äitienpäivä

It’s Mother’s Day here in the States, so for your enjoyment I present a photo of my mother in conversation with our parakeet, Mr. Chips.

I perceive the ornaments of a Christmas tree shining in the lower right of the photo. So many of my old pictures seem to be taken around the holidays, so I think that was the time of the year when the camera came out.

I have written elsewhere of my mother’s rise from a childhood hedged with poverty and superstition, and of my appreciation for ...