Evernote; Don’t search for Lost Treasure without It!

 Every fall I love to get into the mountains and enjoy my favorite hobby of treasure hunting.   One of the unique uses of Evernote I have found is  to organize my treasure  hunting research.   Weather I am out in the mountains, in the library, or at  home all my treasure hunting research is always with me in Evernote.

     For the past 30 years I have  had a hobby of looking for John Swift’s Lost Silver Mine.  Searching for  the silver mine began when my grandfather and I would take long walks in the woods when I was in my early teens.  Since  that time I  have kept notebooks, copies of articles and stories and maps of the many geographic areas concerning the silver mine legend.  Keeping track  of all the research and stories concerning the silver mine has been a  very tedious task.  In the early 1990′s I began keeping all the notes  in a  word processing program and retyping a lot of the print material into the word processor so I could search my data by key word.  I also had hundreds of photographs that I have taken of unique rock cravings and treasure signs, that were stored in photo albums.  Then came Evernote!

     With Evernote all this became a simple process.   I began using Evernote in my law practice and day-to-day life, then one day it occurred to me to put all my “Swift Stuff” into evernote.  It was actually an easy because I had been  scanning a lot of the articles and other materials into PDF files ever since I bought my ScanSnap scanner about 4 years ago.

     First I scanned  every piece of paper and picture I had regarding the silver mine with the ScanSnap.   I even scanned my hand written journals and notes.   Evernote’s  software will even search your handwriting.   Evernote also allows you to create an image note, so I loaded all my photos of rock cravings and places  associated with the legend.   Then it  is a simple  matter of sending it to Evernote or just dragging and dropping it into the Evernote desktop.

     I have Evernote  on my Android Phone, my iPad, by laptop and my office computer and they all sync seamlessly.   Perhaps one of the best  uses of Evernote is taking a snapshot (picture) directly in Evernote with my phone and then being able to view every photograph I have when I am  in the mountains searching for the Swift Treasure.   I can get to my whole Swift Treasure reference library from anywhere.

     Evernote is great to use while doing research on the internet.  When I find that great article for an old  newspaper or magazine online I can send it right into Evernote.  Evernote has a web clipper for most browsers that allows you to clip web pages  directly into Evernote.

     You can also share your notes or whole notebooks with others, even if they do not have an Evernote account.  A link to one of my Swift Notes can be viewed here straight from my Evernote account.

     If you want more information on the Swift story you can find Mike Steely’s excellent book here.  Also Ed Henson has written an excellent fiction novel entitled Swift which you can find here.

     Evernote is free for the first 60 Mg of data for every 30 day cycle, but you can upgrade to the premium account.  Personally, I have never needed to upgrade,  but I can see it happening soon because I use Evernote for  everything!

Related articles

• Review: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Instant PDF Document Scanner (geardiary.com)
• Evernote Tips Tricks and Resources (ismckenzie.com)
• Evernote: How do you use it? Talk amongst yourselves. (parenthacks.com)

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Come see the Pretty Water

Image via Wikipedia

On a beautiful Sunday morning in April, at 8:30 am I hear …”Pre wa wa daddy” …. “Pre wa wa daddy.”  At first I can’t make out what my, two year old, Tymee Jo is saying.  She just turned two on March 17^th and single words have started to become simple sentences.  “What, baby girl?” I said.  “Pre wa wa, daddy!”  It then dawns on me that she wants to go see the pretty water.

She and I  have been taking a short drive up to Ratliff Hole on Saturday mornings, since the warm weather has begun,  and I have told her to look at the Pretty Water.  Ratliff Hole is the local name for the Breaks Interstate Park, river access area about a mile east of Elkhorn City, Kentucky.

She enjoys it and is content for up to half an hour setting in my lap and watching the in the pretty water.

Upon reflection, I have realized that she is content watching the pretty water because I am content watching the pretty water.  There is a cleansing that comes with watching the pretty water.  It seems that the ups and downs, bumps and bruises, and stress and strain of the week float away with the rush of river.  The sound of the water is soothing and the smell of spring is invigorating.

Often, time slows down when Tymee Jo and I go watch the pretty water. The hour we spend together at the river is a source of renewal and strength for me and an amazing time of wonder and discovery for her.  I sometimes look at Tymee Jo’s red hair reflecting against the clear green river and realize that all is perfect at this time in this place.

So if you ever need some time for reflection and renewal come and see the pretty water. You will probably see Tymee Jo and I sitting by the river.

The pretty water in this post is the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River.  It is the

The Russell Fork with Pine Mountain in the background

most pristine waterway in the Commonwealth of Kentucky form the Virginia state line through Elkhorn City, Kentucky.  The Russell Fork is a destination for thousands of boaters, paddlers, fisherman and pretty water watchers like Tymee Jo and I.

George Anderson was in the Arena. How about You?

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt spoke the above words in a speech on Citizenship in 1910.

The Elkhorn City community lost one of its citizens on December 3, 2009.  One of the many words that defined George Anderson was citizenship.  George was perhaps the most community service orientated man I have ever known and it shown in his daily work and deeds.  George’s life is one that we all can and should learn the basic truths of citizenship.

George supported Elkhorn City in every way possible.  He served his church, the Elkhorn City Church of Christ in endlessly.  He served Elkhorn City as a leader in the Elkhorn City Volunteer Fire Department, as a business leader, and he served with his friends Bill Ramey and Rodney Ruth as the force behind the Elkhorn City Park Board.  He also, served the Elkhorn City Area Heritage Council in every project that we pursued.

The bottom line was … if anything got done in Elkhorn City, George was a part of the project.

He had a knack for knowing what needed to be done on a daily basis to improve our City and our community.

George was engaged in the Community of Elkhorn City …he was in the Arena.    How about you!