Pepper

Door County, Wisconsin, September 6, 2004. A friend of Mom's adopted "Pepper" at about the same time we acquired Baci. Pepper is one of the most nicely adjusted Poodles we've known.

Pfui

Verona, Wisconsin, April 2, 2016. Here's how things looked this morning.

Romanticism

Between Naples and Rome, May 1984. People have visions of what European train travel looks like. This is how I remember it.

"The statues were covered to spare Rouhani's blushes."

Rome authorities cover nude statues during Iranian president's visit.

"As well as censoring the private parts of Roman gods and goddesses wine was also banned from official receptions in order to not offend their guests."

Spring, Reconsidered

Verona, Wisconsin, May 2015. Perhaps they will return next year.

She yawns.

Suburban Chicago, March 1973. Gigi may not be tired.

Expectations

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, July 1963. When we visited the area near the Kennedy Compound, I assumed we would see some famous people. Mom consoled me.

Preoccupied

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1936. Kaunas Nina takes things seriously.

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

Same-Direction Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2015. We don't tire of seeing our visitor.

Preoccupied

Toronto, Ontario, December 1959. My Dad's twin sister, Jonė, takes a break from the party.

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

She came back.

Verona, Wisconsin, January 22, 2015. Our visitor again scampers through the backyard.

Don't get all soft about foxes; they're predators, just like coyotes.

End-of-the-Road Reunion

Door County, Wisconsin, March 1978. Things should clear up soon.

Memory Triggers

Suburban Chicago, December 24, 1965. Dad snapped this photo as we waited for Kūčios to begin. Although I smiled, I was annoyed because Mom had just used a barrette to undo the effect of my cool, over-the-eye, side-parted bob. Mom made me wear tights again! And this was long before tights were fashionable. I also was miserable because I suffered from badly chapped lips that winter. Do you recognize the silver bracelet?

This image captures how pink our kitchen was. There's the Roper wall oven that served us for 34 years. The elephant figurine resting below the chandelier presently sits—minus his tusks—on a bookshelf in our current home. The "Swim Little Duck" folk art hangs above Mom's head.

A Closer Look (Part 13)

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1928. This is my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, at that children's party. Jonė, about five years old here, already had her impish, innocent expression.

Here's the original post for this photo.

A Closer Look (Part 12)

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1928. Here's another example of a child with his "adult face." This is my Dad at the party at which he likely first met my Mom. Whenever Dad showed me this photograph, he noted he was upset at the time because he hated the hat the hostess had assigned to him. People who provoked Dad will recognize this quiet expression of icy contempt and broody warning.

Here's the original post for this photo. Ah! What Dad would have done with digital-photo technology.

Decorative-Gourd Reunion

Spring Green, Wisconsin, September 2011. Do you dislike decorative-gourd season?

I never met a dog I didn't like (Summer 1962)

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. "Mom! There's a dog in the lake!"

"Krokodilo Ašaros"

Crocodile tears:

The truth is that crocodiles do not cry because they do not have the lachrymal ducts. The lachrymal ducts are unnecessary for them because they spend most of their time in water. The crocodile’s lachrymal glands produce the secretion that only moisten the eyes when an animal is out of water.

When crocodiles swallow large chunks of meat, their eyes water and it seems that they are crying. Since ancient times, people used to say that crocodiles mourned for their victims in such a way. However, crocodiles are crying because they are swallowing bigger bite than it fits in his mouth from the greed. The crocodiles’ lachrymal glands are close to the throat. Since crocodiles tear off large chunks and swallow it whole, the large chunks push against the lachrymal glands, forcing tears to their eyes in great amount.

It is believed that Roman historian Pliny was the first to explain this idiom in his work Historia Naturalis. Since than, the idiom “crocodile tears” has become the symbol of the insincerity and the fake regret[.]

 (Here's the article in Lithuanian.)

I resist bedtime.

Suburban Chicago, April 1961. I am stubborn, but Mom knows how to distract me.

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.