75-year-old Regina and her 85-year-old husband turn over their
country home to their visitors from Intrepid several times each month. They live in a tiny village wrapped by the large Lithuanian National Park.
Their hand- hewn house is pine with many fireplaces. It has well water with
enough iron and sulfur to create a toxic vacuum during any shower.
This inside water situation is in stark contrast to the crystalline
lake outside that the house and garden overlook.
A wood-fired sauna, stoked by Regina’s tireless husband, doubles as a clothes dryer. Bessie and Bill benefit from this rustic laundry service when it appears that their jeans will never dry in the dank, forest air.
Regina enlists a neighbor and her daughter-in-law, Laima, to prepare and serve twelve of us two delicious breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch.
Eggs are the bright yellow of a recent laying. Porridge, aka oatmeal, is sweetened with home-made jams made from the fruit trees beside the house. The soups simmer with robust aromas of cabbage from the garden and two kinds of wild mushrooms from the forest. Chicken comes at dinner, ground and rolled with prunes or dipped in egg batter and baked. Small, sweet filets of local fish come from the lakes, to be enjoyed with boiled potatoes along with crisp cukes and red and yellow tomatoes directly from the garden.
There is a mother and son pair of dogs who keep track of everyone,. They bark as they consider necessary. We see a lot of these
stout, short legged dogs with long bodies, silky coats, and pointed
faces. It makes us wonder how long it took to develop this particular Lithuanian pup into their adorable shape and sweet temperament.
Like family, we take the foldouts and day beds and couches for our two night stay. I find a particularly cozy quilt, and convert the free time of one rainy afternoon into a delicously long nap. The home stay is meant as a respite to the pace driven by visits to the cities, after all.
Or that’s what I say. I also say this:
Time in the country, with great hospitality, and no contact with the electronic world, is just the ticket!
notnyet 