Journals

[BarryBobPosthole]

Any of you ever keep a journal? I attempted to keep just a fishing journal last year and made it only through January. I took a Creative Writing class once that required us to keep one and I lasted exactly the semester.
I have copies of several pages of one of the many volumes of journals kept by my great grandfather. He came to Arkansas in the 1870s and was a farmer and doctor. From the stories i’ve been told of him, he apprenticed under a doctor to earn his title. I have a copy of his recertification in Scott county Arkansas in 1920. He’d have been an old man then.
The journals don’t give much insight of what kind of person he was. Mainly the daily entries log the weather description and might refer to doctoring on somebody and what he recieved in payment. Hogs, corn, and so forth were common. Since he also recorded debts people owed I have always wondered if he looked at his journals more as proof of those debts since he only recorded a minimal amout of data. But that data might lend credibility to the debt information in court.

Anyway, I am giving it a try again this year. I will also log the weather and the fish sizes and numbers carefully when Larke and I fish again. That should help straighten a few things out in the future.

BKB

[Chicken Dinner]

I never have. But, my great grandfather, Captain Will, was a ship captain, first sailing cargo and then on a tug/barge up and down the inter coastal waterway kept one even after he retired and passed in the late 1960’s. A lot of it is meteorological, but there’s also entries about cargoes and family members he visited ashore. My grandfather joined him after he quit school after the 8th grade and was a captain as well into leaving the water in he late 30’s. My grandmother joined him aboard ship when they were first married and cooked food range and the crew. She told some great stories about sights and sounds from the places they’d go back in the day. I’ve got a copy of the newspaper article when they sank off Cape Charles one January and he left the water soon thereafter.


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[Thumper]

I'd say "fish sizes" need to be backed up with a tape measure. It seems simple photos and talking smack doesn't prove a darned thing. If it did, we'd ALL know Cappy caught the biggest fish.

[Arty]

I keep a camping journal. It’s got about 7 years of camping trips in it.
It staysin the camper. I love getting up before everyone, getting a fire and coffee going, and writing about the previous days adventures.

[Bwana]

Yes and no.
Our local Game and Fish put out a calendar that has all the opening dates, application deadlines, etc. that I use to make sure I don't miss a deadline but I also record every hunting or fishing trip I take throughout the year. Information includes where, with whom, whether we got anything, how big, etc. Maybe my future grandkids will get a kick out of it??

Back when I was in high school I did something similar in a notebook. It started off as a means of being able to find my fox sets if a blizzard hit as well as for recording that year's catch. Later I included information on deer hunts and promised myself I would keep it up for history's sake but that has morphed into my calendar ledger.

[Thumper]

I tried years ago ... more like a diary really, but I didn't have the interest, drive or discipline to keep it going.