The ground is soggy, the sun is bright and the wind whips up now and…
Lietuva 8: Shaking the Family Tree
Well we traveled from Maryland to Lithuania to learn more about my Dear One’s progenitors and all we discovered was that his maternal great-grandmother’s name was “Prana” not “Orene” (as it appeared to my eye in a scribble on a ship’s manifest). Apparent that “O” was...
Lietuva 6: Bugs and Baltic Sea
Whhappp! Pthbbth! Ssssppppttthhhhtttt! That last comes with a liberal spray of spit. I thought the bugs in spring-time New Hampshire were bad. That was nothing. It’s also obvious to me why so much amber is filled with insects. The mosquitos way down south in...
Lietuva 5: Cuckoos, past and present
Yesterday as we walked through Grūtas Park, my Dear One halted and said, “Hear that? The cuckoo?” I listened and heard twitters and warbles and caws, but no cuckoo. “It’s just like a clock—can’t you hear it?” No, I couldn’t. But later on, back at Romove Homestead, I...
Lietuva 4: Stork-Spotting
As we approached Lithuania’s border with Poland and Belarus in the south, the tall pines exuded a primeval air despite their relative youth, and twisting roads offered glimpses of lakes and streams. In this countryside, gravity secures huge nests, some seeming to...