A Suitable Tree

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 30, 2015. We're glad you found the perfect spot. Thanks for visiting!

A Close Friend

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, about 1950. My Dad's twin sister, Jonė, admires her friends daughter. The friend also was a high-school pal of my Dad's.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Underappreciated

Venice, Italy, June 1989. Tourists usually miss the most interesting parts of the city.

Related by Marriage: It's warming up.

Probably Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, about 1959. Mr. Irene's maternal Aunt Martha (face obscured by the fist) and her husband, Wally (holding the baby), join in a birthday celebration.

"It's a good game."

Madison, Wisconsin, October 1994. Mr. Irene introduces the tennis ball to Pupa, the puppy. Older sister Žulė shows Pupa how to chase the ball. Pupa later became an expert at tennis-ball games. She excelled at "Boom," a volleyball-like exchange in which we tossed the ball to her, and she flipped it back at us with her nose.

Narrative Reunion

Vienna, Austria, July 1971. There's a story on every pillar.

Sunday Summit

Isarhorn, Germany, August 1948. My Dad's friend Casey reaches his hiking destination.

A Closer Look (Part 26)

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1940. My Dad enjoys the summer before he enrolls in college.

Here's the original post.

Back to Business

Verona, Wisconsin, March 26, 2015. Once you've finished dancing, return to your usual tasks.

Salzburg Scene

Salzburg, Austria, July 1971. We arrive in my favorite European city.

Related by Marriage: Afternoon Joy

Nativity BVM Church, Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, mid-1950s. Betty, a lifelong friend of Mr. Irene's Mom, gets married.

Friendly

Near Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, June 2010. We've known Ivy since she was a puppy. Ivy and our Baci attended agility classes together, too.

"It has been decided that knitting needles are not musical instruments."

1915 "Tea Table Gossip:" New York Philharmonic bans knitting at performances—even if the knitters are making pieces for the war effort.

Wave

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1953. My Dad's twin sister, Jonė, steadies my Toronto Cousin.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

A Closer Look (Part 25)

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1940. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana watches as her husband, Vytautas, takes a photograph.

Professional Trolls

In Russia:

The young people doing this work are barely capable of formulating what's important about these stories. Even a political scientist can't be an expert about the entire world, but here people are expected to write about everything. And how you write doesn't matter; you can praise or scold. You just have put those keywords in.

 ADDED: More here.

Flirting

Verona, March 25, 2015. The dance begins.

Belgian Horse

Belgium, 1936. This is another photo from my paternal Grandfather Vytautas's trip to Belgium.

Preoccupied

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1936. Kaunas Nina takes things seriously.

Thanks to Kaunas Nina's daughter—my Kaunas Cousin—for making this photo available to us.

Snowy Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, March 25, 2015. Our backyard cranes disappeared for a couple of days after the spring snowfall. They've returned, and they are tending to the nest.

Related by Marriage: Distance

Australia, August 25, 1952. A friend of Mr. Irene's Dad wrote, "Although the ocean separates us, we remain together in our thoughts."

Bavarian Railway Postcard

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Germany, about 1947. My Dad saved a packet of postcards issued by the U.S. Army in the postwar, American-occupied zone. I don't know whether Dad visited the places photographed for the cards, bit it's likely he did.

Spring Snow

Door County, Wisconsin, March 1982. We drive up to the cottage for spring break.

Tuckered

Door County, Wisconsin, June 1983. Dad must have just returned from mowing; otherwise, he wouldn't be wearing bluejeans.

Spring Coat

Suburban Chicago, April 1963. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, carried that pocketbook for many years. Here's a clip of Tatjana receiving the pocketbook as a Christmas gift.

Direction Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, March 22, 2015. Our backyard cranes share duties patrolling the pond.

Picnic Candid

Brooklyn, New York, June 27, 1950. Mom's sporting the "horns" hairstyle; she even may be wearing a hair net.

There's not much to do in a big city.

Vienna, Austria, July 1971. Dad admires the fountain near the Opera House. I like this clip because the movie camera captured some of Dad's mannerisms.

A Gift

Verona, Wisconsin, March 2015. This week's crane activity reminded me of the petit point* I stitched as a wedding gift for Mr. Irene. I chose this design because cranes symbolize fidelity.

*I used a canvas with 32 holes per inch.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 43)

Vienna, Austria, about 1948. Someone painted a portrait of my Dad's friend, Casey, and Casey photographed the painting.

We rest.

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. We break for lunch at Iceberg Lake.

Moms show their love by knitting cardigans.

Said Mr. Rogers.

(And so do wives.)

Nesting

Verona, Wisconsin, March 19, 2015. The sandhill cranes we saw the other day are building a nest in the pond. The cranes became agitated when the ducks landed nearby.

Clear the dead stuff.

Door County, Wisconsin, Spring 1977. Get the job done before things are overgrown.

Welcome, Spring

Suburban Chicago, 1960. Soon we'll be picking dandelions.

Venice, without Tourists

John Ruskin's daguerreotypes.

The View from the Steps

Columbia, South Carolina, September 5, 1988. I walk up the steps of the South Carolina Capitol.

We visit the lodge.

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. We pop in for a visit with the owners of the summer cottage we rented. (You can see the couple saying goodbye to us here.)

Related by Marriage: Homestead Visit

Panevėžys, Lithuania, July 1993. After the restoration of Lithuanian independence, the government no longer restricted foreigners to hotel visits. Mr. Irene's Dad therefore could return to his childhood home, where his younger brother Stacey and Stacey's wife lived. Here, Mr. Irene's Dad catches up with Stacey's wife (in black) and other relatives shortly after Stacey's death.

"Whenever I sit, I knit."

Said a Human of New York.

A Morning Dig, in Three Takes

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 19, 2015. Mom spotted the visitors and alerted me just as I awoke.

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Okay; let's zoom in on a different shot:

City Tour

Vienna, Austria, about 1949. My Dad's friend Casey visits Maria-Theresien-Platz.

Jonė's Student Booklet

Kaunas, Lithuania, September 16, 1939. This is the "Studies Booklet" my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, received when she enrolled in medical school. The outbreak of World War II interrupted her studies: the sentence added at the top of page indicates Jonė transferred from medical school to dental school in 1943.

Although the same university—Vytautas Magnus University—issued "Studies Booklets" for both Jonė and my Mom, Jonė's earlier version omits the warning about keeping the document clean.

Not-So-Swiss Reunion

Lugano, Switzerland, July 1971. There's a different feeling here.

Her Garden

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1961. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's friend wrote, "Here I am in my garden, among the peonies."

Newly Tied

Brooklyn, New York, about 1952. My Dad's younger cousin and her husband exit the church.

Dance-Floor Reunion

Chicago, Illinois, March 14, 2015. "Thank you parents/guardians for your cooperation."

Tulip season nears.

Toronto, Ontario, April or May 1961. My Toronto Cousin and her Dad, Kadis, are at the park.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Depth

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, June 6, 1969. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, Elena, wrote, "To Tanjusha, my dear sister."

No-Harm-Done Reunion

Suburban Chicago, February 1983. Meškė tests the foot stool as a teething toy.