Field Notes: Chasing Unicorns

Unicorns.

We all have them.

Elusive ancestors that hover just on the edge. Almost mythical. Every once in a great while we catch a glimpse; a casual mention, an also-ran lost to the annals of time. We know they're there, but no proof exists. Least-wise none that we have been able to ferret out.

And we ferret.

We search high and low.

We look in the most obscure places. We run head first down bramble covered paths. We post to message boards, hunt down distant cousins, contact anyone, anyone who might have a lead.

We stay up late and get up early.

We lock ourselves in our Cave for days on end, certain that the next unindexed image will contain the Holy Grail.

We begin to mumble. And snap at our household members. No! I do NOT have time to do (fill in the blank) can't you see that I'm busy! This is very important work here, people! VERY important! And it must be solved. NOW.

Then we catch something out of the corner of our eye. A mention in an old history book, or a land sale - just enough to throw up our hands and demand a T.A.R.D.I.S. right this minute.

How could our ancestors have been so thoughtless, not to leave a well documented paper trail? Who do they think they are, anyway? Living their lives, minding their own business. Really.

And the ones that magically appear out of nowhere? They're the worst!  Just tell me, how do you one day just "appear" in the Colonies with thousands of acres of land? Or in a very nice house in Poughkeepise? And for crying out loud - how do you just fall off the earth after all of this? I mean seriously.

Unicorns.

We chase unicorns.

But every once in a while .......

We actually catch one.

Are you chasing unicorns? Share your story in the comments - I'd love to hear I'm not alone!

©2016 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved.

Coming Out Of The Cave

Hi there!!

I'm back. Did you miss me?

2015 was not a good year, and I fell behind on many things I had intended to do. My "simple" cataract surgery that commenced in March of 2015 dragged on until January of this year, my eyesight still not up to snuff.

But I soldier on. Prompted by the stalwart, courageous, and just plain nuts ancestors that reside in the Cave with me. Which is where I have been almost exclusively since the end of December.

I finally worked up the courage to dig deep and face the mess that was my family tree. I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. I was a hopeless "clickophile" when I first discovered Ancestry dot com. I had clicked my way back to the middle ages and could have kept right on going. Not only did I manage to get back to around 1000 AD - I added ALL the collateral relations ..... ALL OF THEM! You can understand why the thought of cleaning this up frightened me so.

But the time had come.

I locked myself in the Cave and went on a ruthless killing spree.

Now, don't worry, I did save a complete copy of the tree before I started - just in case I got out of control and killed off someone I shouldn't have. Which I did. Several times. (quick tip: don't drink wine while culling your tree)

I'll spare you the gruesome details of the wrestling, hair pulling, weeping and gnashing of teeth that ensued. But I did it!

Six weeks later I am here to report that I am out of the Cave with a fresh, clean, gloriously slim new tree that is all sourced and ready to be worked on. Properly.

I am now ready to rejoin the Genealogy Do Over and pick up on my 52 Ancestors stories (I got as far as ancestor #23).

2016 is promising to be a good year. I emerged from my Cave and did not see my shadow!

Let's do this.