2020 in the Rear View

I really couldn't have expected how 2020 was going to play out. Here at the end I took some time to post on things that fell by the wayside and look back. 

I did have postings in 2020  about the Baker family and their research into DYS458.2 minus DF95 men. I had some discussions particularly around R-ZP125 and my rough age estimates and I got to post some ideas and analysis from others.  

I now have Big Y 700 results for my "R-U152 Thompson" cousins in Indiana and the big Y 700 results from our friend Jensen in Denmark. The results from the Thompsons and Jensen just squeaked into 2020, even though they arrived months ago. 

Here is a link to the year in posts: https://wanderingtrees.com/2020/ 

I finished up my final course this semester and have earned that bachelor's degree. I spent the early hours this morning writing a bit about how the year went and where I'm at. 

With Big Y kits for the Indiana Thompsons and Jensen I feel like I'm tying up loose ends and keeping old promises. 

I spent some time reflecting on social media and my lack of participation. Participation is everything if you want the latest and greatest information from DNA groups so I'm definitely lagging behind, but the personal toll of Facebook was great enough that I don't regret leaving it. 

At this point, I consider myself lucky to be employed and to have food and shelter, and to have largely been left alone by Covid 19. My year has been busier on lockdown than expected but definitely not as horrific as it has been for my neighbors and some of my co-workers.

What is coming in the new year?

I'll continue to help people who ask questions about DNA testing or have connections they find here and on my wandering trees site or at ancestry.com. 

I have some new results from the Elmers that open up another known genealogical SNP associated with an ancestor on their branch of the Elmer tree. I've got an Elmer Big Y in the works and I also have two of my personal SNPs posted at YSEQ and may ask some of the lost Elmer sheep in New York to try them out to see if maybe they're related to me somehow.

I could get the Thompson's private Y SNPs testable at YSEQ. 

I could always resort to letter writing to Elmers in England or Thompsons in Butler Pennsylvania to see if I could recruit testers. I've heard that writing letters is better than digital communications.