Hasn’t this been quite a week? Somehow there wasn’t a lot of time or brain power left after putting out sandbags, packing “Get Set” bags, and waiting. It is the waiting that is sometimes the toughest. But the photos of the bags around the garage doors and the story of why they are there will make a good piece for our own family history. And I won’t forget that during this time my dog, an Aussie, apparently tried to herd a skunk out of the backyard. Yuk!

It did remind me that there are lots of good people in the world despite what we hear on the news. When the neighbors help to haul sandbags to our house and help spread them and we all get together in the street to decide if it is time to go or do we wait. Those are good people.

It also reminded me, as to family history, a couple of things. We need to write these stories down as they happen and put them away for future generations. I think we also need a list. I am into lists lately. But in this case a list of family history tasks. Those things that could take 10 minutes, those that take 30, those that take an hour, etc. Probably also a list of those that can be done without internet and those that need Wi-Fi.

It also might be a good time to have a few “go to” books that help you with your family history. Books that remind you of the steps for finding things or maybe it is history books that help you learn about the time and area that your family lived in. Or just a couple of good novels for a mind break!

As I am writing this another idea is a back-up. Do you have your family history backed up in the cloud, in an on-line program or on a flash drive. As I was deciding what to pack and what to put on higher ground, my flash drive go the selection. It is a lot easier to pack that up than notebooks and folders and file cabinets.

I hear the rain start again so I will put this away and return to my family decisions. Ironically, if this happens next year, the maintenance yard where we get the sandbags is walking distance from my house. Just so you know, We are all ok, so is the house, so is the dog, and I can’t speak for the skunk.

Hope everyone is safe, dry and ready for the holidays.

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com