Blogs from Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States, North America

I have just been inspired by a fellow travelblogger to write my own Intermezzo of what we have been up to since my last blog about my trip to Scotland and Sweden in search of ancestors. This year my plans to visit Eastern Europe and complete my travels to 100 countries was postponed to address health issues and to be with family rather than ancestors. Right after I returned from Scotland and Sweden, Linda had operations for Stage 1 breast cancer. She finished her radiation treatments by Christmas. She has follow up appointments to make sure nothing returns. Her prognosis is excellent. In December 2022 Linda and I celebrated our 50th Anniversary with Rosanna, Evan, Connor and Logan, who also were with us through Christmas. Then we were visited by a Momma Bear and her cub ... read more

For those who have been following my travel blogs, you will be aware of my trips in search of ancestors (see and ). This theme gives me a personal perspective on the towns I visit and gets me off the tourist trail with its crowds and check off lists. In preparing for our trip to visit locations of our Scottish ancestors, and given the Covid-19 related lock-downs that lasted over a year, I had plenty of time to do a deep dive on Linda's and my ancestors going back five hundred years and more. I currently have almost 10,000 ancestors in our tree, and that is mostly the direct bloodline without aunts, uncles and cousins other than recent generations. In doing so, I was able to identify many ancestors who immigrated to the North American colonies ... read more