Saturday Night Fun (On Sunday Morning)

Once again I am a bit late for the party, but I wanted to respond to the "Saturday Night Fun" entry suggested by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings. (For some reason I can't get the blog linked right now, but please look him up; Randy offers good information regularly on his blog, as well as his "Saturday Night Fun" challenges").

His question- "Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy."

I wrote a few days ago about how I am trying to integrate my genealogy with scrapbooking, so I will leave that one alone, but i did discover a new activity this past summer when I was looking for something that my teenage daughter and I could do together since she will soon be off to college. That activity was letterboxing.

Letterboxing and geocaching are similar, but with letterboxing you DO NOT KEEP anything found in the box. It's like going on a scavenger hunt that involves solving puzzles, but also being creative because others can't see what you are doing or the box you are finding. That way it can be rehidden for the next person who comes to find it. My daughter and I have a journal that we carry with us and a stamp and ink. When we find the letterbox based on clues we got off the internet, we open the box and use the stamp insde and enter it in our book, then enter our stamp in the book with the stamp, reassemble the box, then hide it back again. Letterboxing.Info is an excellent resource to learn about letterboxing. We have done it in the rain, the highest heat, hiked into woods I didn't know existed in my city, and also been to several cemeteries. So sometimes I coordinate this hobby with genealogy.

There are times when I cannot letterbox. Unfortunately I have had a winter in which my health has fought hard with my mind and many times poor health has won out, so when that happens I also enjoy listening to books on tape. They calm me and therefore calm my muscles. I really enjoy books like those by JD Robb, and James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, etc., but I am also starting to listen to books that are of a historical fiction manner. I decided they would help place my ancestors socially, so right now I am listening to James Michener's "Chesapeake" since many ancestors came from Maryland and Virginia during that time.

After perusing this entry, it would be a good entry to add to my recent challenge regarding assessing myself and leaving information behind for later descendants about this ancestor.

Til next time,

Kim