We're waiting for them to return.

Verona, Wisconsin, May 2014. Last year, we hosted many migrants.

Another family awaits the future.

Probably Munich, Germany, about 1947. These are friends of Ron's family. Here's the Mom in happier times.

Thanks to my friend Ron for making this photo available to us.

Dandelion season returns.

Suburban Chicago, May 1960. I have the right gear for exploring the backyard.

Infinity Reunion

Dodgeville, Wisconsin, April 2012. We've stepped into the "Infinity Room" at the House on the Rock.

A Look Inside the Student Booklet

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Kaunas, Lithuania, 1940 to 1944. Here's the booklet my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, carried through medical and later dental school. The second column lists the university subject (example: "Fizika" is "Physics"). The third column states the number of hours spent on each subject during the week. The fourth and fifth columns present the professors' names and signatures for each subject. The sixth column provides the date the work (what we consider "credits," I think) was completed. The last column lists the date of the subjects' examinations, the grades (example: "l. gerai" is "very good"), and the professors' signatures.

A Small Party

Hanau, Germany 1945. Lithuanian Displaced Persons at the Hanau camp host a children's party. My friend Nijole is the girl standing on the left. Her Mother holds her (her Mom also appears in this photo, sitting on the sofa behind my Mom).

Thanks to my friend Nijole for making this photo available to us.

"[I]t's got knitting and crochet patterns so you can re-create the look yourself."

It = the book, Cats in Hats.

Fear of Heights

Venice, Italy, June 1989. I climbed to the top of the Campanile only once.

(Here's my preferred view; here's the café. Here's a reason to avoid the piazzetta.)

Related by Marriage: Celebratory Table

Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, 1959. Mr. Irene's Parents celebrate Mr. Irene's christening with Aunt Martha.

Poolside

Suburban Chicago, May 1970. It's still too cold to swim.

We talk about the goose ...

... in Lithuanian:

Verona, Wisconsin, April 25, 2015. I say, "That goose is a problem." I hear my American accent when I listen to myself speak in Lithuanian.

Party Favors

Suburban Chicago, April 1961. My babysitter does a head count of the guests; she then helps my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, prepare the party treats. I move from the kitchen into the living room to play with the toy piano and my friend's Slyvester-the-Cat doll.

Tatjana quickly adopted the American custom of birthday parties (in Lithuania, people celebrate name days, not birthdays). This clip also offers a glimpse of our dependable refrigerator, and it captures Tatjana tearing off sheets of waxed paper. She always relied on waxed paper. Waxed paper! Who uses that now? It was never really functional.

Oh: that vase with the carnations. It's still in use. 

A Recovered Image

My Mom's friend Joy sent this photo in the early 1990s.

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1923. This is my Mom.

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 On the back of the photo, Joy wrote:

 Dearest [Irene's Mom],

This is you!

This photo is historical. It was with me in Siberia in my photo album. It endured all of our sufferings along the shores of the Laptev Sea. It was there for all 17 years of the deportation. Then the photo returned with me to Lithuania in 1958, and now it is in America! 1991.

"Daddy's home!"

Verona, Wisconsin, April 24, 2015. Papa Crane returns from his afternoon flight.

A Memento from Camp

Bremen-Vegesack, Germany, April 6, 1949. My Grandfather Jake's former colleague wrote, "For our dearest Jake, from our family, at Camp 'Grohn'."

Fort

Suburban Chicago, March 1961. I get my way in the living room.

Bird-Watching Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, April 2015. This is where I sit.

Related by Marriage: Around the Table, in Color

Vilnius, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1978. Here's another image of Mr. Irene, the honored guest from America.

A Closer Look (Part 31)

Šančiai (Kaunas), Lithuania, 1925. This "Closer Look" offers a better view of the art of the Eastern-European bow.

Here's the original post.

She checks the eggs again.

Verona, Wisconsin, April 2015. Mama Crane continues her routine.

Framed

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 1964. My Toronto Cousin is ready to make a Sunday social callhttp://amberreunion.blogspot.com/2012/10/were-invited-to-afternoon-coffee-party.html.

"She wanted students to see it all."

My beloved high school English teacher, Sister Angele, died last week. Some of the reflections at her wake stirred up memories. 

Although I don't share Sister Angele's love of travel, touring Greece with her was a great experience. She was a tolerant chaperone who left us on a long leash as we explored Greece and Turkey. We dodged serious trouble a couple of times. Our group also avoided some of our responsibilities. For instance, we all carried assignments overseas because we had homework. I was supposed to read Vanity Fair during that trip expressly for Sister Angele's class. I started reading the book on the plane ride home.

When we returned to school, Sister Angele pulled me aside into the hallway outside of her classroom. She warned me not to detail our "escapades" to classmates. Sister Angele's message and tone were stern, but her head posture and glint conveyed an appreciation of the mischief.

Santorini, Greece, April 1976. Sister Angele is the teacher who required us to memorize and recite the prologue to Canterbury Tales in Middle English. She taught me not to fear public speaking, and she introduced me to the study of the Middle Ages. She thereby started two threads that ran through my life.

The First View

Athens, Greece, April 1976. This was my first photo of Athens as we rode the bus from the airport to the hotel.

Related by Marriage: The Fort

Fort Popham, Phippsburg, Maine, 1953. A friend of Mr. Irene's Dad visits a landmark.

Think Big.

River Forest, Illinois, November 1975. Here's another image from my stint as a high-school yearbook photographer. I took this in the office of the school's library. You likely notice the card catalog and typewriter. Did you see the film-strip canisters?

Dramatic Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, April 22, 2015. A long-haired cat lurked around the pond this afternoon. Mama Crane grew rattled. And we had snow flurries.

(You can see the eggs during a few scenes here.)

An Old Friend

Kaunas, Lithuania, May 7, 1944. This fellow must have been a close friend of my Dad: when the friend wrote a note on the back of this photo, he addressed my Dad as "the little sparrow."

Neither this couple nor Dad predicted their lives would be disrupted in about two months.

Coo

Suburban Chicago, December 1983. My Mom's best friend, Donna, appreciates Meškė.

Side-Street Reunion

Athens, Greece, April 1976. There's not much to do here.

Hazard

Suburban Chicago, June 1960. I remember my Parents received that whirligig as a housewarming gift. It frightened me. I wasn't afraid of getting knocked in the head by it. Instead, the sharp edges spooked me.

A Closer Look (Part 30)

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1923. My maternal Grandmother Jadzė lost one of the earrings she wears in this photo. The earring fell down the same well into which her bracelet tumbled.

Here's the original post.

We prefer geese not frequent our pond.

Verona, Wisconsin, April 20, 2015. We tolerate some feathered friends, but others should not approach our nest.

Related by Marriage: Another Pair

Chicago, Illinois, about 1951. Here's another couple from the Lutheran wedding in which Mr. Irene's Dad participated.

Propane Tank

Suburban Chicago, November 1958. I don't remember propane tanks in the backyards of our subdivision. They must have put gas lines in shortly after I was born.

Turning the Eggs, in Three* Takes

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Verona, Wisconsin, April 2105. Mama Crane does this several times a day.

Then she sits down:

*Plus one.

Supervision

Suburban Chicago, April 1958. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, oversees the party.

Related by Marriage: Thanks for the Big Bear

Los Angeles, California, about 1960. Mr. Irene's Los Angeles Cousin enjoys her new bear. (There's a copy of "Draugas" on the end of the couch.)

They get along.

Verona, Wisconsin, April 2015. Mama Crane sits on the nest as the duck plunges for frogs.

The Elders

Suburban Chicago, Spring 1970. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, and my Godmother's Father pose during (what I think was) a Mother's Day visit.

Trusted Gear

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1970. We're approaching Gunsight Pass, and Mom's carrying her gold, vinyl knitting bag.

Springy Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, May 2014. My favorite time of year is when the Redbuds bloom.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 45)

Bridgeport, Chicago, about 1942. Suzana, a friend of Mr. Irene's maternal Aunt Martha, gifted this photo to Martha.

Friday Field Trip

Sacred Heart School, Melrose Park, Illinois, Spring 1967. My classmates are ready for the outing to Brookfield Zoo.

Trap

Mykonos, Greece, April 25, 1976.  You imagined yourself relaxing in an idyllic island retreat.

Driving near the border.

Spain, September 1953. A friend of my Dad's writes, "I'm in Spain, near the Pyrenees."

A Different Life

Columbia, about 1954. My Dad's friend Casey heads out for his morning chores.

A Closer Look (Part 29)

I took a closer look last night at the first photo I had used in yesterday's crane post. I saw two eggs resting in Mama Crane's nest. Yes, the quality of the image deteriorated as I zoomed in on the photo, but perhaps you will see the eggs, too:

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Here are two more shots:

 Verona, Wisconsin, April 2015. We hope to see chicks in about a month.

A Different Angle

Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, June 6, 1969. Elena, one of the two younger sisters of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, writes, "To Tanjusha, my dear sister."

This photo was one of three publicity shots Elena sent to Tatjana.

Thanks to my friend D for translating the text from Russian to English.

Babos Receptai (Part 8)

My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, sometimes added other people's recipes to her collection. She received a recipe for "Karališkas Mazurkas" (Royal Mazurka) from a friend; that recipe became a regular feature of our family's Easter menu.

Poles commonly bake Mazurkas, but I've not seen a recipe similar to this one.

Here is our version of the recipe (Note: My Mom later wrote "5 eggs, 1/4 pound butter, 3 cups flour, 2 cups sugar" in the margin): 

Karališkas Mazurkas

8 ounces (1-3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder*

8 ounces (1 cup, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (my addition)

5 eggs

3 ounces (3/4 cup) blanched, slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and adjust rack to the center position. Generously butter a 9 x 9-inch square baking pan (reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees if using a glass pan). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar very slowly, beating mixture until it is very thick and pale yellow, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract and the almond extract. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. (Mixture may appear curdled at this point; that is okay.)

Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, gently fold in the dry ingredients (do not overmix or the cake will be dry). Fold in the blanched, slivered almonds. 

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for about 33 to 37 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Cool in the pan and slice into squares. 

*A later version uses 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, instead.

He takes off.

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Verona, Wisconsin, April 2015. We've seen Papa Crane land near the pond; here he flies off for his afternoon rounds.