After we pick, we pit.

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1980. It's the second part of the job.

Ha! I remember how much I loved those curtains when Mom sewed them in the 1970s. The fabric featured a Japanese-inspired motif.

It's cherry season.

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1980. Pick your own.

Teary

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 1969. I don't remember why I was upset when Dad took this photo, but I had been crying.

Apple Picking

Verona, Wisconsin, October 2015. Sometimes you don't have to cross the road.

Class Notes (Part 18)

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1934. An anonymous artist contributed to this Class Notes page. I wonder if my Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora, drew this still life.

Cherry Season, in Three Takes

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Door County, Wisconsin, August 1977. Gigi knows the routine.

Currants

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1985. A red squirrel shares our family's love of currants.

Reconnected

Brooklyn, New York, June 1974. My Parents visit with my Dad's cousins and their husbands.

Jackpot!

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1970. Mom comes across some wild strawberries.

(This must not have been a real hike because I don't remember Mom ever carrying a pocketbook on the trails.)

The Dining Room

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, January 1958. My Dad's older cousin Henry, Henry's wife Suzanne, and Henry and Suzanne's daughter, Kaunas Nina, host a New-Year's celebration.

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

Late-Season Clingers

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1980. Here's a handful that didn't get picked.

Last of the Apples

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1978. The season will end soon.

Let's stage a scene in the kitchen.

Suburban Chicago, March 1959. We have a phone, and we keep a basket of wax fruit on the table.

I thought they were carnivores.

Wolves eat watermelons.

Red Currants

Near Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1936. Suzanne—the wife of my Dad's older cousin, Henry—and her sister collect currants.

Red currants are a delicacy in Lithuania. I rarely see them in the United States. Our family grew them in the backyard, near the fence that separated our home from the neighbors to the north.

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

Don't bite into summer fruit before it ripens.

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1938. Suzanne—the wife of my Dad's older cousin, Henry—sours.

Thanks to Suzanne's Granddaughter—my Kaunas Cousin—for making this photo available to us.

Fresh

Venice, Italy, November 1983. Morning commuters shop at the Rialto market on their way to work.

No creases for Irene.

I promised yesterday to post another view of the 1963 New Year's Eve table.

Suburban Chicago, December 31, 1963. Lily offers someone sugar—or just a sugar lid—for coffee. My Mom's best friend Donna—in the center wearing the dress with the illusion neckline—watches. There's a "Reišutinis Tortas" (Nut Torte) on the table; my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana likely baked it. It was a dry torte made with hand-ground walnuts. Tatjana soaked the layers with a rum syrup, spread lingonberries for the filling, and dressed the torte with a penuche icing. I longed for a moist, spongy, frosted American-style cake.

Do you see the little ashtray with the ceramic tile inlays? We used to make those. Hot plates and ashtrays were practical objects for the popular tile projects.

When we were looking last night at the photo I posted yesterday of this table, Mr. Irene and I noticed that the damask tablecloth had creases. Tatjana carefully ironed tablecloths after she washed them. But I think she folded the tablecloths, stored them in a drawer, and then took them right out of the drawer—without further ironing—when she wanted to use them. Mr. Irene wondered if the creases didn't make an imprint on compulsive-neatnik-little-Irene because—since we've been married—I always store tablecloths on coat hangers in a closet (never folded in a drawer), and I obsessively iron them (sometimes right on the table) before we finish arranging the place settings.

Dora, Dressed for Snow

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, January 6, 1959. My Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora—you remember Dora—stands in the snowy yard. Dora lived until she died in the home my Mom's Parents built.

On the back of this photo, Dora wrote, "Here I am in the garden. This is how our yard now looks. We really should plant some small trees. I've already planted about five currant bushes. They would be on the left side of where I stand. This year, our trees produced large fruit." It's touching that she writes about planting on the back of a wintery snapshot.

Related by Marriage: More Apple Picking

Near Goodman, Wisconsin, autumn 1938 or 1939. The family of Mr. Irene's Mom finishes up another afternoon of apple picking. (The family often went apple picking.)

From left to right are Cousin O, Mr. Irene's Mom, Aunt Petra, Cousin O's daughter, Mr. Irene's maternal Grandmother Anna, Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather Stanley, and two of Cousin O's farm dogs.