Hope your week was great and your weekend will be even better!

This has been a productive week for us but the next couple of weeks (summer family plans and the Tokyo Olympics on TV) will not be super-productive and it's nice to have a change from last year's isolation. Hooray for sports on TV again and summer gatherings! We had a really fun neighborhood gathering where we talked about our different pandemic experiences. Which brings me to...

Have you recorded your 2020 Pandemic memories yet?

If not, there's no time like the present to write down or record into a memory app where you were and what you were doing when the world shut down. The lines, the shortages, health problems, job loss, isolation, learning to use technology to work and communicate with others, etc. Whatever your experiences were, a future generation will benefit from them. And if some are still too raw to record, at least create a bullet list of how life changed that year. Then include the stories when you're ready to process the experiences.

Gatherings

We're gathering with tons of adults and children this weekend so I'll be bringing my phone/camera and a stabilizer in case I want to video any family stories. Here are a couple blogs about different ways to record stories. The first is the FamilySearch Memories app. The second is is a 7 step guide to really doing a thorough job.

1. How To Record Family Stories & Photos using the FamilySearch Memories app -- allows audio files (not video), and documents and supports .jpg, .tif, .bmp, .png, .pdf, .mp3, .m4a, and .wav, up to 15MB.
2. How To Record Family Stories -- 7 steps --this is a guide for recording stories with a lot of advance preparation.

I generally use a combination of these two blogs. If we're at a family gathering and are sharing memories, I sometimes ask if I can record them on my phone/camera. If everyone agrees (and FYI, the sound recording is NOT ideal with so many interruptions and chattering voices), I'll hold my phone/camera up and record the story. I don't have a tripod handy and it would intimidate people if I whipped one out. I just brace my camera on a chair or whip out my motion stabilizer (not too bulky and not too intimidating) and this steadies the filming. My stabilizer looks similar to this one and it can be attached to a tripod. I often bring the stabilizer with me to events without the extra mic/lights/tripod because it does such a good job of compensating for any shaky video.

So the photo below is what my stabilizer looks like when it's stripped down. It fits in a medium-sized purse. The stabilizer has hand holds so I just hold the two sides of the stabilizer instead of the two sides of the phone.

And as far as story-recording goes, I even record young children telling their stories. One 5 year-old often comes to me wanting me to mediate an argument and she vents for a long time before getting around to her request. It's so cute. I recorded her once and I really want to catch more of these memories on camera to capture how a child thinks and expresses themself at this age.

So...I'm off to start food preparations for all the upcoming gatherings. Here's what's been added to the site lately and I hope you have a wonderful weekend and last month of summer, whatever your plans include.

New and Updated Listings

Maine Public Libraries

Virginia City Directories Online

Wyoming City Directories Online

Washington City Directories Online (Washington State)

Wisconsin City Directories Online (consolidated from other listings)

And I'm updating a lot of library listings to reflect their updated collections 🎉

Best with your family history research!