Editorially speaking...
One of my Achilles Heels is organization. Almost a lifetime of files, photos, books etc., etc., have become an ongoing challenge to keep properly sorted.
You know, a place for everything and everything in its place.
All well and good but easier said than done when you’re dealing with 1000s of books in six rooms besides my library, 17 two- and four-drawer filing cabinets, CD’s and DVD’s and artifacts and on and on.
God knows, I’ve tried to maintain order over the years, more or less successfully, but sometimes dismally. On several occasions lately I’ve lost time and motion while trying to find something that I thought was—and indeed should have been—at my fingertips.
Yes, the wonders of the computer have certainly helped the filing process but creating folders can become a job on top of too many other jobs when you’re time-challenged.
Recently, I experienced this problem in reverse: instead of trying to find something I needed, I discovered I had something I didn’t know I had and was about to give away.
I’ve been thinning my book shelves to allow for later arrivals (you know, coals to Newcastle...) for a book sale this coming week at Duncan United Church. It’s to raise funds for Literacy Now Cowichan and friend Belinda offered to take them to the drop-off location for me.
But first she flipped the pages of each and every book and found
THIS.
It’s mounted on cardboard (what they used to call a cabinet photo) and, best of all, it’s captioned!
It reads, Ffestiniog Railway Princess. A quick visit to Google and Belinda learned that Ffestiniog (note the two f’s) is in Wales and the narrow gauge Princess, as she’s shown in the 1880 photo, still exists in a museum.
I quote: “Princess was the first steam locomotive delivered to the Ffestiniog Railway. She was originally named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark and carried the number 1... She began hauling public trains in September, 1863.”
The bottom line: I and Belinda will fan the pages of all outgoing books from now on. (Might even find some King George VI $50 bills in some cook books like a friend did years ago when garage saling in Oak Bay.)
And maybe even tighten up on my filing...
* * * * *
I’m so very pleased to report that Eric Brighton and Greg Nesteroff have been honoured by Heritage BC for their bestselling book Lost Kootenays: A History in Pictures.
Lost Kootenays is a painstakingly selected collection of rare archival photos that prove that a picture really is worth a thousand words. Eric has spent more than a decade researching B.C. archives, historical society collections, libraries and private sources and has amassed a one-of-a-kind digital photo bank.
Again, congratulations and well done to Eric and Greg!
* * * * *
Courtesy of Bill Wilson of the Nanaimo Bottle Diggers Club.
Check out this wonderful find. I’ve been metal detecting since the 1960’s but I’ve never found anything like this—the head of a walking cane once owned by Premier Sir Richard McBride and dug up in Victoria. Wow!
* * * * *