Diaries and the Weather

The car is pack with presents, food, suitcases and movies for the kids. We are on the road heading to a family Christmas. As we were packing everything up in the car, the conversation was about the weather. What it was currently doing and what we were about to drive into. That got me to thinking about something that might be overlooked during some of our research.

      The weather played a pretty big role in the lives and travels of our ancestors. Many of them kept travel or weather diaries noting what the weather was like, some even made notations every day. Now that can be a treasure chest of hidden information for some of us. For example if you were reading a diary entry that was discussing the excitement of someone's arrival, then read another entry the following days speaking of disappointment because the guest never arrived. It could be the weather that hindered their travel. Not all of our ancestors made notations of the weather. Those who did might hold the answer to some questions we have, maybe break some of those brick walls. Lets face it with all of the assistance we have traveling now with GPS and internet things are much easier. I guarantee that my great grandparents had to make quick discussions when traveling in inclement weather. Because of those types of quick traveling discussions its nice to have a weather diary to refer back to, plus having it written in their own handwriting makes it even more of a treasure.

     I know this is a short post but one that I thought I would share. You never know what you might overlook when doing your research.