Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.
How can I not participate in Sepia Saturday this week? Five of the images that make up the collage/prompt for today are pictures I took of the Bryan Family Bible – a Bible that belonged to my ancestors – George Washington Bryan and his wife Sarah Stokes.
I was in a blogging slump due to some weird symptoms I was having so, just to get back into the habit of blogging again, I decided that this Bible would give me the focus I needed. I let the Sepia Saturday Facebook group know that I would not be participating for a while, but had found something I could do. Somehow my comment and first post about the Bible morphed into the prompt for this week.
I had no plan in mind as I started blogging about the Bible and just wrote about whatever interested me at the moment. I’ve gotten sidetracked again by some personal things, so for Sepia Saturday, I ask that you visit one of my previous posts:
Treasure Chest Thursday – Bryan Family Bible: introduced the Bible and includes the pictures above. George Washington Bryan and Sarah Stokes were my 2nd great grandparents.
The Best Laid Plans: I wish I hadn’t published this, so don’t bother. My point was to get myself blogging again and I did, but this one should have remained unpublished because I didn’t fully think it through.
To Honor a Life: In this post, I discovered what I believe was the catalyst for the family to begin recording events in the Bible.
George Washington Bryan Wrote Here – I Think: I made a case for identifying one handwriting style as belonging to George Washington Bryan.
Just the Facts, Ma’am: after discovering what a goofy post the second one is, I decided to stick to pictures of the writing in the Bible and a transcription.
A Strand of Hair That Matches Mine: There were several items tucked between the pages of the Bible. One is a strand of hair that closely matches a lock of hair I saved from the fourth grade.
Family Relationships Explained: The transcript and writing in the Bible are put in the context of family relationships and I followed what I think is the provenance of the Bible.
I have a few more ideas to pursue with the Bible. There are the rest of the items that were between the pages of the book…. I think I might be able to make reasonable guesses about who one or two of the other handwriting samples belonged to…. When I went through the Bible, I also noted all of the passages that had been underlined or had notations beside them – wondering if I could gain any insight from them.
I apologize for not fully participating this week, but it’s the best I can do for now.
Please visit other contributors to Sepia Saturday.
Sometimes it’s difficult to work up enthusiasm, but I hope you manage to get your blogging mojo back soon.
I think no apology is needed and instead we should thank you for helping to create a wonderful theme this weekend! Your previous posts have rebound your bible with a protective context that will preserve it for many generations. And it is inspiring to read about too.
Sometimes the smallest things can jerk us out of lethargy. Your blog this week was fascinating so keep up the good work and follow up on those ideas.
Hope all is well and you return to the blogosphere soon.
Thank you Kathy for letting me use this as part of the collage prompt, and for the idea through the Facebook group, which continues to grow and thrive, due to projects like this. As I said on my own post, we want to use more of Sepians own pictures as prompts and this has given contributors an idea of what can be achieved. I’m sure you’ll be back with us again and I hope it won’t be too long. In the meantime, keep in touch through the Facebook group, where you know you’ll find lots of support.
No apologies necessary. Some things are more important than blogging, and other times, inspiration just isn’t there.
I think that the “best you can do” has been very good indeed. Your pictures of the Bible and its pages are classic and stately. Sorry about the weird symptoms — I’ve been having some myself, and have been on and off. I figure there is no need to apologize. We just do what we can do. Good luck. In fact, best luck.