This year's visit to the "Knit In."

Today we again visited the Madison Knitters' Guild Knit In.

Madison, Wisconsin, March 15, 2014.  We didn't get lost.

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A few visitors may have come from out of town.

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We enjoy visiting the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.

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Mark your calendar.

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The property will be converted to rental units next year.

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I hope the developer preserves the tranquil courtyard.

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The Center's Gymnasium again was the site for the Marketplace.

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People wore their finest knitted garments.

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There's a familiar face.

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Sock knitting.

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People caught up on a few stitches between classes.

Diplomatic Maneuvers

Russia imposes trade sanctions on Lithuania, and White House announces Vice President Biden will visit Lithuania and Poland next week.

Get every last bit.

Brookfield Zoo, October 1966. We're sitting back and watching the antics.

Grab a Book: Nose-Guard Edition

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. Mom fashions a nose guard from a leaf. She's sitting near the dock.

Holy Communion (Part 20)

Toronto, Ontario, 1959. It's Toronto Al's day.

Thanks to Toronto Al for making this photo available to us.

Purcell-Sill Reunion

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1987. The Purcell Sill bands the park.

Admire the baby.

Suburban Chicago, December 1958. My Godparents—and their respective spouses—prop me up on my christening day.

Sweet Thoughts

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, December 1958. My Dad's twin sister, Jonė, and her husband, Kadis, await party guests.

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

Red-Pup Reunion

Madison, Wisconsin, September 3, 1994. Pupa doesn't have the run of the house.

Craft Corner

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1979. Mom's working on a fair-isle, yoked sweater.

Happy Birthday ...

… to my Kaunas Cousin.

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1972. Although my Kaunas Cousin and I didn't meet in person until 2012, we grew up knowing about each other.

There are ethnic Russians living in Lithuania, too.

Anonymous petition asks residents of Klaipėda "to approve the region's accession to the Russian Federation."

ADDED: Here's a map showing the distribution of ethnic Russians in the Baltic States.

Crossing

Venice, Italy, May 1984. Behind the freighter is a commuter motonave.

"Red pants, that's France!"

Suburban Chicago, November 1960. This clip reminds me of "Red pants, that's France!" I learned that piece of uniform history during my senior year in high school, when I took "Western Civilizations." Western Civ was the course that turned me on to studying history. I liked the class because we used a college-level textbook,* and the teacher, Sr. Francia Shannon, was amazing. She taught us to use primary sources.  

I think my classmate will remember how we repeated, "Le pantalon rouge c'est la France!"

*Our edition was a hardcover with white binding. I saved it for about 30 years; I think I got rid of it when we last moved. I have a newer, paperback, edition on the shelf—one that I used when I taught the course in the late 1980s. I'm annoyed I can't find my high-school volume. It had my underlines and notes. I'm a purger, but this is a time when I regret getting rid of something.

Jock VI

"Churchill asked that there always be a cat with four white paws and a white bib residing at Chartwell in Kent."

Related by Marriage: Army Buddies (Part 22)

West Germany, early 1950s. In this "Army Buddies" snapshot, a friend of Mr. Irene's Dad wrote, "Here I am with a young lady, with whom I spent some time tasting beer."

Independence Restoration Day

Today is the twenty-fourth anniversary of the day Lithuania's Parliament voted to assert its independence from the Soviet Union.

 

Video of the vote appears here.*

*In Lithuanian. The Lithuanian flag rises at 0:37 and the singing of the national anthem begins at 0:54. Displaying a flag and singing the anthem had been, since 1944, criminal acts.

My Mom (who believes dreams deliver messages) recounts how, during the Soviet Union's 1940-1941 occupation, she dreamed about a day when her mother, Jadzė, climbed to the attic, retrieved a hidden flag, and flew it in defiance. In the woken world, Jadzė died before World War II ended.

Valley Reunion

Alberta, Canada, July 1968. We're heading back to Glacier after a short Canadian trip.

Evening

Parry Sound, Ontario, July 1959. It's good to be in a place where the telephone doesn't ring.

Subject

 

Toronto, Ontario, 1950. Toronto Al's Dad snaps a photo after he enjoyed an ice-cream cone.

Thanks to Toronto Al for making this photo available to us.

Let's make a Kugelis.

Mr. Irene and I decided to make a traditional Lithuanian dish, Kugelis, last night. It wasn't a special occasion; we just had a taste for it, and our potatoes were on the "old" side. (Lithuanian cooks insist old potatoes makes a better Kugelis because old potatoes have less liquid.)

We don't make Kugelis very often because it's something of a—to use an Italian phrase—"bomba calorica." A dish that serves six to eight people features five pounds of potatoes, two sticks of butter, one cup of cream, 12 ounces of bacon, five eggs, and an onion. And one eats Kugelis with a generous side of sour cream.
 

 Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Mr. Irene peeled and quartered the potatoes. We kept the potatoes in ice water until I was ready to grate them. 

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. The potatoes must be grated using a fine blade; the correct texture is a pulp, not shreds. We use a Lithuanian potato-grating machine. 

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Quick grating keeps the potatoes from oxidizing. Lithuanians frown upon a "grey" Kugelis.

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. The Kugelis is ready about three hours after we started making it.

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Rex says, "Hey! Bacon!!" 

Concentration

Suburban Chicago, September 1963. Dad's not angry; he's just waiting to see if the "autoknipsas" functions properly.

Sunday Visitors

Rockford, Illinois, Summer 1955. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, and my Parents visit with their Rockford friends. The group is in the backyard of the friends' first home. The friends later built a new house that we visited often.

In the summer of 1955, my Parents had just moved to Suburban Chicago.

A Discussion about Ukraine

Ambassadors from the three Baltic States discuss the crisis on CNN.

Rooftop Reunion

Venice, Italy, November 1983. It's a claustrophobic place. There was one six-month stretch when I didn't go to the mainland.

Wedding Toast

Schweinfurt, Germany, May 1948. Here's another unfocused image from my Parents' wedding day. In this snapshot, my maternal Grandfather, Jake, and my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, greet the newlyweds with the toast of wine, bread, and salt.

Double Breasted

 
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Autumn 1950. Kadis—the husband of my Dad's twin sister, Jonė—celebrates with his friend. I earlier posted photos from this day here and here.

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

Ice-Field View

Along the Ice Field Parkway, Alberta, Canada, July 1968. We're nearing the end of our detour through the Canadian Rockies.

Knitting on the Boat

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. I earlier posted still images taken during this boat ride here, here, here, and here.

Related by Marriage: Eye of Providence

Near Panevėžys, Lithuania, July 1993. Mr. Irene's Dad, his Sister-in-Law, and his niece visit the cemetery in which Stacey is buried.

This was the first trip Mr. Irene's Dad made back to Lithuania after the disintegration of the USSR.

Knit for a penguin.

"Penguins caught in oil spills need [ ] little jumpers to keep warm and to stop them from trying to clean the toxic oil off with their beaks."

 

Pattern here.

 

ADDED: "Reality check" here.

The Quieter Side

Via Garibaldi, Venice, Italy, March 1984. Explore a different part of town. "The street (actually a filled-in canal) is unusually wide, so you really feel like you're on solid ground."

The Castello neighborhood also is home to one of our favorite restaurants (although we've not visited it ... since 1989).

Rocket Cats

"It seems like a really terrible idea, and very unlikely the animals would run back to where they came from. More likely they'd set your own camp on fire."

Share a Laugh

Erlangen Germany, 1946. My Mom and her medical-school roommate had a photographic day.

Wander

Near Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1936. Kaunas Nina considers the options.

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

Textures and Smells

Brookfield Zoo, June 1964. We visit the Seven Seas Panorama again.

Three things come to mind here: (1) the slipperiness and texture of the exhibit's concrete benches; (2) the odor in the arena when the sun shone through the skylight and warmed the pool's water; and (3) the smell in the hallways from the heating of the Mold-A-Rama machines.

Grab a Book: Memento Edition

 

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1958. A friend sends this tranquil image to my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. The woman also appeared, seated, in the center of this photo.

Another View of that Walk

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 1964. Here's another image from our walk to an afternoon party. We'd been invited to visit my paternal Grandmother Tatjana's Ukrainian friend.

Tsarist Russia, in Color

"Almost half of the negatives produced by the photographer during his tour of Russia were confiscated when he left the country after the Russian revolution."

ADDED: Color images from early-twentieth century Irkutsk.

A Favorite Spot, in Three Takes

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Something brings them back.

Related by Marriage: Related

Vilnius, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1978. Mr. Irene gets acquainted with his cousin—the daughter of his paternal Uncle Stacey—during his trip behind the Iron Curtain.

Blueberry Picking, with a Collie Dog

Near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, July 1959. Mom and Dad pick blueberries. This was the summer of the rattlesnake incident.

Fat Tuesday

In Lithuania, Fat Tuesday is "Užgavėnės." Click on the "Carnvale" label to read more.

 

(Yes, I ate three pancakes this morning.)

Negotiations

Galleria Umberto Primo, Naples, Italy, May 1984. This image captures how I saw Naples: a lot going on, and few women in the picture.

The Updated Room

Suburban Chicago, January 1963. Mom appreciates the bookcases in the newly decorated Rec Room. Ha! My squirrel bank is on the lower shelf.

An Occasional Visitor

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, about 1973. My Dad's older cousin, Vytas, visits with his niece, Kaunas Nina. Kaunas Nina holds her doggie, Musytė.

Vytas, like his brother Henry, was one of my Dad's older cousins. After Vytas returned to Lithuania from the Siberian Gulag, the regime prohibited him from living in a city. As a result, Vytas could visit Kaunas only occasionally.

Porca Miseria

Pope Francis utters "cazzo" when he meant to say "caso."

Maneuvers

"Russian army holds exercises on Polish and Lithuanian borders."

Quick-Step Reunion

Brookfield Zoo, November 1973. Two young Ibex kick up their heels.

Frogging—Forty Years Ago—in Three Takes

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Suburban Chicago, June 1974. Mom and I unravel a sweater. We watch television while we work.

At His Happiest

 
Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1968. Dad loved to hike and take photographs. The trip was one of the vacations during which he grew a mustache.

The issue of ethnic Russians living in Crimea.

The ethnic Russian population in Crimea is a "justification for this entire operation: the ethnic Russians on the Crimean peninsula are allegedly in danger."

How did the population of ethnic Russians rise to a majority in the Crimea? "[T]he only reason that Crimea had a Russian majority was because Josef Stalin deported the native Crimean Tatars en masse to Central Asia after World War II and resettled Russians to replace them."

Get away from the crowds.

Venice, Italy, March 1984. It's Carnevale season again in Venice. 

(My Carnevale photos are here.)

Dad initiates a snowball fight ...

... while we explore Sperry Glacier:

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1970. We visited this spot several times.

Related by Marriage: Extended Family

Lithuania, about 1938. Ignas, the brother of Mr. Irene's Dad, stands in the back, on the right. The woman on the far left is Danutė. the wife of Uncle D.