When Your Ox Is In The Ditch - Genealogical How-To Letters by Vera McDowell

As anyone new to genealogical research soon learns, there's more to the study of family history than merely finding names and dates to tack to a family tree. It's a who;;le other world waiting out there in research land, waiting to dazzle your senses, excite your emotions, and challenge your intellect.

It's a world where the search never ends, where the researcher remains alert to find what his ancestor did, ate, wore, voted for, shot at, and dreamed about. Where he lived, and the spirit of adventure that pushed him ever onward to seek new land and new frontiers. How he fought wars and cleared fields. What his triumphs--and his sorrows--were and how his religion shaped his life. How he fell in love with and married the neighbor's daughter built his home, paid his taxes, raised a family, helped his neighbor. And coped. In short, family research is a big Detective Game.

And that's what these compiled letters by Vera McDowell are all about. Never mind the deepest potholes along the research road, she says, there's a way around them. Instead, enjoy smelling the roses you find along the way. In a word, she offers help with problem-solving, so one can spend more time having fun making discoveries. In fact, she makes a good case for doing genealogy at all: for the FUN of it.

The title, When Your Ox is in the Ditch, has its roots in the Bible (Luke 14:5). It is an old expression often used in the South to convey a thought common to anyone who has ever gone down the research road: a condition where on is in dire need of help from someone, anyone, to move things forward! Vera's letter answer that call.