While I was away

While I was not blogging actively, many things happened.  I hadn't stopped reading blogs.  I just had not been active in commenting or posting.  One day, I read Granny Annie's post.  In that post she mentioned how much she had missed her blogging friends during her absence.  I was sorry to learn that her husband had passed away.  And then, a longtime blogging friend was losing her dear feline friend, Abby.  I realized how much I was missing these virtual friends by not being around.

In June I took a trip to Europe.  I'll post about that trip from time to time.  After the tour that I was on, I traveled on to Estonia.  I had been there in 2003 with a group from my church.  Since then our church and the church in Allika have been in close contact, and from time to time, members of their church have come to Florida to visit us.  One of those ladies has become a good friend.  She has stayed with me both times she has been here.  So, after the tour I was on finished, I traveled on to Estonia to visit Tiina and her family and the church family there.

The header photo on my blog is at Tiina's house.  While I was there, the sun was bright at 4 in the morning, and there was still bright sunlight at 10:30 at night.  Their gardens flourish during these times and everyone loves being outdoors, soaking up the sun, having picnics, and all the things we associate with summer.

Tiina's yard

 

Tiina's yard and garden

 

Tiina in the center, with her sister and mother

Yummy strawberries, fresh from the garden

Happy Re-Independence Day

Six year ago I had the privilege to travel to Estonia with a group from my church and work alongside the Allika Baptist Church near Tallinn. Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, border the Soviet Union and were under Soviet rule for many years. While there, we saw reminders of that occupation.

Today is the 18th anniversary of their new freedom. Maureen Castle Tusty wrote this about this anniversary.

"18 years ago today, on August 20, 1991, Estonia bravely re-declared her independence. After over 50 years of Soviet occupation, and a four year non-violent revolution (called the Singing Revolution, '87-'91), the Estonian people took the risk of publicly restating to the world their rights as a free and sovereign nation under international law. Unarmed citizens stood before tanks, arms linked, to prevent Soviet access to critical information sources such as the TV tower and radio station.

Estonian leaders, many previously in bitter conflict over how aggressively to fight Moscow, came together and unified their voices to vote unanimously to re-declare the Republic of Estonia as an independent nation. And while this sounds easy, given how things turned out, no one knew at the time the consequences of that action. Those voting for independence were certain targets for imprisonment and worse. But the coup failed, and Estonia quickly rejoined the world community of free nations. Happy Re-Independence Day, Eesti! Elagu Vabadus! (Long live freedom!) "

Maureen and her husband collaborated and produced a film called The Singing Revolution. I would encourage you to visit the site and watch the trailer to the film. It gives you a taste of this people's love of their freedom and its achievement.