Category Archives: Memories

Christmas music.

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I remember how delighted I was to discover Czech and Polish Christmas Carols.  Enjoy.

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Life in the Foreign Service – The Break Up of the Soviet Union ~ 20 years ago…

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I loved reading the latest issue of the Foreign Service Journal (a great window into what life in the US Foreign Service is all about), because it brought back a myriad of emotions. I lived in Moscow (USSR) between 1987 … Continue reading →

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Annals of history: cooking under communism.

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Looking for a recipe today in Craig Claiborne’s cookbook, I found a 22 year old notation of mine (1989) under a “gazpacho” recipe that called for tomato juice:  “Excellent.  Added chicken broth packet & used ketchup instead of tomato juice.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, Diplomacy, Foreign Service, History, Memories, Soviet Union | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Perestroika and glasnost – the end of an era.

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I lived in Moscow during the time that Gorbachev brought a new age of openness (perestroika and glasnost) to the USSR in the mid to late 80s.  This video brought back many memories. I wrote lengthy letters to family describing … Continue reading →

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The Magic of Children’s Books.

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Why do adults hold dear to their hearts the old children’s classics?  Dr. Louise Joy, a University of Cambridge academic, has valuable insights: “Children’s classics are written by adults, valued by adults, published by adults and celebrated by adults. Instead … Continue reading →

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A true Russian children’s story.

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Sometimes, we tend to forget that actions have consequences and relegate our own to the dust bin of irrelevance or oblivion.  A while back, I discovered this is not necessarily true, and that our actions can have surprising consequences. Ten … Continue reading →

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Death and Dying.

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

So, my friend was dying.  She was 85 years old, and it should not have surprised me, because it was about the right time…  Once we hit the 80′s,  we’re lucky to be alive, so she told me. But she … Continue reading →

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And to dust we shall return.

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I was just out of College when I heard the song “Dust in the Wind”.   Below is a grainy video that captures the patina of a long-ago era. Today my children are the age I was then. Vanderleun writes a … Continue reading →

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“And I miss him, the old man.”

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

At 14, my Father lost his Father. My husband lost his when he, my husband, was a middle-aged man. The memories of their Fathers are a constant companion. This song says it all:

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The origins of Father’s Day.

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, first proposed the idea of a father’s day in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was raising six … Continue reading →

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La ley del revólver or Gunsmoke…memories of childhood.

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

A “romantic” hero of mine has died: Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke, though I will forever remember him as Comisario Dillon of “La ley del revólver“! When I say ‘romantic’, I do not mean he was a heart-throb hero who made … Continue reading →

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Mother’s Day 2011.

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Though gone for more than a year, my Mother is ever present. No matter how old I get, I always feel like her child, when I think of her. I miss her, and her wonderful way with quotes of proverbs, … Continue reading →

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The power of one: a tech-savvy teenager with a heart.

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Richard “Ricky” Gilleland III manages to help the families of the fallen soldiers, and puts to shame bureaucrats and others who, either through malfeasance, inertia, or sheer lack of empathy, wounded the noble image of Arlington Cemetery: “May I ask … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan, Blogging, Empathy, Iraq, Memories, Soldiers, Technology, War, Youth | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Aesop’s fables and storks in Poland.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I once came across a pair of storks in Poland. They fascinated me, because I had never seen any storks in real life.  I had only seen storks in illustrations in children’s books when I was growing up. The storks … Continue reading →

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No man is an island entire of itself.

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I may be a morbid sort-of person… because I do think of death every day.  Professor Stuntz, who died earlier this month, was a few years younger than me, though way ahead intellectually and professionally. Although I never met the … Continue reading →

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