The Delta of the Nemunas River

My Mom's paternal Grandfather, Cody Sr., worked in the Customs House in the city of Tauragė, Lithuania. His children often visited Cody and his wife, Wanda, at their home in the border town.

Mom frequently summered near that house, in the small city of Panemunė. Cody Sr. kept a rowboat in Panemunė along the banks of the Nemunas River. My maternal Grandmother, Jadzė, enjoyed taking my Mom out on the river in that little boat. Jadzė packed a lunch, and she and Mom would row out to a sandbar, where they swam, tossed a ball in the water, and picnicked.

Nemunas Delta Region, Panemunė, Lithuania, about 1927. Jadzė and my Mom get ready to row out onto the river. 

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Whenever I hear this story, I think of the Wisconsin River, the sandbars along it near Spring Green, and the dangerous undertow of the current!

I have always had a visceral fear of bodies of water, so this does not seem like "fun" to me.

 Nemunas Delta Region, Panemunė, Lithuania, about 1927. Mom enjoys the river.

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Mom still marvels at the beauty of that part of Lithuania. I learned recently that it makes up the delta of the Nemunas River.

Today, the area lies within the Nemunas Delta Regional Park, and it is a destination for eco-tourists.