I had the delightful opportunity to attend the genealogy conference, RootsTech, in Salt Lake City in February. The beginning of my trip was rather more exciting than I prefer.
My flight connection in Phoenix had a rocky start. The plane we boarded was having several electrical problems, and the power went out twice while we sat on the tarmac. That was a hardly encouraging way to prepare for an upcoming flight! Mechanics came to fix the problem while we waited on the plane, and they caused another problem.....so we waited for a quite some time without power or climate control. It's an interesting experience to sit on a closed plane with hundreds of other passengers all breathing the same stale air- boy did it get stuffy! When the plane was cleared for takeoff, I was worried about it's flight abilities because the engine outside my window was laboring unusually loudly. It was much louder and more high-pitched than usual- like a table saw being operated next to your head. I was worried during the taxi-ing when the engine seemed to struggle to keep up with the demands being put on it. The engine was sputtering and coughing severely.
I actually texted Nathan my concerns so I could say how much I loved him, in case we did crash. We were planning out the steps to be taken by him in case the plane did have an accident. I did quip: wouldn't it be funny if instead of attending a conference and learning about our ancestors I ended up meeting them in person? Nathan wasn't much amused by my joke.
After a safe landing (and many grateful prayers offered in my heart), I ran to catch the public transit that would carry me to Aunt Mary Ann's home where I'd be staying for the week. The train would take me to the bus station where I'd catch a connecting ride to the suburbs.It was late at night and the city was dark. The train stop where I disembarked was located on a totally shady area of SLC, and the train platform was dotted with loiterers and homeless people. Homeless people aren't inherently a safety problem necessarily- I see plenty of homeless people in Austin without fearing for my safety. But these ones were different. In Austin I never had a problem with someone getting too close for comfort- they always kept a couple feet away. In SLC they would approach me very closely and invade my personal space, which made me very uncomfortable since I was laden down with two heavy pieces of luggage. (I was thinking, if they had a knife or something, there wasn't any space left between us to let me maneuver away.) I quickly trotted across the street to the dark corner where the bus stop was located.
I waited in the dark, worrying about how to defend myself without pepper spray. I waited and waited while the cold winter air nipped my extremities. After 15 minutes, I realized the bus wasn't going to come. I checked the online bus routes again and found an alternative route that would get me home, and the stop was located only a block away from where I currently stood. So I hefted my bags over my shoulder and quickly walked down the dark streets, past dark buildings and closed businesses. While I walked, more homeless people approached me, and loitering men started making cat calls. Yikes.
I impatiently waited at the next bus stop as the minutes ticked by. After waiting what seemed like an eternity, I realize this bus wasn't going to come either. (I later was told by locals that the Utah bus system is famously unreliable, and teased for ever planning on using it.) Sigh. I gave up trusting the public transit, and headed to a well-lit downtown hotel where I could make phone calls in the safety of the hotel lobby.0
Aunt Mary Ann was so relieved when I called, and reprimanded me for trying to use the unreliable bus system in downtown SLC. She had been worried sick when they received my email earlier that notified them I wouldn't need a ride from the airport since I was confident I'd manage on my own just fine with the public transit (after all, we've never had a problem with bus routes in Austin). Anyway, my attempt to NOT be a burden actually caused them way more stress as they had worried frantically about my safety. And they were eager to come find me and take me home.
So. Lesson learned. Sometimes when one tries to be helpful and do things independently, it doesn't always lighten the burden of others. When others offer help, just accept it graciously from the beginning.
Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bliss were such a welcome sight that night when they arrived to pick me up off the city streets!
Mary Ann was attending the conference as well, so we drove together each morning and evening, and sometimes ran into each other at classes.
The RootsTech classes were just amazing, packed with so much information on a myriad of topics. I loved every moment in these classes, and soaked up all the new information like a sponge. I learned enough to keep me busy for years, but have only scraped the tip of the genealogy iceberg. I really look forward to coming back again next year and delving deeper.
One of the fun things I learned was how to find digitized newspaper collections and effectively search them for articles of my ancestors. It was a treat to read that my ancestor Thomas Darley had a prize-winning dairy cow named Blackie that consistently placed in the top three milk-producers for the entire Cache Valley. He was only beat by one farmer- his younger brother. His brother beat him every year. Such fun. It was even more fun to read the other articles on the scanned image. Victorian-era newspapers are a riot to read! This one described in detail an ice cream social held by a local lady, and listed her decor of choice and the attending guest list. Oh my heavens! What 'news'!
My heart thrilled at the variety of new archives and other material I learned to use in my research- I must be a true geology geek. I was on a intellectual high all week, just drinking up everything around me. I filled up notebooks with pages of notes, and learned as much as I could, dreading the end of each day when we must stop learning and head home.
One of my favorite finds was a souvenir I couldn't resist purchasing- a Tshirt that proclaims, "I seek dead people". I wore it to the Family History Library later that week while I spent a day researching my ancestors. It drew a lot of humorous comments and was popular among the other researchers onsite that day.
The entertainment was fantastic! By a stroke of luck, we scored front-row seats to Alex Boye's performance. That was definitely a highlight of the conference for me, since I just love his music. He was such an energetic entertainer, dancing across the stage and singing with such passion. I think I was smiling and laughing the entire hour. He is one of my favorite singers!
If you ever see him perform live- watch the piano player. He is a riot and definitely deserves his own show. That man could steal the show with the all the dancing he does while playing the keyboard.
After the conference, I had planned to stay a few extra days to do two things-
1- Spend a full day researching and copying primary documents of my family history stories
2- Spend a full day doing temple ordinances for the thick stack of family names I had carefully packed along.
It was such a wonderful treasure to spend some time in the Church History Library, where I was able to check out some of the original journals of some pioneers who crossed the plains in the 1800's. What a treat it was to see the handwriting, little sketches, and weathered pages! I also loved reading the microfilmed records of the Perpetual Immigration Fund accounts. It's invigorating to get so close to a piece of my own family history.
I was quite content to spend all day there and was reluctant to leave when they closed. My heart was filled with yearning to come back again at the earliest opportunity possible, even though we only visit Utah about once each year.
My last day in Utah was spent in the Salt Lake City temple- my very favorite temple of all. I'm in love with the history of this great building, and in love with the detailed decor and furnishings inside. I was so happy to have a day of no obligations so I could just stay for hours doing ordinances for deceased ancestors. The Spirit was so overwhelmingly strong that day, and I had many very sacred experiences while I served in the temple. What a blessing it was to have a day to dedicate in service of our Lord.
I'm so grateful that I was able to participate in this wonderful trip. I was fed mentally and spiritually each day until I could hold no more.
No comments:
Post a Comment