A Year with Prairie Roots Blog Site

It's been exactly a year since I started the Daugherty Carrington Prairie Roots Blogsite. In the year 2009 I entered 144 posts. Some months were well represented, while others could have been better. That is the nature of a blog. Writing is something that needs to have deliberate time and effort given to it. Ideas are always there but not always the energy nor incentive to follow through. I believe that is a rather human characteristic and am not totally bothered by it.

I just changed the look of the blog. Changes are good. As mentioned before, the purpose of this site isn't necessarily to gather a huge readership. I have an excuse to go through my many notes again and reconnect with contributors. Writing down these thoughts is very helpful. Writing down names and dates reinforces their places in the history of Mother's family. I am pleased to say that in several instances people googled the name of their ancestors and found my blog. We now have a source for communicating with each other.

I get very few comments right on the site from readers. Not sure how to correct this...something to learn this new year. Most comments are sent to me when clicking on the white letter icon at the end of my message.

This year has been hard for all of us, with Dad's passing Nov. 2, 2008. We've been getting Mom's (Helen Irene Daugherty Hostvet) house ready for selling, which has not yet transpired, due to the economic situation up north. Mom lives here in New Richmond, WI and her family has been in constant touch. Finding out family history has been very important to her. This week her cousin Ernie Meyer (Elda Carrington's son) unexpectantly called her on the phone. They talked for an hour making her day a delight. Similar situations have been happening since I began the quarterly newsletter, Prairie Roots nearly four years ago and this blogsite 12 months ago.

My thanks to all of you that have communicated in some way with our family. We are interconnected whether it be in the present or generations past. You've helped me learn a lot about the history of our nation and the attitudes of these families that have made America their homes for many generations.

I'm hoping for a contination of letters and messages from readers. I'd like to have a better understanding of how to find out official information. Re-enlisting in Ancestry.com should help me with that. Though I have a nice collection of family photos, I'd like to add to it. I need to continue to catch up in organization of materials. I need to make more phone calls. Somehow E-Mailing seems much easier than actually dialing those phone numbers.

Joe, I, Nate and Betsy (and our cat, Oliver) wish all of you a wonderful New Year. We all have resolutions that we would like to attempt, but perhaps any growth in pursuing interest and concerns that are important to us is the ideal goal. Judy Hostvet/Paulson