Wordless Wednesday: Downside House

"Downside House." Digital Image. Undated. Original photograph privately held by

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. Copyright (c) 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Heavens Peek

"Heavens Peek." Digital Image. July 1995. Original photograph privately held by 

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. Copyright (c) 2013

A Year of Creativity #201: Yarrow

The presence of yarrow growing among the Black-eye Susan, Hawkweed and Daisies reminds me of Grandpa Harley. His association with the herb didn't happen because he showed me the large flat-top flower clusters. In fact, this association came several years after his death.

My love of family history and all things outdoors can be traced back to summers spent at "the farm" with my maternal grandparents. Both of my grandparents enjoyed sharing their childhood memories. I credit my grandmother (and my Mom) for giving me a love of reading but it was my grandfather who gave me the gift of all things outside my front door.

Making maple syrup, harvesting hazel and butternuts, how to catch toads and frogs - but the most important lesson about being out in the woods ... keep still. When I am sitting on my deer stand or stopping to sit down "just because" - I can still here his voice, "Now keep still." I'm sure that is what his father or grandfather told him when he was a young boy.

One of the many letters I received from him during some of the darkest days of his life, when my grandmother was being consumed by Alzheimer's, he shared a story from his childhood. While he and his brothers were "horsing" around, he fell and broke his arm. His dad was working out in the field and couldn't take grandpa to see the doctor, a 20 mile trip, until the next morning. His mother picked a bunch of yarrow, boiled it in water and used the mixture to bath his arm. 

In Homer's epic tale, the Iliad, the warrior Achilles uses the herb yarrow to bathe the wounds of his fallen comrades. According to other online sources, elements in yarrow accelerate the healing of cuts and bruises.

I've often wondered how many times during his lifetime did my grandfather see a yarrow plant blooming on the side of the road and think about that time when he was "horsing around" and broke his arm. His granddaughter certainly does.

"Yarrow." Digital Image. Text and photography Copyright (c) Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski 2013

A Year of Creativity #170: Maple Tree

June 13, 2013, was a family anniversary that passed by relatively unnoticed. It was on a hot Friday afternoon in 1980 that our family backed a U-Haul truck into the driveway and proceeded to settle into our new home.

Thirty-three years ago we were the family that moved into John and Ann's house. It wasn't long before our front lawn was littered with bikes as the boys became part of what we affectionately called The Weslan Mafia. We all made countless new friends, enjoyed neighborhood barbecues and block parties.

In the blink of an eye and a few years on: bicycles on the lawn were replaced by cars and pickup trucks parked in the driveway. Soccer, football and baseball, homecoming, prom, graduation.

As I walked out onto the deck earlier today I thought about that first summer - the maple tree which was a little more than a sapling, now towers over the house offering shade in the summer, showers the yard with golden leaves in the fall and a haven for creatures of all sizes. A backyard sentinel giving witness to the changes of life's seasons.

"Maple Tree." Digital Image. Copyright (c) 2013 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Happy Blogoversary: Five Years On

Five years ago I logged into Blogger and created In My Life. Months of cajoling and cheer leading by friend and mentor at Little Bytes of Life gave me the courage to jump off into the deep end of the social media explosion.

A title for my blog wasn't difficult to come up with; one of my favorite songs by Lennon and McCartney. The first post? Awkward. Reminds me of those many awkward junior and high school moments. I was known as "the new girl" on more than five or six occasions - who knew I'd be drawing on those experiences forty plus years later?

While I visualized the blog as a place to share my family history it wasn't long before some of the things that are important in my life began showing up front and center: photography, biking, our line of Anahar cocker spaniels, creative writing, love of all things celtic and travel ... just to name a few.

Five years ago I was someone with a camera - today I describe myself as an amateur photographer. Thanks to my husband (who has yet to create his own blog or web site), not only do I have a live in mentor but some very cool equipment.

Five years ago I was happily enjoying retirement - today I am back among the gainfully employed enjoying a new career in social media.

Looking back on five years of blog posts, I see the ebb and flow of my life - contributions to the Carnival of Genealogy and the absence of posts when life demanded more of my time, redirecting creativity in a different direction. The bittersweet photos of our beloved English cocker spaniels who shared every part of our lives five years ago that are now gone - anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations of friends and family continue to reach beyond the boundaries of today - a reminder that family history is not something that is part of the past: it happens every day of our lives.

Five years ago I had a difficult time coming up with three categories that described my blog. Today, I have a difficult time picking just three of those categories. While I had visualized In My Life as a way to share my family history with carefully organized family lines neatly arranged like my silverware drawer ... five years later In My Life has happily evolved into a hodge podge junk drawer. 

Thank you to everyone who follow In My Life - your support, encouragement and acceptance of "the new girl" has been a very large part of my inspiration. In the spirit of so many other family history bloggers, I have taken your gift and will continue to gladly pay it forward.

Copyright (c) 2013 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski

Wordless Wednesday: U.S. Canada Border Crossing 1941. When Life Was Simple.

"U.S. Canada Border Crossing 1941." Digital Image. Circa 1941. Original photograph

privately held by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. Copyright (c) 2013

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Tiger in the Sunshine

For as long as I can remember, my maternal grandparents had at least one cat. What self respecting farm didn't have one good "mouser"?

One of my earliest farm cat memories is of a yellow cat named "Buttercup." I recall on one winter visit to the farm, Buttercup was allowed to spend the  night in the back room rather than in the barn. My impression was that it was a female. After all, who would name a tom cat Buttercup but then again ... I was very little and known to have a vivid imagination.

Another favorite was Tabby, a beautiful black and white female that my grandmother received as a gift. Tabby was a long-haired cat and unlike Buttercup, lived most of her live indoors.

Tiger came to live with my grandparents following a visit to "the old farm" the homestead of Allen and Nancy Stone Space which my grandfather purchased from his siblings following his father's death. The house burned during the early 1940's while my grandparents and mom were off visiting friends leaving the stone foundation filled with wood, trees that had taken root along with a lifetime of memories.

I loved trips to the old farm to pick apples in the fall and plums for grandma's special plum jelly. On one of these visits I heard a kitten mewing in the garage - grandpa tried to convince me it was just a Catbird but I knew better. Tiger came home that afternoon and must have enjoyed special status to spend a large part of her day as an indoor cat. 

"Tiger in the Sunshine." Digital Image. Undated. Original photograph privately held by

Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. (c) 2013