My first nine winters were spent in the depths of snow. I remember taking forever to put all of the required winter layers on before trudging through mounds of soft, white snow or navigating carefully along icy sidewalks. There were the times my father had to put chains on the
The geographical history of Europe often blows my mind. Areas, regions and even entire countries are seemingly juggled between various governments, with borders being drawn and redrawn at will. Both sides of my family have been impacted by the geographical history of the land which is now known as Latvia.
My grandmother’s family’s first country home was destroyed by fire. After that the Kleinmichel family spent their summers at Ivnia in the Koursk region. The family lived in Moscow during the other three seasons but, as summer approached, the children would begin to dream of the journey to Ivnia. Ivnia
On 10 May 1990 my great Aunt Tata celebrated her 100th birthday. Beginning life as Countess Natalia Kleinmichel, older sister of my grandmother Countess Olga Kleinmichel, Aunt Tata saw in her birthday as Sister Mary of the Resurrection. The celebrations were recorded in this newspaper article from France, seen above
Fear lurked in the background of my childhood. It was never named when I was a child but, as I grew older, I learnt its name was Communism. Both sides of my family feared Communists and especially Bolsheviks, with good reason. In her book, Upheaval, my grandmother wrote of traumatic
Fire. Australia is burning and the word is on everyone’s lips. Thankfully, at the moment anyway, my family has not been impacted. Although I do know people who live in the fire affected areas, they too are safe. But there has been total devastation, homes destroyed, lives lost, and wildlife