Direction

Austria, near the Hungarian border, July 1971. The pair brings good luck.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 55)

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Leipzig, Germany, December 13, 1944. My Mom's friend wrote:

Oh how we could use some luck,
if only a little
if only as much as
the blooming flower on the window ...

The friend's imagery derives from a winter incident Mom recalls. The barracks in which Mom stayed had no central heating.* Mom kept a vase on the window sill. Once, although the water in the vase froze overnight, the flower kept blooming.

*Mom would heat an iron before going to sleep, and she placed it on the mattress so the bedding warmed.

Stork Reunion

Near Šiauliai, Lithuania, August 2011. It's the time of year when storks return to their nests.

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

(The sign reads "Private Property." Haha.)

Nesting Reunion

Austria, near the Hungarian border, July 1971. The stork awaits the return of its migrating mate.

Nesting Reunion

Austria, July 1971. We're at the Hungarian border, admiring those storks. Why not? It doesn't hurt to hope for some good luck.

Habits

Lithuania is "the most stork-dense of all the [E]uropean nations." The stork is the country's national bird. When our family traveled to Europe in 1971, my Dad got very excited each time we saw a stork pair because the birds reminded him of home.

Storks, who used to return to Lithuania after a wintering in Africa, are changing their migration habits. Will they become the seagulls of the European continent?

Near Šiauliai, Lithuania, August 2011. Another stork perches on its nest.

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

Storks mate for life.

Austria, near the Hungarian border, July 1971. Even though these are different storks in a different place, they still send the same message of good luck and fidelity.

Lucky Strike

Near Šiauliai, Lithuania, August 2011. In Lithuania, the stork is a symbol of good luck.

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