Above the Trees

The seed for Family Photoloom was planted fifteen years ago, when our family took a five-week family history trip. With daughters age 8, 3 and 2 the time, we flew from our home in Hillsboro, Oregon to attend a family reunion in London, Ontario, and then drove south through 2000 miles of sweltering Midwest summer heat to Fort Worth, Texas before returning home. The following is Scott’s account of one day on that trip.

We had heard stories about the Huskey School – of how Peter Huskey lead a wagon train to Missouri and started the first subscription school in the area. We traveled from St Louis to Hillsboro, Missouri, where, after knocking on several doors, we finally found distant cousin Dave Huskey, who gave us directions to the school.

“It’s up the hill. Just follow the fence on up, and when you get to the clearing at the top you’ll want to follow the fence. It’ll lead you right to it.” That’s when our adventure really began.

Loaded down with cameras, a tape recorder, a gallon of water, grass clippers, and a diaper bag we set off. We climbed the hill slowly, carrying Grace and Olivia most of the way, and by the time we got to the top clearing, we were very excited to find the school. I put down the child I was holding and asked my family to stay there while I searched around the clearing for a fence to follow, but after much looking could not locate it.

Leaving my family, I returned down the hill, where Dave gave me more detailed directions and pointers about how to find the fence. (His account doesn’t reflect it, but it was no short walk down and up that hill, and Scott was gone nearly an hour. The girls and I spent the time singing in a swath of Black-eyed Susans. ~ Renee)

When I returned back up the hill, we made our way to a back corner of the clearing that I had not explored completely. We found the fence!!! We followed it, and we saw…a house?!? No, that wasn’t it. We stopped, disappointed. Only Leisha and I went ahead. And then we saw it - about 25 yards ahead was the school house.

With yells of joy, we gathered our family at the school house. Just at that moment, we heard Dave coming up behind us on his tractor. He helped us find the tombstones of my third great grand-uncle, John Huskey and his wife Nancy, and told us about the ‘Huskey Gold,’ which legend says is still buried on the Huskey farm in a cedar box. He even let us have a few boards from the Huskey School as reminder of our trip.

We all loaded onto the tractor for a ride to the bottom of the hill, but when we arrived, we discovered that we had left our boards at the school house. Having come this far, I was not going to let our ‘mementos’ get away from us. It was getting dark, so I ran as much as I could, all the time swinging my arms wildly to swat away the huge thirsty horse flies, one or two of which escorted me all the way. At the top of the hill I grabbed our boards and said a quick prayer of thanks before jogging back down the hill with my fly escorts.

It was nearly dark when I neared the bottom of the hill, and I was greeted by beautiful fireflies celebrating my arrival. I jogged into Dave’s parking area with the boards held high above my head in triumph. I discovered that I was soaked! I had sweat clear through my clothes – even the money in my wallet was wet. There is the dark of the driveway, we shared our adventure and exchanged genealogy information with Dave and his family. Then with warm goodbyes, we packed up our car and headed back to St Louis. We topped off our evening with an alcohol sponge bath and a check for ticks (one had almost burrowed into my knee), followed by a meal at the local fast food place. We will remember this day now and always as “Our Huskey Homestead Adventure.”

Make a resolution now - this is the year to get your photos organized, and your family engaged in the grand adventure of family history. Visit Photoloom.com to learn more.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that even as we labor to gather, document, and conserve the history of our generations past, we must also remember to preserve the people and images of today. Family history is happening.

It was with this in mind that I chose the image for today’s blog post: Our daughter, Olivia, with Zane, her Welsh pony. In the summer of 2004, Zane was twenty years old, and stood about 12.1 hands. Livy was eleven and just a bit taller. Livy was a quiet, profoundly layered child, and Zane a good listener. It was a good fit.

The summer of ’04 was hot and dry, at least by Oregon standards. Every bootstep across the fairgrounds sent a little cloud of dust puffing out from under your heel, and the water hoses behind the 4-H barns were flowing non-stop – kids were giving their horses second and third baths just for an excuse to play in the water.

Throughout the week of fair, Livy competed in both Western and English classes, and even earned a Championship ribbon for English Walk-Trot. There were other wins and other ribbons, but I don’t remember them all now. (It’s astounding had quickly history can fade!) The picture here was taken on the afternoon of Showmanship trials, long after ribbons were handed out and hair was let down.

There is another image like this one, taken earlier in the day – one in which Livy is smiling, bright and combed, and Zane is standing square, head up, eyes dancing. And while it is a lovely picture, it is this image that holds my memory: this singular bond of girl and horse – this tie that will be never broken. He will always be her first love, and she his girl. A moment in our family history? Yes. But also, a portrait of the infinite, enduring threads that weave the fabric of our lives.

As our family grows and our children venture into the world beyond our doors, we find our holiday gatherings all the more special. In the coming days, we will be gathering our family together, even flying a couple in from out of state.

So much of our holiday revolves around photos – they draw us together. Through their images, we reminisce about old times – the stories shared, the lives lived, the loved ones lost and found along the way. And throughout each day that we are together, we create for new moments and capture new images – photographs of tomorrow’s memories.

The holidays are a great time to get help from your family with identifying people in your old photographs. This season, as you sip your eggnog or take a break from the traditional family Monopoly game, consider grabbing those old family picture albums, and share with your family the memories and stories that come to mind simply by browsing their pages. Open an album (or a shoebox) and you’re sure to hear someone saying, “I remember when…"

I have found that it is my great-aunts who are able to fill in the blanks when it comes to old photographs. This reminds me of a family reunion we had at Roman Nose State Park, Oklahoma, in the year 2000. I thought I had it made. I brought a scanner and laptop, a cousin provided a projector and a printer, and I had more great-aunts assembled than ever before.

We sat together, the great-aunts and me, looking through photographs one at a time. At one point, I came across an old school photo, an image of twenty or thirty children. My Great-Aunt Hyla shouted, “Stop – I remember when this was taken! That’s me in the third row!” Then she went on to name three or four more people in the photograph.

We thought we were so smart. We printed the picture out and asked her to write down the names of all the people she could remember, with a circle around each face and a line to their name. We did this for several other photographs. I wish I had had Family Photoloom back then. Because although these printouts captured the information I wanted, they were no good after I folded them up, put them in my pocket, and accidentally lost them. (arghhh!)

Family Photoloom was created just for times like these. Give it a try. Upload a few pictures of the family – even better if you are not really sure who is in them. Then take some time during your family gathering to bring up your pictures on Family Photoloom... and wait, just wait for someone to a say,“ I remember when this was taken! That’s me in the third row!”

With Family Photoloom, you are ready with the tools you need to capture this information right in the moment. Plus, you can immediately share it with others. No DVD’s to burn and mail (been there, done that too many times – perhaps another Blog topic). It feels so good to be able to share photos with your entire family; not only can they tell you who’s in the pictures, but also how they are related to each other. Help your pictures come alive by gathering your family around them, and capture some old memories while you make new ones.

Happy Holidays from Photoloom!


Photo-scanning Resources
Be sure to read our post January 5, 2009 - No More Fuzzy Faces.

A great option for scanning photographs is to use the services of a Utah-based company called Securing Memories. (Update 7/27/09: Formally know as Echo Media) They scan negatives, slides, and photos from any format. We recommend them because we have found them to be a good group of people who do their work well, and they have a great respect for the treasure that their clients entrust to them. If you use them to digitize your media, they will upload your images to your Photoloom account at no extra charge!