The past few months have been *a lot*!
Let’s start with something not-so-obvious: In mid-February, I helped my grandparents move out of their Cincinnati home of 40 years. The little I managed to help with felt overwhelming, though I’m sure the process was far more overwhelming for them!
The good news is that I was able to tack on a day trip up to Cleveland to visit with a friend who’d recently moved up there. Conveniently, there are several locations key to my book existing along the route from Cincinnati to Cleveland!
Here’s what I got to see:
- Point Pleasant, Ohio: Located on the Ohio River about 45 minutes east of downtown Cincinnati is the tiny community of Point Pleasant. It’s now best known as “The Birthplace of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant,” but in November/December 1890, Jesse lived there!
- Blacklick, Ohio: Located east of Columbus, Blacklick was Jesse’s childhood home after being bound out to the McOwen family
- Kirkersville Cemetery in Kirkersville, Ohio: Reverend Jay Bostwick Fisher (Jesse’s dad and my 3rd great grandfather) is buried here. Fresh snowfall and a winter sunrise made for an incredibly pleasant visit!
- Wooster Cemetery, Wooster Ohio: I fell twice while searching for Caroline Shipley Fisher’s gravestone here. After 45 minutes of searching, I finally found it! Of course it was hidden behind a tree.
Of course, I also added in a trip to Schmidt’s Sausage Haus in Columbus. Had to grab those cream puffs!
My March activities have been much quieter. I printed a new book draft (I love editing in hard copy) and made edits to that. I am now slowly making my way through the edits. What spurred this round of edits was hiring a neighbor to review and edit my first chapter. (I don’t believe its current structure serves the book well.) Once I get those edits back, make changes, and finish editing the redlined copy of my most recent manuscript, I’ll submit to a proofreader and then to my top publisher!
kellyekosanda 