Hello Again & The Garden

After a long hiatus from blogging and genealogy in general, it seems time to get back to swinging among the family tree branches again. ⸙ ⸙ ⸙ ⸙ ⸙

During my absence, I pursued genealogy blogs and caught up on newsletters not read. I'm getting the itch to plan a research trip again, but the Lithuanian brick wall gives me pause as does wearing a mask in those facilities still requiring one to enter.  It would also be more fun traveling with a friend or meeting up with family for a common tree branch dive once again. Still on my to-do list, though.

This August there is an event called Lithuanian Days at Lakewood Park in eastern Pennsylvania. The link here Lithuanian Days will take you to Facebook event page with more info. It's just over an hour from my location and during my birthday weekend! Attending is on my list, perhaps with a friend and/or family from Michigan. Maybe there's a polka or two in my future. 🎶♬♫🎝

This past year I met a new friend at the bowling lanes. We are both in the summer Senior League and by happenstance began talking about family history. When I found we both had Lithuanian heritage and she already traveled to the motherland, I wanted to hear more. After a summer lunch served in my friend's cozy townhome, we spent an afternoon sharing memories and family histories. Maybe there's a polka in her future too. 

And I want to mention that my gardener, aka my husband Carl, is successfully tending to the plot located in the SE corner of our backyard. His green thumb gives us a chance to enjoy fresh vegetables all summer and to share the fruits of his labor with friends and neighbors. In abundance now are cucumbers and peppers. Soon we will have eggplant and tomatoes. Lastly, and new to the garden, is cantaloupe. One plant has taken over the garden, competing with the single cucumber plant for half the space! 

In fact, a current third picture would show almost no back fence from all the trails of vines from these two plants, much like a FAMILY TREE !

I'm personally looking forward to the tomato harvest to make as much pasta sauce as I can. Perhaps I should research recipes my Lithuanian "Nanny" Edith Jamitis Goodman made from her garden harvest in the 50s and 60s.  Like tomato jelly, cold tomato salad and pickles. Her entire pantry was full of many varieties of canned vegetables at summer's end each year. I can picture her garden and the pantry as clear as day.

Well, I've made myself hungry talking about the garden, so off to make lunch. If you got this far, thanks so much for hanging out with me. Talk to you soon!

A Wedding Feast

As you read in an earlier post, Peter and Anna's young life and their arrival from Lithuania is a mystery. I never met them which is all the more reason to get to know their story. I met their children, my great aunts and uncles, at an early age and can recall specific events in Schuylkill County we were all together.

Since I lived in Reading, these occasions were mostly weddings and funerals.  As a young girl, I was in awe of the elaborate feasts presented to attendees. I was equally naive about the person feted at these "up home" events since my place in the family was a granddaughter or great niece of the extended family we were visiting. So, after introductions to my elders and being compared to myself in size from the last time they saw me, my attention turned to the abundance of food tabled for the occasion.

Specifically, weddings. My brother and I never saw anything like it. A fire company hall or church social hall held long tables, end to end, filling the space to capacity less the obligatory dance floor.  Each table was served home-style with bottomless dishes of the most delicious food we ever had in our short lives. But, wait there's more.

The caterers cleared the tables, the guests mingled with the bride and groom and the band began to play.  And as if by magic, there appeared on each table various homemade cakes.  Not just one cake, several cakes per table...chocolate, spice, applesauce and carrot are the ones that caught my attention.  And eat we did.

These memories are so embedded in my mind because our family meals rarely included seconds or desserts. It's not to say we starved or felt deprived. My mother just followed the way she learned growing up in a German heritage home. Frugal covers it for the most part. And as I reflect now, the events were mainly on my father's side. The Lithuanians.  Add dancing the polka to this mix and this seven year old had the time of her life.