But what did they do for fun?

Today's post isn't so much the results of research or pointers on where to find more information. It's time to just let the mind wander and follow a muse.


So I was driving home from school today listening to the current episode of Genealogy Gems. I was at school today to study photography, one hobby I've enjoyed that I am working to evolve into a career. As I pull out of the park-and-ride lot at my bus transfer point, I find that traffic is temporarily stopped waiting for the object of my main hobby, a train. After watching the train pass and then driving further, I listen to the interview with another genealogy blogger about how she is trying to get a post onto her blog at least once a week, and I start to think about what I will put up here for my next post. I drive further and the podcast episode I'm listening to ends, so I flip my player to the next podcast in my list, which today happened to be BBC 4's Friday Night Comedy show. Since I collect comedy records and CDs, this connected back to my earlier thoughts from the afternoon. That naturally got me thinking about my other hobbies, including philately and computer gaming, and how many hobbies my family has enjoyed and how many relatives I can name where I know their hobbies.

I realized then that the only hobbies that I could positively state were those of my immediate family members who are still living. So now I'm wondering where I can find information on what all our relatives' hobbies were. What did they do for fun? I can guarantee now that I'll be paying more attention to the heirlooms and the details between the dates and places to see if there are any further clues. The clues are there, I just have to retune my brain to see them so I can better interpret them.