Gotta stop this

I’ve spent way too much of the last few days doing genealogical sleuthing, as part of the catalog work for the vintage photo collection from cousin Mary Jo. I think I like it especially because it combines the physical and the digital. I peer intently with a magnifier at each sepia portrait in my hand, handling carefully even though these hundred-year-old-plus pictures are mostly very sturdy. Then I turn to free databases, online books and other reference sources to figure out who these stern ancestors are and who they are connected to. In many cases, I end up saying, gotcha!, and log the details in my own genealogy database, which will be referenced to digital scans of these pictures. The scans will eventually be used to print paper copies for family members who want them for their own collections. Full circle.