Close to White Christmas

As I scanned pictures from my grandmother, I can came across these snowy day memories.  I was excited to see the pictures by the Christmas tree with the snowy window.  It was shocking since it was in D’Iberville!  This snow happened on New Year’s Eve 1963, and was reported up to five inches!

Snowy House in D'Iberville

My Grandmother’s House in the Snow New Year’s Eve 1963

D'Iberville Snowman 1964

“For many delighted children, it was the first glimpse of that white stuff they had heard so much about in Christmas Carols.” -Daily Herald December 31, 1963

D'Iberville Snowman 1964

My Uncle Bobby having a great time in the snow!

White New Year's Eve 1963

Uncle Joe and Uncle Bobby with the most unique Christmas picture I have ever seen on the coast. (Look at the snow out of the window!)

White New Year's Eve 1963

My dad enjoying the cozy snow day!

Most of my family enjoyed Christmas yesterday in shorts and flip flops.  It has been fun for me to revisit cold weather through these family photos!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman in South Mississippi?

In my scanning adventures, I came across several sets of snow pictures.  These were taken on March 6, 1954 in Woolmarket.  (An area of north Biloxi for the non-coast residents.)  It goes without saying the snow is rare this far south.  So when it happens it is a big deal!  For years, my friends and I dreamed of a real white Christmas that has not happened yet.  We had a close call in 1996 when it snowed the day we dismissed for Christmas break, but of course it was gone by the weekend.

Make a warm beverage, and check out these snippets of a snow day gone by…

Woolmarket snow

“The First appreciable snowfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since February, 1936, sneaked in at the early hours today and laid a blanket of white beauty her the three coastal counties. it measured generally two inches.” ~The Daily Herald

Mississippi Gulf Coast Snow

“You never know–when the king of winter paid his impressive call, the kids had only yesterday been flying kites in the March wind and were planning picnics for next month. It was early Friday morning that coast residents reveled in the first light trace of snow in 18 years– and that didn’t even stick. Today they went out to inspect the magic stuff.”- The Daily Herald

Mississippi Gulf Coast Snow

“From the Pascagoula to the Pearl River, the snowman marched. Youngsters who had never seen snow before learned of the mighty sting of the snowball. And motorists who thought they would drive around and sightsee were pretty soon slipping and tossing in soggy streets of messy slush.”-The Daily Herald

Car in Snow Mississippi Gulf Coast

“Photo shops were rushed for film as picture-takers and snow-lovers feverishly shot scenes they could show their grandchildren.” -The Daily Herald

Mississippi Family Snow

“Everette Necaise, Fire Station 2, Gulfport called to say the firemen were building a five-foot snowman stead of playing checkers and would build it higher if anyone wanted a picture.” -The Daily Herald

Snowman Mississippi Gulf Coast

“Every yard along the Coast was its own wonderland. The trees the bushes and grass were trimmed in white lace and the setting from any angle like a Christmas card.”-The Daily Herald

Snow day fun Mississippi Gulf Coast

“People came to work singing the Yuletide songs; and at least one man rushed to his porch in his underwear, braving the 35-degree temperature to see if it was real.”- The Daily Herald

Mississippi Gulf Coast Snow

One last photo for the road!

I love sharing these photos on this muggy and foggy December morning.  Stay around for some more snow day memories this holiday week!

Scan and Save: Favorite Technology to Capture Family Moments

My Dad during his childhood scanned on my mini Kodak Scanner.  
After a few projects around our home, my next big project is to digitalize both my immediate family photographs as well as the photographs of my grandparents.  I already have found my favorite tools to do that.  Since Christmas is around the corner here are some of my favorite items along with my MacBook Pro that may inspire your genealogy Christmas list.  

I chose to purchase a printer/scanner in the Epson Artisan series a few years ago.  It is based on reviews about the scanner quality.  It also has the convenience of being wirelessly linked to my computer and iPad.  My first printer was an Epson, and it lasted over five years!  

Since the Artisan is not exactly portable, I also chose to invest in a portable photo scanner. The Kodak P811 Personal Photo & Negative Scanner was the perfect choice.  I purchased mine in red off of Amazon. It scans photos up to 8×10″ and saves them onto a memory card.  If the photo is below 4X6, it will auto crop if you use the photo sleeve that comes with the scanner.  I was able to scan over six photos in a matter of minutes.  I have also been happy with the quality of the scans.  See the sample at the beginning of this post.  
You need somewhere to store all those photos after they are scanned.  Although I love the idea of the wireless hard drives, I chose a Passport compatible with Mac computers.  My husband gave me mine as a gift, and he found it refurbished at a reasonable price.  I do not have to worry about running out of space, and it made a seamless transition when I changed computers last month.  


Here is a shot of my handy 8 GB USB Flash Drive.  I purchased this one at Target just to carry my writing and research projects.  It is handy for trips to the library, and to keep my research easily accessible.  

Now I have all the tools, I need to get to scanning….