley March 25, 1980. By WAstateDNR



© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum The Eruption of Mount St. Helens is the only natural disaster that I have truly lived through. There isn't a May 18th that has gone by since 1980 that I don't think about that day. At the time, I was a student at Washington State University, in Pullman which is in eastern Washington, and experienced the ash fallout with its resulting aftermath first hand. The morning of the eruption, a Sunday, I woke up to what I can only describe as weird, greenish lighting outside. Slowly day turned into night as the ash coming our way covered the sun and began to fall from the sky. By mid afternoon it was as dark as midnight and we were being cautioned against going outside as there might be poisonous gasses in the ash.



May 18, 1980 eruption. Photo by WAstateDNR.

Students who lived in the surrounding dorms had to go outside to get to our dining hall in order to eat. I was fortunate in that my dorm was attached to the dining hall. Sudents coming into our dining hall from other dorms had to wear layers of clothing to protect against the ash. Some students dressed up like Star Wars storm troopers and even Darth Vader, complete with light sabers!


Surface of the debris flow in North Fork Toutle River valley,
looking southeast toward the volcano. May 24, 1980.
Photo by WAstateDNR.

The university was closed for several days; something that even snow couldn't do. People couldn't drive their cars without the engine being choked on ash. The state patrols had to put these huge filters on the front of their patrol cars to keep the ash out of the engine.

Unfortunately, that was one of the only times in my life that I had no film for my camera and no way to get any as the student store, the only store within walking distance, was closed. However, I did scoop up some ash in a plastic cup. I still have that container of ash after all these years.
 

In 1997, our family had the opportunity to visit Mt. St. Helens and the visitor center at Johnston Ridge where David Johnston was camped that fateful morning and radioed in the eruption to the USGS base in Vancouver. Seventeen years after the eruption life was returning to the once sterilized area but evidence of the eruption's power was still evident everywhere.



Mt. St. Helens from Johnston Ridge.
August 1997. Photo by Michelle Goodrum



From the Northwest, August 1997. Photo by Michelle Goodrum.

   52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts to encourage people to record memories and insights about their lives for future descendants. It's not necessary to be a blogger to join in. Just record your memories on your own if you wish.