Tag Archives: Czechoslovakia

Evil choices

April 29, 2016 emmapalova 2 Comments

Political showdown heats up

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI-Now, that all hell has broken loose with former speaker of the House John Boehner calling Ted Cruz Lucifer, while some voters are calling Donald Trump the Satan and all the rest are devils, we’re moving into the final showdown.

The platform has been laid out for us. We’re in political hell. You can either vote for a billionaire or a multi-millionaire. That is Republican Donald Trump versus Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Following social media, most people do not want either one of them. And I quote:

“Well, people. It’s pretty much over. In November, it’s going to be Clinton and Trump.

A narcissistic, pandering, manipulative liar with a lifetime of scandals who has been gunning for the White House for decades.
vs.
A narcissistic, dismissive, contradictory, thin-skinned bully who doesn’t hesitate to step on those who disagree with him.

My prediction is a massive spike in wine sales as we are all forced to decide between Sucks and Sucks slightly Less,” Stephanie Peel, Vergennes Broadband co-owner, wrote on Facebook.

I have to agree with Stephanie and not just because I subscribe to their Vergennes Broadband, but she put it so well that I can’t beat that.

However, the philosophy of voting for Trump, so Hillary doesn’t get it or vice versa, is flawed from the very beginning. It’s like choosing between two cancers: breast or prostate cancer. Which will it be?

It’s driven by desperation and anger, and as such it will only yield desperation and anger again. Something qualitatively new must happen that will change the entire political scenario.

I also value election input from Jeff TenEyck, Learn to Blog head support,who quoted what Mark Twain said a long time ago.

“If voting actually made any difference (in their agenda) they would not let us do it,” he wrote on Facebook.

“It’s all a big dog and pony show regardless of Democrats or Republicans. The whole damn show is owned and controlled by the same psychopathic megalomaniacs. So, please people stop being played for fools.”

The conventions can be brokered, so why did we vote? Maybe to exercise our democratic right.

My eyes even opened wider after reading that more than 40 percent voters are not ready for a female president, according to SheKnows.

It doesn’t surprise me that America is not ready for a female president. It all starts at the grassroots. I’ve been involved in politics for most of my adult life, and I’ve lived in a country with closed borders, that is former socialist Czechoslovakia.

Closing the borders was not a solution to anything. It actually worsened the tension inside the country. It was a political nightmare.

Throughout my journalistic career I covered mostly politics, city and town halls, counties and state reps in Michigan. I could count on the fingers of one hand how many female city managers I have encountered. Exactly one, Ruth King, and that was on my first stint in Plainwell.

Politics can get pretty rough and ugly even for a man at any level of government. Former Otisco Township supervisor Dick Reeves can attest to that. After 20 years he got recalled by his own people over the stink of Marhofer’s farm.

And as for Bernie Sanders or #feelthebern, #bernorbust, he can lead a political revolution without being the president of the USA. However, it would make it easier to lead any change in politics and economics, if Sanders was at the helm.

bernie-sanders-portrait-01-1600x1134 — Bernie Sanders

Late Vaclav Havel led the 1989 Velvet Revolution as a poet and a former prisoner. After the revolution, he became the president of former Czechoslovakia.

And I write about this in my memoir, “Greenwich Meridian.”

I was there standing on the plazas in the cold November chill with other millions of people all around the country. We won in 23 days with massive demonstrations ringing our keys and lighting up the night with flames from our lighters.

America may never be ready to elect a female president. Overall, the country is conservative burdened with backwards policies designed to protect the rich from both sides, Democrats and Republicans. Further more the country is paralyzed by increased police presence and growing armament. This is much like it was in pre-Hitler and Hitler Germany. It’s broken by indebtedness to China.Both parties have the same interests and they just alternate in the election cycles.

They disagree only on things that do not matter, according to writer/researcher Ed Griffin.

But, they agree on big things like foreign policy, protecting banks and the war in the Middle East.

Progress is risky and dangerous. Collectivism and dominance are at large. Our only tool to freedom is the Internet. We need to protect it.

“Internet boats for us well,” said Griffin.

The featured image “Past Pentagon Purchasers at Play” by artist Tom Woodruff portrays psychedelic politicians and generals riding their potties.

For more on Tom Woodruff go to: http://www.woodruffdesigns.com

For Ed Griffin go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxDwT55rmIw#action=share

For Learn to Blog go to: http://learntoblog.com/

For Vergennes Broadband go to: https://vergennesbroadband.com/

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celebration, Easter, ethnic, events, traditions, travel, Uncategorized

Memoir highlights Czech & Slovak Easter traditions

March 25, 2016 emmapalova Leave a comment

Easter evokes memories

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Lowell, MI-In my memoir “Greenwich Meridian,” I write about Czech and Slovak traditions that I have witnessed while living in Czechoslovakia with a touch of nostalgia. Some of them disappeared along with the old regimes, but most have survived mainly in villages and small towns preserved by enthusiastic small groups of people. The traditions are reflected in festive costumes for the holidays and special events, in music, dance, food, and customs specific to each village and town.

We lived in Zlin, Moravia, which is the central part of former Czechoslovakia embedded in traditions. Both as a child and an adult, I lived and visited with my grandparents in Vizovice, a treasure trove of traditions.

Easter celebrations in Czech and some other European countries are longer by one day, and that is Monday.
We have always indulged in lavish preparations for the long Easter weekend. That meant having enough meat, desserts, eggs, and beverages for three days. There were long lines just like before any major holiday. I spent a lot of time standing in lines and listening to what the old broads had to say.
“I am not going to tell him how much I spent,” a woman wearing a scarf and a fluffy skirt shook her head defiantly.
The other one with an apron over her dress smelled of burnt dough.
I thought, she must have burnt her kolache, a traditional festive pastry with plum butter.
The broad leaned closer to the first one and whispered something into her ear. Then they both laughed, until their bellies and chests were heaving up and down. I learned a lot standing in lines. The longer the line, the more I learned.
So, the culmination of it all is Easter Monday known for its “schmigrust,” an old whipping custom.

On that day, early in the morning ,large groups of boys and young men head out into the streets with their braided knot-grass whips or oversized wooden spoons decorated with ribbons. The day before, they spent many hours skillfully braiding their whips out of willow twigs or scouring the house for the biggest wooden spoon.
The boys go door to door, reciting traditional Easter carols like “Hody, hody doprovody,” asking the lady of the house for painted eggs. Then, they whip all the present females in exchange for decorated eggs and ribbons. Single women, and girls tied ribbons on top of the whip. I always wondered about the whipping custom, long before I ever set my foot out into the world. One day, grandma Anna finally explained it to me.
“It is supposed to resemble the whipping of Christ before he died,” she said.
“But, grandma that’s evil,” I cried.
Grandma just shrugged, and turned away. Later in life, I knew better than to question a tradition.
The elders in the group were offered shots of plum brandy, usually home made or acquired through bartering. Even family members took part in this ritual. Uncles and cousins were invited inside for coffee, festive desserts such as kolache, shots and meaningful conversation.
On a good year, and especially when I was a teenager, we got anywhere around 100 passionate revelers. Sometimes, I ran out of ribbons. The boys and young men, competing against each other, took pride in the number of ribbons they got. The craft stores had to stock up with meters and meters of ribbons, plain or embroidered. The hens, of course, felt obligated to produce more eggs.

Happy Easter 2016 to all.

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blogging, content writing, immigration, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

If I Could Turn Back Time

January 12, 2016 emmapalova Leave a comment

Turning back time

I am going to work on this daily prompt by Daily Post because it is so close to my heart especially at a time when I am starting the second half of my memoir “Greenwich Meridian” about the family immigration saga.

Stay tuned for the full story as I develop it to fruition.

The first years of immigration in North America. Pictured are Ludek, Emma and Jakub P. on the shores of St. Lawrence River in Gaspesie, Canada.

If you could return to the past to relive a part of your life, either to experience the wonderful bits again, or to do something over, which part of you life would you return to? Why?

Source: If I Could Turn Back Time

blogging, business, consulting, content writing, events, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Happy New Year from Emma Blogs

December 31, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

I would like to wish a happy New Year 2016 to all from Emma Blogs, LLC. May all your wishes come true.

On this last day of the year I always look back at the previous one. Year 2015 was very good and productive on both professional & personal fronts.

With this post and thanks to the 30 Day Content Challenge, I have reached 346 posts.

I sought out new clients, the Fallasburg Historical Society (FHS) and created the Fallasburg Today campaign. I continue to work with CJ Aunt Jarmilka’s Desserts and with new prospects and that is Lynn Mason 2016 campaign, Tri River Historical Museum Network, Americas Voices and more.

The 30 Content Writing challenge by Learn to Blog was inspiring and it transformed me in many ways. The challenge taught me the discipline of everyday writing.

The challenge encouraged me to explore new avenues such as writing for children, writing about fear and persistence. It was a powerful force in a sense that 400 people were writing and posting on that same day.

During the challenge I made many new friends such as Pittsburgh Grammy, Peter Safe, Annie Conboy, Jan Booth, Deanna Burton, Nan Raden and Nicole Varge, Lisette Jenkins, Kathy Thompson just to name a few.

Then I participated in a heated political debate in the group Czechoslovaks on Facebook. It warrants a separate post. Watch for it soon.

Another surprise came just last week. Bene Hofmann, a German architecture student contacted me via FHS Facebook page. Hofmann will be building a model of the Fallasburg Covered Bridge for a school project. So, I wrote about that as well.

Peggy Topolski contacted me that her husband wen to the one room school in Fallasburg. I will be doing a story on that.

Twenty people came to look at the historical buildings in the pioneer village during the first annual Fallasburg village bazaar.

So, to wrap it up as the clock keeps ticking, I found out that social media marketing really does work. It has its own bizarre ways, but it works.

Visit pioneer village of Fallasburg on Fallasburg Today on http://fallasburgtoday.org and on http://www.fallasburg.org

Thank you all for reading and reposting. Looking forward to 2016.

Emma Palova

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blogging, business, celebration, Christmas, coaching, consulting, traditions, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

26 years in America

December 22, 2015 emmapalova Leave a comment

Celebrating 26th anniversary of arrival in USA

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI- It’s been 26 years since we’ve landed at JFK on this day, Dec. 22, 1989. The long flight from former Czechoslovakia finally ended. We took the Czechoslovak Airlines flight (CSA). People were still smoking on jets back then.

I was exhausted with two children and from the previous night ride to the Prague airport.

It was a journey into the unknown, although I have lived in the USA in the 70s. My parents were waiting for us at the frozen airport. I only had a Benetton denim jacket on and I was freezing. I was still sporting long hair and jeans from Austria.

We spent the night at a friend’s house in NYC. And then a long trip to Big Rapids, Michigan ensued. Any water tower that we passed, my son Jake wanted to climb on it. Also he insisted on sitting in my lap over and over despite the fact that he had to be buckled up.

“I’ll make you a chock for you to sit on,” said my dad.

The windows of the gray station wagon have frozen up. We were like in an ice cave from the film Elsa. That increased the claustrophobia in me, as well as anxiety.

We finally arrived on Christmas Eve in Big Rapids. We picked up my brother Vas from his trailer with an enormous flood light in Roger’s Heights.

Mom had the festive supper ready ahead of time. The Czech traditional fare for Christmas Eve is mushroom or fish soup, fried fish and potato salad. And of course traditional Czech pastries. The only choice of fish back in Czech homeland was carp.

We opened presents and all I could think of was if I could go to bed. Dad turns on TV and there’s the Rumanian revolution. I just have escaped one, the Velvet Revolution. I participated in it on frigid town squares including Wenceslas Square in Prague. I shouted along with two million other people:

“Havel na hrad.”

That translates as, “Havel for president or Havel to the castle.”

I finally laid in bed thinking about all of this.

“What’s ahead of me?”

My husband received immigration visa to Montreal, Canada. I had to make decisions again what to do, “Stay or leave?”

We moved to Montreal and we lived in that great cosmopolitan city for three years. In 1993 we returned to Michigan. I took journalism classes at the Grand Rapids Community College.

In 1995, we built a house outside of Lowell in Vergennes Township and that sealed it for us.

The details of all of this are in my memoir “Greenwich Meridian” that I have to complete. It is my goal to pick it back up in January 2016 and to finish our story.

I wish happy holidays to all.

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blog design, content writing, decorating, Easter, ethnic, Uncategorized, WordPress, writing

Memoir highlights Czech & Slovak Easter traditions

April 3, 2015 emmapalova 1 Comment

Easter 2015

Moravian villages adhere to old Easter customs — Moravian villages adhere
to old Easter customs

Easter evokes memories of Czech Republic

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

In my memoir “Greenwich Meridian,” I write about Czech and Slovak traditions that I have witnessed while living in Czechoslovakia with a touch of nostalgia. Some of them disappeared along with the old regimes, but most have survived mainly in villages and small towns preserved by enthusiastic small groups of people. Festive costumes for the holidays and special events reflect these traditions, as well as music, dance, food, and customs specific to each village and town.

Women of the house offered shots of plum brandy, usually home-made or acquired through bartering to the “schmigrust” groups. Even family members took part in this ritual. Uncles and cousins visited for coffee, festive desserts such as kolache, shots and meaningful conversation.
On a good year, and especially when I was a teenager, we got anywhere around 100 passionate revelers. Sometimes, I ran out of ribbons. The boys and young men, competing against each other, took pride in the number of ribbons they got. The craft stores had to stock up with meters and meters of ribbons, plain or embroidered. The hens, of course, felt obligated to produce more eggs.

For more on Easter desserts go to CJ Aunt Jarmilka’s Desserts on http://jkarmaskova.wordpress.com

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advertising, celebration, Christmas, Uncategorized

Gold Sunday in Czech Republic

December 17, 2014 emmapalova 1 Comment

Gold Sunday ushers in Christmas

Note: This is the last part in the “Three Sundays of Christmas” series.

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Gold Sunday is the last Sunday before Christmas which this year falls on Dec. 21. By then all good housewives have their baking & cleaning done according to Czech traditions. Before I started writing and blogging, I could make up to 10 different Christmas desserts including vanilla crescents, “nutty baskets,” chocolate “rohlicky” and” Ischel mini-cakes.”

As a student at the prep school Gymnasium Zlin, we would even get time off for baking.

“As long as you’re keeping the tradition going,” Russian language professor Chudarkova used to say.

Czech nutty baskets — Christmas nutty baskets

That reminds me of the opening day of the hunting season here in Michigan where some schools get the day off. I always baked long into the night, and I filled the pastries on Christmas Eve. Back in the old Czechoslovakia I had no helpers. Many years later in the USA my son Jake assisted me by rolling out the dough standing on a foot stool.

Gold Sunday is time to get your Christmas fish for the big evening feast known as “Bountiful Eve.” The town squares in Czech Republic are home to merchants with live carp. For years during Christmases of the past I went shopping for the best carp ever sporting a net bag, so the carp can breathe.

The Christmas fish in Czech Republic is carp

Large wooden vats carried carp from ponds in Southern Bohemia. The carp trade dates back to feudalism and to the royals who granted the rights to do this. I regret that I’ve never seen the carp ponds in Bohemia.

The live carp and then the butchering of it on the morning of Dec. 24 have been the subject of stories, legends, photographs and calendars much like the day and the evening itself.

Christmas at home — Lighting of the town Christmas trees in Czech Republic Photo by Jan Smejkal

I will remember one carp story forever. One family got so attached to their live carp, they could not bring themselves to butcher it. They took the live carp to a nearby brook and released it into the shallow water. The carp probably didn’t make it, but they felt better and from then on they purchased fish filets from a well-know store in hometown Zlin and that was Rybena.

I think my uncle John butchered ours. The family usually placed the carp in a tub. One year I put the tub outside on the apartment balcony. When I went to check on the fish next day, it almost froze. I had to smash the ice and resuscitate the fish.

So, the Christmas Eve menu in Czech Republic consists of breaded fried filet of carp, potato salad, mushroom or fish soup and the great cookies.

In later years, non-carp lovers substituted the carp for salmon filets. We stick to the tradition and I buy either cod or other white meat fish. I make tons of potato salad with our own pickles.

Stay tuned for the big story ” 25 years in the USA.”

Happy holidays.

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Uncategorized

Memoir highlights Czech & Slovak Easter traditions

April 18, 2014 emmapalova 3 Comments

Easter evokes memories

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

In my memoir “Greenwich Meridian,” I write about Czech and Slovak traditions that I have witnessed while living in Czechoslovakia with a touch of nostalgia. Some of them disappeared along with the old regimes, but most have survived mainly in villages and small towns preserved by enthusiastic small groups of people. The traditions are reflected in festive costumes for the holidays and special events, in music, dance, food, and customs specific to each village and town.

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Czech name days

April 8, 2014 emmapalova 1 Comment

Czech calendar dedicates each day to a different name

By Emma Palova

As I write this, I am thinking of my own name and my daughter’s. That is in Czech language Ema, and in English Emma. The Czech calendar devotes each day to a different name. The name day is called “svatek” or jmeniny which celebrates the name of the person. According to the Czech calendar Emma’s day falls on April 8.

The name days originate in the Roman Catholic list of saints, which has been changed many times since. My mother gave me the name based on a romance novel where a gentleman writes letters to a young lady, always starting with the greeting, “Mila Emmo.” That translates as, “Dear Emma.” Mom loved that greeting almost as much as she didn’t like her own name, Eliska. So later, when she got naturalized as an American citizen, she changed her name to Ella. The different ending of the name Emmo is a trick of the Slavic language, where all nouns are declined in seven declinations depending on the proposition.

Czech name calendar illustrated by national artist Josef Lada.

I, on the other hand, liked my name because of the stories that circulated about an old lady named Emma, who never got married. That was the gossip in the old Moravian town of Vizovice. I thought that story was way too cool to let go of it. So, at a time when the name Emma really wasn’t in fashion, because it was so old, I put it down as a chosen name before I gave birth to a girl. Surprisingly, she was born on her own name day, Ema on April 8. The result was a double celebration. The birthdays are still bigger than the name days, but the most popular names like Joseph are celebrated by the entire nation on March 19 much like St. Pat’s here.

I have always wondered about the last day of the year being dedicated to Silvestr. And I am pretty sure nobody knew about Sylvester Stallone in those days. I gave a very modern name to my son Jake. In the late 1980s, baby boys were named either Jake or Luke. The Czech calendar captures more than 365 names throughout the year giving the calendars and cards a great variety. There are so many names that some days have to double up reflecting both a female and a male version.

A lot of the Czech calendar name days are dedicated to royalty. My dad and my brother are named after the great Czech king, Wenceslas, which is Vaclav in Czech. But, we don’t celebrate our name days here in the USA, because we have adopted a family policy that we will only stick with birthdays. We also do not celebrate Czech national political holidays, as that would be difficult to keep a track of. More over, a lot of the national holidays changed after the fall of communism in 1989. November 17 has been designated as a holiday to commemorate the start of Velvet Revolution, and the fight for freedom and democracy.

We added a new big name day to our family name portfolio, and that is Josephine that falls on March 19.

Happy name day to all Emmas

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Christmases of the past

December 24, 2013 emmapalova Leave a comment

Christmas Eve traditions

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Journal

Christmas Eve in Czech Republic is a colorful tapestry woven with legends, stories, myths and superstitions that originate in folk beliefs long before television or the Internet.

Many people believe that magical things happen on that day. No one should be sad, aggressive or squabble on that day, because it would stay with them until next Christmas.

Coming from a Catholic family, we always fasted on that day. The tradition has it if you don’t eat anything until the festive dinner, you will see the “Golden Pig.”

“Emma, don’t eat anything or you won’t see the golden pig,” my grandfather chuckled behind my back.

Christmas Eve traditions KJ Erben's poem — Christmas Eve traditions KJ Erben’s poem

Then one Christmas Eve, as a kid, I caught him doing the pig with a flashlight. I remember the disappointment was almost the same, as when my friends in Sudan, Africa told me that Jesus is not the one who brings presents, but my parents do. I used to write letters to Jesus, and put them inside on the window sill. I was always so happy when they disappeared. Santa Claus does not exist in Czech traditions.

Some disappointments come early.

We always had real wax candles on the tree. One Christmas in Africa the tree caught on fire. I guess my dad extinguished it. The same happened in former Czechoslovakia at least three Christmases. Then, we finally switched to electric lights which are nearly not as romantic, but a lot safer.

People also visited on Christmas Eve to wish merry Christmas to taste desserts and do some shots. Usually people had their favorite cookie. One year all the chocolate beehives disappeared. A relative ate them all. The same thing happened last night, when my brother Vas ate all the vanilla crescents.

Letters to Santa at the Lowell Post Office

The beehives were a catchall dessert. They’re not baked because they’re made from already baked dough that just didn’t turn out well. You add rum to the dough, and put it in the form and it comes out like beehive or a tall hat. Then it’s filled.

There should be an even number of diners at the table or Mrs. Death will take the odd one within the next year. You can also fool Mrs. Death by setting at least one more plate if there is an odd number of people at the table. No one should leave the table during dinner or they will die.

Apples also come into play on that magical evening. You cut an apple in half and if it has the perfect star-shaped pit in the center, you will be healthy. If it’s rotted, the person will be sick.

You should place a scale from your festive carp and a coin under the plate for wealth. Those who are really motivated can put an entire wallet under it.

Also you’re supposed to throw behind you a shoe. If the front of the shoe faces the door, you will leave the household or get married. My mom always did this one wishing her shoe would turn out so she could leave former Czechoslovakia be reunited with my dad in Hawkins, TX. She waited four Christmases before she received her emigration visa.

Other tales call for sharing the leftovers from the Christmas Eve dinner with the nature, animals and birds. We open presents after dinner and go to the midnight mass.

One tradition that disappeared are the carolers and musicians playing under the balcony in hometown Zlin. But, once a year, I play the piano and my son plays the saxophone Czech carols.