Adventures are daily and people skills a demand.

Each day is a new adventure in places and people skills.  Last evening for example my first pickup after dinner was downtown, turned out to be a young fellow in middle school who's mother had requested a Lyft pick up for him in downtown Savannah to far out in the upper scale neighborhoods near Pooler.  His school had played for the crowds in the downtown for the evening.  No sooner had I dropped him off and I picked up a group of 4 headed to a Christmas party some distance away.  They were an enjoyable group and left me laughing.   After that was a pick up in Pooler to a far distant community to the south and west of the county.  This young man had all kinds of personal drama going on and I became a listening ear, leaving him tidbits of advise.   My day had been quite full from 6am to 8pm.  There should have been more money to show for such a long day, but the day had started very spotty and didn't go as well as the evening hours.

2016 Ends and A New Beginning starts

A tone of changes have taken place since my last post.  It is hard to believe that it was 2014 since I last posted.  With all the recent and dramatic changes I will also ensuring that I post more regular, hopefully at least a short post a day and maybe more.
😁
Rather then bore the reader with trying to play catch-up, let me jump right into the where I am today and for the future.🙉

A) As of this month I am self employed and foresee that it will be a challenge like no other.😛

B)  My Pyrography has blossomed and became more refined.  Although, the work is refined, it has also extended to some art has not branched out incorporting my photography with tile.  The Pyrography has also branched to incorporate rocks and other added features to the pieces, as you shall see.😌

C)  The ancestry work has had to take a back seat now for some time, and likely will remain that way for the foreseeable future until I can get a better handle on income and time management.  Not that Time Management has ever been an issue, but right now there simply is no time to devote to research until I can ensure an income.😭

😎

Photo and post for August 26, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

 &

Pedigree

This is the tomb of Edward Stevens, 1523 to10/22/1587.  He is my 11th Great Grandfather on my Grandfather Shaw's mother's side of the tree.  His tomb is in Estonchurch, Gloucestershire, England.

This line I have been able to follow through great records to 1058 in England to my 26th Great Grandfather, Thomas Fitz-Stevens.  They were among the ruling classes of England during the time that included some Esquires and Barons.  The line follows down through to Sutton's of Virginia who were among the early prominent settlers of the country.  The line moves down through the Hardee's and Hollingshead's to my Great Grandmother Maude Francis and to the Shaw line.

Attention Family and Friends todays Post is for you.

ATTENTION ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS

 

Jesse and I are hosting a gathering of family and friends the week of May 11-18, 2015.  We look forward to hearing from you and hope you can attend.  We have already planned some things to do, just not set a specific day as to what day we will do what thing.  We are looking at a day trip to Charleston, NC, a trip to Tybee Island lighthouse, beach and fort.  A day touring downtown historic Savannah, GA, a night at the pool and club house and another night on the town if we have interest.  I have sent out a few emails regarding this, but trust me to say this invite right here is the formal notice to ALL FRIENDS and FAMILY to come and join us.  I hope that all the nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, and any of our friends or friends of family that would like to come, do so.  I stress that any friends are welcome, not just family.  'Cause if you don't know my family...I can assure you, you will be treated well and quite entertained. 

The above photo, by the way, is a family gathering in 1915 of my Great Grandmother, Great Grand Aunts and Uncles and Grand Aunts and Uncles as children, including my grandfather who is center bottom in the striped blanket (Evan Crane Shaw).

Please, let us know that you would like to attend.  I'm looking into best possible prices on everything for your arrival. 



Photo post for August 23rd, 2013

Here is todays Photo 

Pedigree

This is the oldest photo I have in my records regarding family lineage.   The record is from 1501 the Baptism of Robert Arnold Newman on the 15 of August, 1501.  Robert Arnold Newman would be my 14th Great Grandfather on my Grandfather Shaw's side.  His record is the 7th entry on the left hand page.

This lineage goes back as far as 1345 where I can trace it.  It goes something like this:

Newman 1320-  (My 21st Great Grandfather)
John Newman 1345-   (My 20th Great Grandfather)                     
Robert Newman 1370-1402 (My 19th Great Grandfather)
Robert Newman 1402-1457 (My 18th Great Grandfather)
John Newman 1440-1519  (My 17th Great Grandfather)
Robert Newman 1460-1528  (My 16th Great Grandfather)
Robert Newman 1480-1558 (My 15th Great Grandfather)
Robert Arnold Newman (Baptism above) 1501-1556 (My 14th Great Grandfather above)
Richard Newman 1545-1574 (My 13th Great Grandfather)
Richard Newman 1552-1600 (My 12th Great Grandfather)
Robert Newman 1588-1659 (My 11th Great Grandfather)
Jane Newman 1613-1655 (My 10th Great Grandmother)
Peter Presley 1640-1693 (My 9th Great Grandfather)
Elizabeth Presley 1662-1719 (My 8th Great Grandmother)
Thomas Cockrell 1699-1778 (My 7th Great Grandfather)
William Cockrell 1710-1757 (My 6th Great Grandfather)
Anderson Cockrell 1740-1791 (My 5th Great Grandfather)
Sally Cockrell 1788-1876 (My 4th Great Grandmother)
Owen Francis 1824-1906 (My 3rd Great Grandfather)
William P Francis 1853-1901 (My 2nd Great Grandfather)
Maude Estella Francis 1881-1958 (My Great Grandmother)
Evan Crane Shaw 1907-1001 (My Grandfather)
Dean Crane Shaw 1938 (My Father)

I plan now for the next few weeks to go year by year and share documents/photos I have from the oldest and ending in a few weeks with the newest documents/photos by year regarding family research.

Photo for August 22nd, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

In June of 2007 I took a trip in RV up to Montana to retrieve my property from living there during 2002.  It was also a time for visiting old stomping grounds and acting as tour guide to my Arkansas extended family.  This view gave them a good idea of the vastness of the world at 10,000.  Taken at top of Snowy Range on the way to Montana.  Even for my many visits it is still an awesome site to see how far the world stretches at that altitude.  They could not believe that there was still snow up there in June.

Photo post for August 22nd, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

This remains one of my numerous prize catches from the 2009 ice storm in Arkansas.  I took dozens of shots and this was a rare take.  Being at just the right place at the right time. 

Photo for August 23rd, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

I was up all night doing accident investigation on this.  You tell me what the likely cause may have been.  Lucky no one was injured, just some shook up folks.  Took place just after mid-night and I finished up this about 7am today.  Few hours sleep and now I look forward to quiet weekend. 

Pedigree post August 22nd, 2014

Pedigree

For the last few weeks I have been working on a spreadsheet that contains 4 tabs of my tree.  One for each of my grandfathers and one for each of my grandmother, tracing all the lineages back. 

These names correspond to years from birth to death.  Each field then has a code and a hyper link to pull up picture or document on that person from that corresponding years information.  Say for instance I wanted hit the box with 1898 on my great grandfather Fred Crane Shaw it would pull up a picture from my files on him for that year.  Or 1900 would pull up a census record saved on my computer for that year.  

At this point I have 298 grandparents on the spreadsheet! 

Photo for August 22nd, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

 

 

 

I took this at Pea Ridge National Military Park in Arkansas, taken 2006 on my 2nd visit there.  Battle fought in 1862 that won Missouri for the Union.   It is a quiet place and never seems to have a large amount of visitors, but for a Civil War buff, I find all the battle field interesting.  It is always worth a stop for the up close look into our history.

Photo for August 18th, 2014

I took this photo of suspect being stopped by officer at gunpoint.  This suspect was a serious danger to the community.  I took this on top of a parking garage as he was taken down.

Well...the real story is that I did take this photo, but the suspect was an actor, as well as the officer.  Along with these two and a camera man and myself doing still photography and audio, this was a training video being put together.   The four of us did this as a final in our pursuit of our Criminal Justice degree's.  The "suspect" later became a Wyoming Highway Patrolman and the "officer" later became a Florida deputy sheriff. 

Photo and Story for August 17, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

The summer following yesterdays post on July 28, 1983 that same car had been repaired (although, now days they would have totaled it) and I was on night shift patrol in the downtown area.  Three drunks came out the bar and began a ruckus in the street.  Alone, like an idiot, I attempted to get this under control.  Two left quietly, but the third proceeded to be an issue.  In an attempt to arrest him he ran.  I jumped in my car and followed him down an alley.  He got into his flat bed truck and refused to get out and rammed backward into the side of the car and attempted to push it out of the way and into the creek on the other side.  With that unsuccessful, he got out of the truck and a fight took place.  That not going well, he ran toward my still running car and jumped in through the open window and took off.  Now, on foot I called for assistance.  The drunk, an ex-marine MP, proceeded to the police station and rammed as many cars as he could find.  The station was about 8 to 10 blocks away.  On foot I headed that direction, and saw him coming back to the down town.  He saw me as well and drove onto the sidewalk and attempted to run me over.  By then another officer was giving chase.  The drunk went around the corner and stopped and the officer ended swerving to avoid a rear end collision and ended up in front of the suspect.  Now, the suspect chased the officer ramming his rear end and then spinning the officer out of control where he spun and flew backward into a bank building.  That officer took safety in a dumpster.  The suspect left the area.   The stolen car was found two days later after a man hunt that landed our story on CNN.  

Below is the side of the car where he rammed it.

 

 

Below is the front damage of the car where he rammed the other patrol cars.

 

 

Below here is some of the damaged vehicle as the station, after he left the down town.

 



 

 

Below is the street he returned down.  He came onto the sidewalk just where the white van is pictured.

 

I jumped up onto this embankment and behind the monument where I made an attempt to take aim and fire on the suspect.  He drove between the embankment and the street light.  A county deputy investigator is shown here taking additional photos.

 

 

The black marks are from the tires as he rounded the corner.

 



 

 

This is what remained of the second officers car after hitting the bank building.

 

 

 

 



Photo for August 16th, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

In 1983 I had responded to a highway accident sometime after midnight.  An 18 wheeler full of steers had overturned on Interstate between Sheridan and Buffalo, Wyoming.  Many of the black steers had escaped the truck.  Just after arriving I was radioed to return to the city jail to sign off on the release of a DUI driver I had arrested earlier.  The highway was black ice and fog.  Out of no-where a black steer appeared and came up and over the hood of my patrol car, the impact slowed him (and I) and he slid into my windshield and off to the drivers side.  You can see where he kicked the door next to the badge as he slid off.  As a skidded out of control, I hit yet a second one.  He landed under my front tires to make steering (no pun intended) impossible.  He was trapped and off into the center median we went.  I took a pretty good knock to the noodle and my car doors were jammed and had to crawl out the window of the car.  The steer under my car was still alive, but would not survive.  Due to the fact he had tried to kill a police officer with his fat ass, I dispatched him to the his future life ass a Big Mac.  Needless to say I never made it back to town to sign release papers for that DUI driver. 

Post & Photo for August 13, 2014

Posts

Today I feel like a post is in order. 

We all have those times when it feels like we just need a break from everything.  A complete time out to regroup our thoughts, goals and priorities.  A time to also just escape from the madness of it all.  I have been in that funky way for a few weeks.  Just flat sick of it.  My biggest issue is baby sitting grown adults who act like children daily, have little work ethic and are more moody then a woman in menopause.  Time for a 'do nothing' vacation.

After several emails back and forth I was able to finalize a date with the higher up's.  Early September I am going to take that time away.  Temperatures will be milder and Jess and I can get out and sight see some in the area.  It will be a great time to get the SUV it's much needed cleaning inside and out.  Clean some carpets and spend time doing nothing at all. 

The thought of just knowing I am going to get a break in a few weeks seemed to change my attitude almost instantly.  That is how I knew for sure that I need this time.  It will not be a total loss of time, because I will have some goals even for that that time, but they will be fun goals and personal goals that are not set to cooperate goals.

Here is my link to my photos on Flickr. 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/forrestmontana

Photo for August 12th, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

2005 Hurricanes

 

 

In 2005 I was personally affected and devastated by hurricanes.  Living in the Florida Keys at the time I felt the effects of 3 different storms that year.  Hurricane Wilma caused me the biggest losses.  This storm was the final straw to drive me out of the Keys.  Below  I share those storms and photographs.

 

 

Hurricane Katrina - August

Katrina came across the Keys as a storm.  It had little effect on the Lower Keys, but by the time it got to Gulf it changed into a beast.

The radar capture I took during the storm.  The second photo is not mine.

Hurricane Rita - September

 

 

We were on our way back from a road trip to Arkansas as Rita hit the Keys in late September 2005.  The traffic was nearly all outbound from the islands.  We had concerns we may not be allowed in, but we made it home.  She moved along our southern side and caused minor damage to Key West.

 

 

 

 

She flooded our street, but the water level failed to get into the house, much.  Just a 1/2 inch or so.  The above photo I took just as she passed us by a few hours.

 

 

Smaller trees suffered as well as some really large trees on the island.  Overall the damage was minor.  others I took on our walk of the island post storm.

 

There was flooding along the beach and it took crews several days to remove the sand and debris from the road.  These I took on drive right after the storm.

 

 

 

Hurricane Wilma - October

 

 

Wilma had passed with high winds and rain to our north.  We felt blessed that we at least had not flooded during the night.  At day break we began cleaning up debris.  There was no power, but beings it was October the temperatures were tolerable.  We began cleaning the yard and I noticed water coming under the fence gates.  The back yard was incased in a concrete fence all around except two wooden gates on each side of the house.  I looked and see the street is full of water.  Within two hours, the storm surge that followed Wilma came in and we ended up with 2 1/2 to 3 feet of water all over the island. 

 

Below is the back yard and street within an hour AFTER the water started to recede.  We spent frantic time before the peak attempting to get as much off the floors and lower cabinets as we could.  Much was still lost.  This statue of a dolphin is NOT suppose to be in water.  He stands 3 feet tall.

 

 

 

This was taken a few hours later in the day after the water begins to go down.

 



 

 

These I took of the street out front.  Note in the first one you can see where the water level reached by the mark on the concrete fence on the right.

 

 

 

The water level reached high enough to get into the motor and interior of my Jeep.  Below you can see where leaves rested on the top of the tire.  Needless to say the salt water destroyed my beloved Jeep Cherokee.

 

Streets became parking only for debris thrown out of homes after the storm.  There was no place to park cars.  This was only a fraction of what we threw out.

 

 

 

Even our loss was not near what some suffered.  This was likely the left overs of a boat that many of the population lived on at the island just off Key West to the west.

 

 

This historic dock next to where I worked was completely lost and had to be rebuilt completely.

 

The interior of one of our dinning rooms at the resort was devastated.  Below is one I took when I was finally able to get to work to assess damage and start photographs for the insurance company.

 

 

Here is another I took of the devastation.

 

 

Here was a dock.  The dock has been destroyed and the water recedes back out to sea.

 

 

I cherish the nearly 18 years I lived on the islands, but after the storms and deviation commercial interests came in and it seemed that this marked the beginning of the end of Key West as it used to be.  Not all cleansings are for the better.

 

 

 



Photos for August 11th, 2013

Here is todays Photo 

Today I share a few photographs I took in 2005 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  There is a church there that has the most beautiful gardens and is so peaceful.  I've been there three times and I make it a point to stop here above all other places there in Eureka.

This is Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

The town is built on hillsides and it is nice walk down the bottom to this church.  This is the path down and back out.

The church is to the right of this photo and the Crescent Hotel sits to the left top of the photo.

Photo for August 10th, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

2001 photograph I took in Everglades National Park.  This park is full of very interesting wildlife and diverse eco systems.  It was worth a full day of exploration and returned with some really great photo's.  Just one of many many National Parks and Monuments that I have explored.  Some people only ever get to go to a few of these parks in a life time.  I'm blessed to have been to a huge number of them all over this country.

Photo & Pedigree combination for the August 9th, 2014

Here is todays Photo 

 

 

&

Pedigree

 

As I stated in the beginning, some photographs will not be mine.  Today I share on taken by an unknown photographer.  I have estimated the year as circa 1898 to 1912.  This is my great great grandmother Lucinda Hollingshead Shaw with her son's.  Second one in on the top left is my great grandfather Fred Crane Shaw.  I estimate this photo due to the dress, the fact Fred married in 1900 and his father (my great great grandfather Evan Crane Shaw) passed in 1912.  I rather think this is closer to about 1899 to 1912.  I have photo's of Fred earlier and later.  A 1910 photo shows him slightly older, but sporting the same split hair cut.  Early photo's about 1898 don't fit the dress or hair cut.  The fashion also appears the early 1900 sport jacket and tie of the day.

Also, pictured are my great uncles from top left Will (William), Fred (my great great grandfather), Barney (Bernard), Sam (Samuel), Vade (Nevada) and Evie (Robert).  Evan had three daughters as well not pictured here, my great aunts Josephine, Lou and Gertrude.

I find it most interesting in attempting to date photographs that are passed on without dates.  Also, equally interesting is why some people are not in photos, like my aunts or why Evan himself is not in the photo.  The lack of him here makes me think this photo is nearer his passing in 1912, but why in a photo with a known date does Fred look increasingly older then this photo.  I thank Marjorie Miller Shaw for sharing her book and photograph here.

Photo for August 7th, 2014

Here is todays Photo

What a fantastic day in August of 2002 on a hike to Upper Kintla Lake in Glacier National Park.  This was near the end of 8 wonderful months spent in the park doing nothing more then hiking and enjoying that the earth has to offer.  Likely I will never make it back there, but what wonderful stories, memories and beauty through photographs.  I took 100's of photo's that summer and the summer before in the park.  This was on a warm morning, so peaceful and quiet.  We saw not a single person the entire day. 

Photo for August 6th, 2014

Here is todays Photo

This I took in April of 2002 at the Bison National Range in Montana.   This Prong Horn Antelope buck stayed close by and gave me several great shots.  I think he thought he was a movie star.  The Buffalo were less friendly about being photographed.  The refugee is well worth the circle trip through it if you are ever in the area south of Kalispell, Montana.