Third anniversary

Vaiva died three years ago today.  Seems so much, much longer, and yet absolutely nothing has happened in three years.

Before writing this, I went through the blog to look at what I had written on prior anniversaries.  I was surprised to realize there is only one other.  The first anniversary was the commemoration, the second was just last year. Don't know why I expected to find five or six anniversary posts.

I have stuff I've been meaning to do. Somehow, I can't get motivated enough to do it.

Vaiva should be 57 today

Today is her birthday.

I hate it when I recognize myself in a NYTimes article

From last July.

They refer to this book, which is apparently out of print. I've been able to order it from the Durham Library.

In tearing down “the distorted and sick ideologies of the 20th century,” Reagan “remade the world for us.”

Peggy Noonan on the centenary of Ronald Reagan.

She did not mention that the American government couldn't be bothered to send its representative to the unveiling of the Reagan statue in London.  He stands with FDR and Ike.

We need another Reagan.

This looks interesting

Another book.

Father's day 2011

To celebrate Father's day we went to Elizabeth park to see the roses in bloom. Near the front entrance, we found a stone under a tree planted by the Estonians Latvians and Lithuanians of CT to show commitment to the cause of Baltic independence.



We should start building a gazebo just like this one in our field!

Jonines 2011

Jonines is such as amazing holiday that we celebrated twice this year, first as New Haven apylinkes suvaziavimas on the 18th (above), second as a Neringa reunion on the 25th. The 18th was the first Jonines for Teddy's parents.


The weather was beautiful all weekend for Jonines 1, so the boys burned brush all day Saturday.


Stan caught 14 pickerel in our pond that afternoon, and New Haven ladies cleaned and salted the catch to take home.


The rain cleared for the evening of Jonines 2, so we braided flower wreaths and sang folk songs around the fire late into the night. Gaja taught us a new Jonines song about harvesting the last of the rye.


The most unique part of Jonines 2 was a brand new tradition: a bacon explosion, cooked in a smoker. It really did explode, causing two small fires in the smoker, which Teddy expertly contained. The bacon was super smokey and delicious, a perfect side dish to an amazing kugelis and smoked chickens. A very joyful Jonines!

Fr. Zygas

For some reason, Blogger won't let me post comments in my own blog.  To answer Irene's query in the comment to the next post, on the Facebook memorial page, someone mentioned in the comments that Fr. Zygas was diagnosed with a brain tumor in August 2010.  Wish I had known.

R.I.P. Fr. Arvydas Zygas

Here's my post, with photos of him, at the last Lithuanian picnic in Putnam.

Here's his Facebook In Memoriam page.

Here's a bio.

Mother's Day, 2011

 An apple tree outside the orchard that has become wild.

 The crabapple by the pond, and the tree Aras rescued.

 The vinyard is at the right edge.

 The apples by the garden are blooming nicely.

 The cherries are blooming also.

 The rhododendron.

 Lots of blooms this year.

If we have as many apples as there are blossoms, it will be a heckuva year for cider.

Another book I have to buy

Say Her Name.

Disney World

This is probably 1984. Aras was just tuckered out, which was rare. He was a handful on that  vacation.

Inception

We watched Inception over the weekend. I was somewhat aware of the premise, which concerns entering people's dreams to extract information from them. Or, as the title suggests, to insert information, to stimulate them in such a way as to create an actionable idea.

I did not know that another critical thread concerns a widower who can't cope with the loss of his wife. So, maybe not so good for me.

A widow's story

By Joyce Carol Oates.  Looks like I'll have to get this.  From the NYTimes review:

She has lost more than her husband of 47 years. Oates has also lost her own sense of wholeness. 
. . .
Oates is nonetheless an expert at pacing as she approaches this “sinkhole,” her term for “places fraught with visceral memory, stirring terror if you approach them.” 

I can relate to that.

A voice out of time

I found Romas Sakadolskis' presentation for a.p.p.l.e.'s tenth anniversary, and extracted this bit from Vaiva.  It looks better in the PPT, the export to movie strips out most transitions. I think that the full presentation is too long to post here.

Reagan's 100th birthday

Ronald Wilson Reagan was certainly the greatest President of my lifetime, and in my opinion was the greatest of the 20th century.  Democrats will argue for FDR, but Reagan was equally transformative, achieving far more progress for more people on the  planet in much less time.   Only Washington and Lincoln rank higher in my estimation.

I was going to go into more detail, but I see I've already done several posts, so I'll just repost the links.

Liepa posted the letter Vaiva sent as head of the LAC upon Reagan's death.

Here's my post of my encounter with Reagan.

Finally, thoughts on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the man who triggered the pushing down.

America needs another Reagan, but there is no one in public life today who compares, who comes even close.

Books

I've been reading one of the new books I got for Christmas on the bus for the past couple of days, and this morning I got mad at one of our garbagey travel mugs for leaking a drop or two of coffee on it. But then I remembered what Mamutė taught me, Devėta knyga yra mylėta knyga: A worn out book is a beloved book. So who wants a book with no stains on it anyway?

Silvija and her young family

Liepa and I recently discovered this photo. Vilija, the little girl toward the  top, believes  it was taken in 1960, perhaps on September 1.