Cooling Off

Colombia, September 1954. My Dad's friend Casey and his kayaking companion jump in. Casey wrote, "We're in the lake already."

I'll wait in the car.

Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, July 1971. I found this trip exhausting. By the end of the month, I only wanted to focus on reading Arthur Hailey's Airport.

Familiar

Colombia, August 1954. My Dad's friend Casey wrote, "We're kayaking, and we approach a lake. The view through the trees was so familiar, this could have been in Europe."

Exploration

Probably Penza, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1965. Natasha, a younger sister of my paternal Grandmother Tatjana, wrote, "Like the narrow straits in front of El Dorado."

Thanks to my friend D for translating the text from Russian to English.

Loading

Colombia, 1954. Casey and a friend prepare to leave for the kayaking trip.

A Shared Joy

Columbia, 1954. Casey knew about my Dad's love of kayaking. Casey wrote, "Here's another Lithuanian friend with whom I've had great success kayaking."

The Kayaker

Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, July 1971. In the 1970s, few people kayaked in the United States. Whenever Dad saw a kayaker, he took a photograph because the activity reminded him of his time in Lithuania.

Come ashore.

Nemunas River, Lithuania, about 1939. Dad comes ashore after parking his kayak.

Dad was happiest when he was outdoors.

Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. When Dad was outdoors, he reminisced about his times kayaking, camping, and scouting in Lithuania.

A Different Irene

This is my Dad's friend, "Irene:"

Nevėžis River, near Panevėžys, Lithuania, 1939. This is the Surviliškis Bridge ("Surviliškio Tiltas"). My Dad loved to kayak and canoe the rivers of Lithuania.

Imagining Youth

I came into my Parents' lives later than was customary for that era. I have no memory, for example, of them in their twenties or thirties. I therefore always was fascinated when I heard stories about my Parents' youth. I was excited to learn what a sportsman my Dad had been in Lithuania, particularly in the fields of cross-country skiing and kayaking.

Dad was especially fond of the times he and his father, Vytautas, kayaked the length of the Nemunas River. He derived many stories from this trip, and I sometimes wondered if Dad didn't embellish the facts a bit.

Nemunas River, Lithuania, about 1939. My paternal Grandfather, Vytautas, in the foreground, rests with my Dad during their trip down the Nemunas River. That's a pretty long kayak!

This isn't a great photograph, I know. But it was one of my Dad's favorite snapshots.