Camp Irwin, Barstow, California, December 1951. Mr. Irene's Dad and a fellow tank instructor check their orders.
December 11, 2012
Related by Marriage: Instructor Information
Camp Irwin, Barstow, California, December 1951. Mr. Irene's Dad and a fellow tank instructor check their orders.
Let's check in on that Rockford Poodle.
Rockford, Illinois, May 1960. It's been a while since I wrote about the first time I met that Poodle. This is a photo from that same day. Here, Mom and Dad ensure that I behave. My beloved Godmother sits—in the middle—with the three women on the ledge.
December 10, 2012
Frozen-Pond Reunion
Verona, Wisconsin, February 2010. Wait until the pond is truly frozen before you try to cross it.
An Early Kūčios, with Friends
Mr. Irene and I were delighted recently to have been invited to a lovely Kūčios potluck. Madison-Vilnius Sister Cities, Inc. and the Lithuanian folk dance group with which we used to perform—Žaibas—hosted the event.
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. Each table featured a plate of plotkelės that diners shared before the meal.
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. The spread included nearly every traditional Kūčios dish: herring, mushrooms, "Vinegretai," "Christmas Fish" (two ways!), smoked fishes, and Lithuanian bread. (Compare our Kūčios table from last year.)
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. After dinner, Santa Claus arrived with gifts for those children who were ready to sing, play an instrument, or recite a poem.
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. Santa broke into a swoosh of Jurgelis Meistrelis moments after he arrived.
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. Each table featured a plate of plotkelės that diners shared before the meal.
* * * * *
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. The spread included nearly every traditional Kūčios dish: herring, mushrooms, "Vinegretai," "Christmas Fish" (two ways!), smoked fishes, and Lithuanian bread. (Compare our Kūčios table from last year.)
* * * * *
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. After dinner, Santa Claus arrived with gifts for those children who were ready to sing, play an instrument, or recite a poem.
* * * * *
Madison, Wisconsin, December 2012. Santa broke into a swoosh of Jurgelis Meistrelis moments after he arrived.
* * * * *
Do you want to learn more about Kūčios? Check out these posts.
The Arrival of the First Wavers
Or, "How Chicago became Lithuania's second capital."
Chicago's Public Television station, WTTW, also addressed the subject in "Lithuanians in Chicago," an episode in its "Chicago Stories" series.
Read more here about the first wavers on Mr. Irene's maternal side of the family.
Chicago's Public Television station, WTTW, also addressed the subject in "Lithuanians in Chicago," an episode in its "Chicago Stories" series.
Read more here about the first wavers on Mr. Irene's maternal side of the family.
Antler Fuzz
.jpg)
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, July 1962. We're heading to Lac du Flambeau, and we stop on our way from Chicago at the Wisconsin Deer Park.
December 9, 2012
Christmas Cards: Fourth Edition
December, 1972. The fourth in my Dad's series of photographic Christmas cards featured a pine cone from a tree that grew alongside our driveway.
The party doesn't have to end at Midnight.
Suburban Chicago, January 1, 1962. Midnight has come and gone because there are streamers on the Rec Room floor. My Mom dances with Vytenis, the husband of her best friend Donna. On the television rests my beloved, stuffed dog that one Sunday disintegrated in the washing machine.
Napoleon and the Serenissima
I've occasionally touched on the arrival of Napoleon in Lithuania.
The Children's Christmas Pageant
Our Lithuanian school hosted an annual Christmas pageant. Each December, the children gathered in the dreary basement of the parish school to entertain our families with songs and poetry. An adult from the community dressed up as Santa Claus. Parents brought a small gift with their child's name written on the wrapper and secretly popped the gift into Santa's bag, which sat hidden in the back room. The Lithuanian school teachers decorated a small tree. Adults drank coffee and ate cookies at wobbly folding tables while the children waited nervously until Santa Claus arrived.
For every Christmas pageant, there is a formula. First, children dance "Jurgelis Meistrelis," a folk take on "Simon Says." For the Christmas pageant, the song mutates to "Kaip Senelis daro," or, "Do what Santa Claus does." The dance is repetitive: children dance in a circle, Santa Claus stops and does something cute—he squats, he points, he mimics an animal—and the children imitate exactly what Santa Claus does. This goes on for about fifteen minutes.
After the dance, the children wait for Santa's gifts. By custom, a child must must do something—and do it well—before Santa gives that child his gift. Some children sing, some recite poetry, and some play an instrument (preferably an accordian). Because I couldn't sing or play an instrument, I always recited a poem.
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Santa Claus is delighted to have arrived at the pageant. I've looked at this photo many times, and I still cannot make out who played Santa Claus.
* * * * *
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Here we are, dancing "Kaip Senelis." I'm the girl with the eye glasses (of course). My dear friend Kris, on the far right, got to hold hands with Santa Claus!
* * * * *
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Our teacher leads us in a song for Santa Claus.
* * * * *
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Ah! It's my turn to recite for Santa. I look really nervous. My ensemble was a two-piece, avocado-colored dress with gold stripes. I'm wearing tights (of course).
* * * * *
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Santa Claus liked my poem.
* * * * *
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1965. Ha ha. He really liked my poem.
The first snowfall of the season is here.
Verona, Wisconsin, December 2012. We woke up this morning to the first "sticking" snowfall. This snowfall came exactly one month later than last year's first snow.
December 8, 2012
Spotted
Brookfield Zoo, Illinois, Autumn 1965. The detail on this photo is fine enough to show the crumbs on the cat's whiskers.
Christmas Manners: Share the joy of the tree.
.jpg)
Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1961. My Kaunas Cousin knows that the tree—even if it's officially a "New Year's Tree"—means that gifts are around the corner. She has one of those sympathetic, plastic-faced Soviet bear dolls. It's so familiar: I wonder whether Kaunas Cousin's family sent one to me.
Josephine, a Mystery
My Mom's maternal Aunt Dora—whom you may remember as an intriguing figure—sent many family photos to my Mom. Dora stayed in Lithuania after the second Soviet occupation, and she lived in the house my maternal Grandparents had built. In that house, Dora found many snapshots my Mom and her Dad, Jake, had left behind when they fled Lithuania in 1944. Beginning in the late 1950s—after Stalin died—Dora started mailing those photos to my Mom. By now, I've posted most of the images on this blog.
Dora was very good about providing written descriptions on the back of photos, especially when she sent an image from a family plot. So this photo, of a headstone and its family bench, is a mystery because Dora wrote nothing on its back. The inscription tells me that the decedent was Josephine, and Josephine was related to the family of my maternal Grandfather, Jake.
Josephine was 32 years old when she died on November 19, 1927. Was she a sister of Jake and his other siblings, Mary, Cody Jr., Zigmas, and the younger brother who died in a shooting accident? My Mom doesn't recall a Josephine or whether a Josephine was a sibling of Jake's or a cousin. Mom does have a foggy memory—from her childhood—of a relative who delivered a still-born baby and then died after she contracted sepsis.
"Rest in peace, our beloved Josephinette, while you wait for us."
UPDATE: Last year, I wondered, "Whose portrait hangs on that wall?" I now see that it's a portrait of Josephine, and I think it's the same portrait that's on her headstone. The placement of Josephine's portrait in a public part of the house—the dining room—tells me that Josephine probably was the deceased daughter of my Mom's paternal Grandparents, Cody Sr. and Wanda. Josphine was a sister of my paternal Grandfather, Jake.
I was searching that "Customs" post just now for some information I had written last year about Kūčios, and there she was, staring at me from the wall, about an hour after this post published.
Dora was very good about providing written descriptions on the back of photos, especially when she sent an image from a family plot. So this photo, of a headstone and its family bench, is a mystery because Dora wrote nothing on its back. The inscription tells me that the decedent was Josephine, and Josephine was related to the family of my maternal Grandfather, Jake.
Josephine was 32 years old when she died on November 19, 1927. Was she a sister of Jake and his other siblings, Mary, Cody Jr., Zigmas, and the younger brother who died in a shooting accident? My Mom doesn't recall a Josephine or whether a Josephine was a sibling of Jake's or a cousin. Mom does have a foggy memory—from her childhood—of a relative who delivered a still-born baby and then died after she contracted sepsis.
"Rest in peace, our beloved Josephinette, while you wait for us."
UPDATE: Last year, I wondered, "Whose portrait hangs on that wall?" I now see that it's a portrait of Josephine, and I think it's the same portrait that's on her headstone. The placement of Josephine's portrait in a public part of the house—the dining room—tells me that Josephine probably was the deceased daughter of my Mom's paternal Grandparents, Cody Sr. and Wanda. Josphine was a sister of my paternal Grandfather, Jake.
I was searching that "Customs" post just now for some information I had written last year about Kūčios, and there she was, staring at me from the wall, about an hour after this post published.
Lithuanian Gay League dodges censorship attempt.
Packets containing "Baltic Pride" distributed to newly elected members of parliament despite failure to follow "correct procedure" for "incoming correspondence."
December 7, 2012
Christmas Cards: Third Edition
December, 1968. The third in my Dad's series of photographic Christmas cards featured another image from one of our trips to Glacier National Park.
Study Techniques
+Kaunas+1940.jpg)
Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1940. My Dad cherished and restored photos of his favorite mentors and teachers. Here's a teacher from my Dad's high school, Aušros Gimnazija. I don't know what subject this fellow taught.
Holy Communion (Part 9)
I haven't done a Holy Communion post in a while.
Suburban Chicago, Spring 1967. Here's Mr. Irene on his big day.
Suburban Chicago, Spring 1967. Here's Mr. Irene on his big day.
The forecast predicts a snowfall.
Suburban Chicago, February 1963. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, and I tackle the driveway. Check out my Yogi-Bear mittens: they were much better than the Winnie-the-Pooh mittens.
UPDATE: I was wearing those Yogi-Bear mittens here.
December 6, 2012
Related by Marriage: Christmas Toys for Boys
Suburban Chicago, December 25, 1963. There are four trucks under the tree, but Mr. Irene has selected his favorite toy.
Unfazed
Suburban Chicago, December 1958. It's my christening day, and the gang has gathered in the living room. My Godfather must have taken this photo because he's not in the shot. From left to right sit my Godmother, my Godfather's wife, my Godmother's husband, and Mom and Dad.
The painting—a still life of lilacs—was a gift from an artist to my Mom. It still hangs.
December 5, 2012
"[T]here are a few tight curves, but thousands of vehicles have safely made the journey from one side of the park to the other."
Partial answer to: "How scary is it to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road?"
Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. I found it pretty scary.
Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1966. I found it pretty scary.
Related by Marriage: Christmas at the Base
Camp Irwin, Barstow, California, December 1952. Mr. Irene's Dad sent this photo of himself to his older brother, Ignas. Mr. Irene's Dad wrote, "Brother! Here I am next to the Christmas tree."
Thanks to Mr. Irene's Los Angeles Cousin for making this photo available to us.
Christmas Manners: Catch up before you clean up.
Suburban Chicago, December 31, 1962. Mom relaxes with Lily and and another friend. Soon the women will be be washing dishes.
It's time again for Santa Fake.
Last year, I posted an image of me with a Santa Fake. There, I seemed skeptical of—if not creeped out by—the imposter. (That post was partially an excuse to link to a clip of "Elf.")
Earlier on, I was less jaded when I met Santa Fake:
.jpg)
Earlier on, I was less jaded when I met Santa Fake:
.jpg)
Suburban Chicago, December 1962. I'm wearing Winnie-the-Pooh mittens. That's a bit odd because I never liked that story.
December 4, 2012
Traveling Clothes
Ontario, Canada, July 1954. My family is on its way from a summer vacation in Canada and at Niagara Falls. Dad captures his mother, Tatjana, at a stop during the road trip.
A Meal at Camp
Related by Marriage: We've had mild December days in the past.
Marquette Park, Chicago, December 1958. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather Stanley, maternal Aunt Martha, maternal Grandmother Anna, and Anna's sister Petra pose on the back porch.
December 3, 2012
Christmas Manners: Know what to call that tree.
.jpg)
Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1961. My Dad's niece, Kaunas Nina, helps her daughter—my Kaunas Cousin—decorate the tree. But it's not a "Christmas Tree." In the Soviet Union, a Christmas Tree was a "New Year's Tree."
The Christmas "Minejimas"
Our little, suburban Lithuanian School tried to commemorate holidays and national festivals as nicely as the bigger, Saturday school in Marquette Park did. But our suburban enclave had fewer children than the neighborhood populated by the Lithuanian core. As a result, our pageants, or "minejimai," were smaller—sometimes feeble—affairs.
But they were nonetheless charming.
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1967. We've practiced our steps. I'm on the left. It's likely that a potluck Kūčios followed the performance.
But they were nonetheless charming.
Melrose Park, Illinois, December 1967. We've practiced our steps. I'm on the left. It's likely that a potluck Kūčios followed the performance.
Related by Marriage: Deserted Desert
Camp Irwin, Barstow, California, 1952. Mr. Irene's Dad walks the base shortly before his discharge from the U.S. Army.
December 2, 2012
It's the season of good will.
$9,000 Alexander Calder print bought for $12 at a Milwaukee Goodwill store.
"The picture sold in Milwaukee is called 'Red Nose.' It's an abstract image that resembles the face of an ape, all black and white except for a red nose." Did Rudolph have a hoof in this?
"The picture sold in Milwaukee is called 'Red Nose.' It's an abstract image that resembles the face of an ape, all black and white except for a red nose." Did Rudolph have a hoof in this?
Christmas Cards: Second Edition
December, 1967. The second in my Dad's series of photographic Christmas cards featured an image from our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.
It's so mild today, you won't need that winter coat.
Suburban Chicago, December 1961. I'm on the front lawn, wearing a red coat.
Related by Marriage: Putting up the tree.
Marquette Park, Chicago, Illinois, December 1958. Mr. Irene's Parents spend a Sunday at the home of Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, where they help set up the tree. From left to right are Aunt Petra, Mr Irene's maternal Grandmother Anna, Mr. Irene's Mom—who is expecting Mr. Irene—and Mr. Irene's Dad.
"The godfather of avante-garde cinema"
An interview with Jonas Mekas.
"When the old forms began collapsing and falling away though exhaustion and repetition, a new sensibility is born. That is what happened back then and may be happening now."
I mentioned Mekas once before here.
"When the old forms began collapsing and falling away though exhaustion and repetition, a new sensibility is born. That is what happened back then and may be happening now."
I mentioned Mekas once before here.
Sunday Paper: Kitchen Edition
Suburban Chicago, May 1961. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, catches up on the news. She's wearing that familiar pistachio-colored duster.
December 1, 2012
Bridal Shop Bongos
.JPG)
Stuttgart, Germany, August 1985. You'll find music across the street from the shoe shop.
Transportation Options
Suburban Chicago, April 1961. My friend drives a pedal car. I carry what some might think is my favorite form of transportation.
Related by Marriage: Pedal Car
Suburban Chicago, December 1959. Mr. Irene's maternal Aunt, Martha, coaxes Mr. Irene to enjoy his Christmas gift. If you watch "American Pickers," then you know that pedal cars are hot items on the antiques circuit.
Christmas Manners: Put out a few decorations before the guests arrive.
Suburban Chicago, December 1965. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, enjoy the Christmas cheer at a friend's home. Mom wears a suit she knitted. At the edge of the shot, on the far right, rests Mom's knitting bag. She must have thought she'd be able to sneak in a few rows during the party.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)