Memories

Almost 50 years ago, a group of people who were tired of living by rules of the establishment and plying their "games" started migrating, one or two at a time to a forest near the Canadian border. The place was called the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and county road 510 ran through the selected forest. 

At that time, 510 was only wide enough in places for one and a half cars, so if you met an oncoming car, you pulled over and waited for it to pass. Usually, it was one of the people living somewhere close to the road, so, generally, you just both stopped and talked without worrying about anyone else driving down the road. 

It was a slower pace of life, and we all liked that. No houses, which were hand-built by the owner, had electricity from a local power line, no sewage system, running water from a local pipeline or any type of central heating. We all had woodstoves to heat our houses, which meant we had to provide the wood ourselves for heating. 

Some had gardens for growing vegetables, some hunted deer in the winter for meat, and we all bought some food from a food co-op store in the nearest town, Marquette. At one time, there were maybe 20-30 people living on that road. For me, it was one of the best times of my life. There was actually a community of people who were willing to help each other, no matter what the task, and that is hard to find today.

Two of the first people to move there and build their own log cabin were Lorin and Cathy. They were from lower Michigan, as were many others. I think I was the only one from Illinois. 

Lorin knew many practical things, and Cathy had a "green thumb" when it came to gardening. For different reasons, after some years, families began leaving and returning to the other world, to cities. After many years on that road, Lorin and Cathy eventually moved back to lower Michigan. Age finally catches up with us all.

When I was building my house, I had advice and help with things I wasn't sure of or didn't know how to do. Steve cut the difficult angles for the roof rafters of my house, Cathy showed me how to sew mittens with deer skin, George built the winding metal staircase for my house, and Mike showed me how to grow a specific kind of plant. With a different Mike, I watched a TV program once a week using a car battery for electricity and spent some winters in conversation. All of these memories I keep of those people, and I always remember those years. 

While I am thankful for where I now live, I would gladly step into a time machine and go back to those years.

Ukraine

 Russia may be preparing a new offensive against northern Ukraine, including the Chernihiv region and the capital Kyiv, potentially with deeper involvement from Belarus, President Volodymyr Zelensky said May 20.

The warning reflects growing concerns in Kyiv that Moscow could seek to open a new front north of the capital while involving Belarus — Russia's close ally bordering Ukraine to the north — more directly in the war.

"Together with our military leadership, intelligence services, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we discussed in detail the latest developments along the Belarus-Bryansk region direction," Zelensky said in his evening address.

"It is precisely from there that the Russians are considering scenarios for additional attacks against Ukraine – targeting our northern regions, our Chernihiv-Kyiv direction."

Zelensky said Ukraine had already issued military orders to strengthen defenses in the region and was taking broader preventive measures.

"Of course, we are already working to strengthen our defenses in this area. Relevant instructions have been issued to the military command, but separately, we are also taking preventive steps regarding both Belarus and designated parts of Russia from which the threat originates," he said.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on May 20 that if Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, the reaction from NATO will be "devastating".

Russia and Belarus have begun joint nuclear weapons drills amid what Moscow described as the "threat of aggression," the Russian Defense Ministry said on May 19.

The drills, scheduled to run through May 21, involve Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, the Northern and Pacific fleets, long-range aviation command, and units from the Leningrad and Central military districts, the ministry said.

The exercises have added significance as they come amid growing warnings from Kyiv that Russia is trying to draw Belarus deeper into its war against Ukraine, while also expanding military infrastructure that could support future Russian operations against Ukraine or NATO's eastern flank.

Rutte was asked by journalists at a pre-ministerial press conference at the Foreign Ministers Meeting of NATO about the possibility of a Russian nuclear strike.

"Well, (Russia) knows if that happens, the reaction is devastating," Rutte said, adding that NATO was monitoring the exercises closely.

The exercises include preparations for the use of nuclear forces and launches of ballistic and cruise missiles at test ranges within Russia, according to the ministry.Source-Kyiv Independent

Niepruszewo Palace

Years ago, in 2007, I was so enamored of the Palaces in Poland that I actually bought a book listing all of them in the Wielkopolska region where we live. It is Dwory i Palace Wiejskie w Wielkopolsce(Manors and Country Palaces in Greater Poland). It was written by Senator Marcin Libicki and Piovillagetr Libicki. It is an alphabetical listing of over 965 structures in villages, towns, and cities. I used it to make a list of every one of them within a two-hour drive from Poznan. So far, we have visited 58 of them.

Now, not all of the 965 are in very good condition. In fact, maybe 15 to 20% are, but the ones that remain standing or abandoned still are incredible. There was one we saw in 2008 that stuck in my mind, and someday I wanted to go see it again. It was boarded up, windows broken, grass growing everywhere, and vines crawling over the walls. It is in the village of Niepruszewo near the town of Buk.

It came back into my mind on Monday, so I planned to go there during my three-hour break yesterday. It is only a 25 km drive from our flat, going east. The road is in good condition; it was a sunny day, so I had no reason not to go. It was a pleasant drive; the rapeseed fields were shining brightly because of the sun, so that was a bonus.

When I arrived, I couldn't remember exactly where it was, so I stopped in a relatively new park by the lake when I saw a woman sitting there with her child. I figured she must be a local resident and could probably tell me where the old Palace was. As I approached her, another man was also approaching her with some bags in his hand, so I thought they must know each other. The man looked at me, and I told him in my best Polish language I was looking for the old Palace. He smiled, and then he told me it was not an old Palace anymore. He said some multi-millionaire had bought it some years ago and now it was completely restored and a private residence. He said just go up to the stoplight, turn left, and then turn left again. Not far from there, you will see it on the left-hand side; you cannot miss it.

I followed his instructions, and when I saw the palace, I thought it was fantastic. The owner had completely renovated the old Palace, and installed all new fences. Using the old post posts, but now covered with new material and new paint, the grounds surrounding the palace were finely manicured and the trees had all grown up. It was a beautiful location because at the back of the palace where the patio was, there was a clear view of the lake. I tried to take some pictures, but my lens would not let me get very close to the Palace and there were trees in the way, so I didn't get many good pictures. I think the only way you can get a picture would be from the back of the palace if you were on a boat in the lake.

I was filled with joy that someone had rescued that beautiful structure and actually put it back to its condition from many, many years ago. I have no idea who the owner is, and it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that he rescued some history of the past and was wealthy enough to restore the palace to a beautiful place. Since I didn't have any reason to keep trying to get pictures, I started the trip back home.

It's just sad that so many of these historical palaces or manor houses are not being restored, and they just continue to decay.

A little joy.

Tonight we had the pleasure of a visit from a young man I helped improve his English when he was still in high school. His name is Max, and along with his brother and sister, I was lucky enough to be part of their growing up. Now, after spending ten year out of Poland and in the United States he has returned home. His English is excellent. In six months he will be 30 years old.  It's things like that, that brings joy into my life.

When Joan had professional physical therapists to help her recover from strokes and seizures, I made videos of what they were doing with her. I have been watching them for the last two days, writing down how different exercises were done. The reason is that she is getting weaker, and it's partly do to dementia, but also because she does no exercising. I can't let that go on.

So, yesterday, I started slowly with 4 easy exercises. They were easy enough that she did not resist. My plan is to build on them each day until the results are visible. They are mainly for balance, leg strength, and getting out of her chair. 

 

To do or not to do.

Today, I am contemplating taking back the duty of giving Joan her showers and washing her hair myself.

I did hire someone to come and do that. It was becoming a little difficult for me because of the confinement of getting Joan into the shower area. However, now that I have installed permanent handles for her to hold on to, I think I can do it by myself. Tomorrow will be the test of that when I give her a shower. The lady who has been coming has been doing a good job, so it has nothing to do with her capabilities.

I think basically it comes to a financial reason. If I can do that successfully, it will save us money each month, which naturally will go for either bills or food.

She was supposed to come today, but at the last minute she called to say that she couldn't do it today because of some emergency.

Actually, it turned out to be a good thing because I slept until 12:30 p.m. I know I have to start going to bed earlier than I have been, but at night, when Joan is in bed, it's the main free time I have to get other things accomplished, like my digital archive.

That is taking far more time than I ever expected to spend on it. I do want to get it finished within the next couple of weeks because, honestly, I'm getting tired of putting it all together.

One good thing about it is that I am recalling things from the past that I haven't thought about since they happened, and not necessarily all bad things. So, I guess you could say that's the bright side of doing this archive. The one thing I'm grateful for is that it refreshed my memory about how the physical therapist was working with Joan when he came 5 days a week.

Because I made videos of what he was doing with Joan, it will be easier for me to reproduce them. I have to get Joan back into some type of exercise routine. I see her getting weaker, maybe not week after week but certainly month after month, heading in the wrong direction. I can't let that happen.

Museum of Instruments

I took advantage of my 3-hour break today and did something I wanted to do for a long time.

Several years ago, in fact, probably more than several years ago, I visited the museum of musical instruments. The last time I was there, it was interesting, but all of the interior floors, of which there were four, looked very old. So, I wanted to see if anything had changed since that time. To my delight, the interior is completely renovated and in excellent condition. The range of instruments is quite wide. They are not only instruments from Poland.

It should almost be named the International Museum of Instruments, because I saw instruments from Korea, India, France, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Each floor has a series of three or four rooms with various types of instruments. Many of the instruments I have never seen before. On one of the floors, there is a room dedicated to a Polish person who collected pianos and pianofortes of all different styles. It even had one of the first player pianos. You know, the kind where you just push the pedals with your feet, and there's a roll of some type of paper that activates the individual sounds without even playing the instrument with your hands.

I stayed for about an hour and a half, walking from one floor to the next. Each floor is connected by a long staircase.

It was a cloudy, gray day, and it looked like it could rain at any minute. When I was done looking at all the floors available, it's notable to mention that each floor has beautiful parquet flooring.

The general admission price is 15 PLN for general admission, or 10 PLN for senior citizens. Of course, I took advantage of that and paid $10. It should be noted that on Tuesdays, admission is free.

European Army? It's about time!

Spain has called on European Union countries to create a unified EU army amid growing concerns about Europe’s security and uncertainty over future US support for NATO. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Europe can no longer depend entirely on Washington for protection.

“We can’t wake up every morning and wonder what the U.S. will do next,” Albares said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. He argued that Europe must strengthen its own military capabilities and build a common defense system to respond to threats from Russia and other countries.

Albares stressed that a European army should not replace NATO, but instead strengthen Europe’s ability to defend itself if American support weakens. “If NATO no longer provides the degree of defense it used to, then Europeans must do more themselves,” he said.

The comments come amid growing tensions between Europe and the administration of Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO allies, questioned US commitments to the alliance, and suggested reducing the American military presence in Europe.

Spain has also become one of the strongest European critics of US policy in the Middle East. Madrid recently refused to allow American warplanes to use Spanish bases for operations linked to Iran, increasing tensions between Washington and the Spanish government.

Losing music.

It's Tuesday, and Paige arrived at 11:00, as usual. Another 3-hour break for Joan from me, and for me it's shopping day. Since I switched my time to 11:30 for shopping, I no longer have to wake up at 6:30 in the morning.

My shopping is a quick event, never longer than 1 hour. Everything is planned out the night before, the man who's made, the shopping list completed, printed, and in my pocket. Because of the time, the traffic is not bad, and I can get to the store within 15 minutes. Inside the store, I know it well enough to know exactly where everything is. So, at the most, I usually spend 45 minutes shopping. Today's cost of the food for next week was $52. I'm trying desperately not to go above $55.

When I returned home, Joan and Paige were watching another episode of Breaking Bad. It's an old series now, but with Jones dementia, it's like watching each episode for the first time.

After Paige left, on YouTube, I put one of the many videos of Just scenery with music and sat down to watch a little office. The music in the background was Christmas music, playing Christmas carols that Jonan and I have heard all of our lives. However, now, Joan cannot remember their names. It's just another portion of her memory that has disappeared.

Poland's Defense Minister publicly invited the United States to relocate troops currently stationed in Germany to Poland. Poland and Lithuania are actively lobbying Washington to make this shift.

If it happens, Poland would host the largest permanent US military presence in Europe — a significant strategic shift for NATO's eastern flank. Poland already hosts thousands of US troops on a rotational basis.

The push comes as Poland accelerates its own military buildup, spending a record $48 billion on defense in 2026 and training 400,000 soldiers this year alone.

Did you know Poland is positioning itself as the anchor of NATO's eastern defense? 

Dreams

With chapter 7 of my digital archive done, I'm moving on to chapter 8, which is all about Joan's

 stroke in Spain in 2020. It's a little difficult to rehash that story because it brings back a lot of miserable times for both of us. Nonetheless, it is a major part of our 19 years living in Poland. So, I feel it's necessary to put that chapter into the archive.

As I was writing it, or should I say, recalling it, because it is all documented previously when it was actually happening. Much of it is copy and paste, followed by a check to ensure everything is correct. That event occurred just as COVID-19 was starting.

One of my dreams during that time that I absolutely don't remember was very strange.

During a short sleep, I had a strange dream.

I was at home, getting ready to make dinner, but the kitchen had an island with a large tablecloth hanging over both sides. I turned on the burners and placed meat, potatoes, and vegetables directly on them, no pans. When I realized what I had done, I started taking them off.

Then I heard my cousin Harry talking to me. He has been dead for three years. I looked under the island and saw him crouching there. As he came out, his brother Don walked in and started cooking his own food on the stove. I asked him if he didn’t see mine, and he said no.

I said, “Fine, I’ll just take Joan and go out to eat.”

Harry said, “You can’t. Joan is in the hospital, and we can’t leave because of the virus.”

Even in my dreams, this virus is there.

Now, that was a strange dream.

Rzepak

At this time of the year, we like to go north of Poznan about 15-20 km to view the yellow fields of rzepak. It is really a magnificent site to see and smell the sweet aroma emitting from the flowers. Our favorite is to rive between two fields, turn off the car, and then sit and smell the air. It's like liquified honey flowing within the wind. Beautiful. That is what we did today. It was our only plan for the day.

It’s widely grown in countries like Poland and has a few key uses:

• 🌼 Oil production – its seeds are used to make rapeseed oil (often called canola oil when specially bred), commonly used for cooking
• 🐄 Animal feed – leftover seed material (meal) is used as livestock feed
• ⛽ Biofuel – it’s also used to produce biodiesel

In spring, fields of rzepak are easy to recognize because they turn a vivid yellow when the plant is in bloom.

If you’ve seen large yellow fields around Poland in April–May, that’s almost certainly rzepak.

Karolina & Ukraine

Karolina did her thing with Joan, shower and hair washing. Then she got her dressed and painted her nails a light purple.

I had only one thing to do outside so I stopped at Cafe Lokum, had a Latte and a hazel nut muffin. It was good, but not as goos as a cinnamon one. 

Joan was involved watching old Steven Colbert shows, so I worked on learning the Win 11 browser system. It's not difficult, just takes time to get orientated.

Meanwhile, Ukraine.

The Kremlin has reportedly begun preparing Russians for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could end without the sweeping victory once promised by Moscow.

Independent Russian outlet The Moscow Times, citing the Dossier Center, said officials inside the Russian presidential administration are developing a new set of propaganda narratives aimed at presenting a potential peace agreement with Ukraine as a “victory” despite heavy losses and the lack of major strategic gains after more than four years of war.

The effort reportedly follows growing concern inside the Kremlin over the state of Russia’s economy and the battlefield situation.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree excluding Moscow’s Red Square from Ukraine’s target list during the Victory Day parade. The move is framed as a humanitarian step linked to ongoing negotiations, including a prisoner exchange and temporary ceasefire. The decision highlights Ukraine’s prioritization of diplomatic and humanitarian considerations amid the war.

Shopping Day

Okay, it's Tuesday, and you know what that means. It's food shopping day. I didn't get up at 6:30 this morning. Instead, I waited until Paige came here to sit with Joan, and then I went shopping at 11:00. And at 11:00, there were always more people shopping than at 6:30 a.m.. I prefer the list people; however, I also prefer sleeping past 6:30 in the morning when it's possible. 

These last two days, I've slept more consistently than I had for the last 3 months. By that, I mean I have slept 10 or 11 hours without waking up. That's very unusual for me. This morning I woke up after having slept only 5 hours. I don't know why. I had my clock alarm set for 9:30, but at 6:30 I'm just automatically woke up. Maybe my brain has been trained after all of these months to wake up automatically at 6:30. How my brain knows when it's 6:30 is beyond me.

So, getting back to the food shopping, the cost for today was 211 PLN. That is about normal in this year 2026 with high inflation, greedy companies wanting to make more money, and the general population can do nothing to bring the prices down. Basically, we're screwed.

Joan had a good time with Paige today. They get along very well, and although Joan hates waking up early, for her, anything before 9:00 is early. She's falling into the habit of going to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 in the evening, always commenting that she has to get enough rest before work tomorrow. It's useless for me to keep reminding her that she hasn't worked in 19 years. The only thing it does is cause friction between the two of us, and we both can do without that. I just don't know how to get her brain to let go of the idea that she still works. I suggested to her that we go see a psychologist, and maybe she can help Joan. But like exercising, she just doesn't want to do it. I cannot force her.

A day in life.

Another heavy sleeping day. I woke up at 9:30, put my head down for five minutes, and when I awoke it was 2:30 in the afternoon. I think my body is trying to tell me something. I need to stop staying up until 2-3 AM every night. It's the only time I can get accomplished on my laptop without being needed by Joan.

I put together a pasta, blue cheese, Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, walnuts, and sunflower seed dish for dinner tonight. It turned out editable.

It was another warm day, 80 F, but we stayed at home all day. 

Good weather

It was 79 F yesterday and 87 F today, and it's only May 3rd. Wonder how the summer will be? Me too,

Yesterday it was nice enough to sit in the park and take a few pictures. We sat for a while and watched the people walk by, ride by on bicycles, and a few being pushed in wheelchairs. It was just too nice to stay indoors.

When we did finally return home, it was time to make dinner. Last night, we had gazpacho soup with a really nice bread.

I went to bed, and for the first time in ages, I slept for ten hours without a break. Joan went to bed earlier, so she slept for 15 hours. She is getting more and more like Rip Van Winkle. I suppose it's mainly the dementia.

Today, we had 3 choices to choose from. Solacki Park, Citadella Park, or the Botanical Gardens.

We decided we would think about it over a cup of coffee at Cafe Lokum.

With the good weather, most of the outdoor cafes are open. Lokum has many tables outdoors, and their prices are lower than Sowas or Kandulkis. We love their cinnamon buns, and the coffee is acceptable. Two buns and two Lattes cost 48 PLN. The other two places charge around 60 PLN.