Sitting in these peaceful surroundings my mind is not at ease. Dreamlike, it travels back from country to country, city to city across oceans and faraway lakes and meadows.

It takes me to a small lake near our home in the old country where we kids took our family laundry to rinse and dry on the grass. It was not an easy task but for my sister Mary and me it was quite exciting as it had many advantages. First we took a swim in the clear peaceful lake while the laundry dried on the grass, then we would come home clean, refreshed and crisp like the laundry. Another diversion was to pick the wild flowers sprinkled all over the field, which looked like an Oriental rug. We braided them into a chain and placed them on our heads making us look like real princesses.

There was one drawback pounding the laundry with our "pralnicks" on a flat stone to extract the soapy water, produced holes of varied sizes,

Mother was very proud of my sister Mary, and me because we looked so pretty in our braided flower chains. But when she inspected the laundry and saw the holes, she would cry, "oh my god, my good linen". Despite her scolding, we did it again and again but always with more precaution.

Thinking of the joys of bygone years, it is always hard for me to return to present realities.