The beauty of the Russian Village is that, life just flows. The village is all about what is important to you as an individual. Some only want the wild strawberries, some only care about the mushrooms, some only want the grasses for tea makings, some want the apples, some want the plums, some want the cherries, some want to garden, some want the holy water, some want to only drink vodka in peace, some bring their kids, some work, some play, some heal, some stay, some escape, some find, some discover, but whatever the reason, life just flows and it flows without interference from outside stigmas…
One guy calls me his best друг (friend,) another calls me his бротхер (brother,) another waves his hat and yells (in his best English) “halloa” which simply means exactly the same as hello. I have become an accepted part of the village…
Tidbit of a side thought; there is one thing that is common with Russian men; they hug and kiss cheeks when they greet each other, not always but many times they do. I find it normal now, though it took me awhile to get use to it, thus maybe the American society is socially stigmatized and inhibited, not Russian society. Embracing is normal in Russia and the space of comfort around you, is very small or else you do not go see anyone…
You see in America we are even teach the servers in a restaurant to not invade spaces. Yes there is an actual trained way to set dishes of food in front of people, as to not upset them, invading their space. The space around people in America is very large, but in Russia it is very small and conversation is inches of space, not feet of space between the talkers…
Enough of that wandering thought and thinking, back to about flowing life…
Life flows and life in the village is peace and harmony…
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- Tourist everywhere…
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- Storm a coming; twenty times a day…
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- Reroofing before winter hits…
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- Filling the boat with fish food…
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- Mushroom picking time…
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- Feeding the fish or exercising?
It is necessary to expand the images to see what I am talking about, but the images show a flow of life that is around the village everyday, day in and day out…
I realized the other day that I had almost lost or at least let discharge of it energy, my soul…
Now as I shovel sand and fill the ruts in the roads around here, as I build benches to allow babushkas to sit and rest as they walk to the monastery and as I cut grass for the neighbors in front of their house. I realize that my soul has been revitalized. Energy has flowed back into it and now it is brimmed with life again. A huge city drains my soul, where as it replenishes many others souls, mine is drained…
I see life on a nether level when I get like this, I see the life that thrives in the grasses, under the ground, in the trees and in the air around me. I see clouds and they silently talk as they come your way. They tell you what is too come, in rain, wind and fortunes…
Life flows and if it did not, then we would not be here and the planet would be airless, empty and dead like the moon that circles us everyday…
We really need to stop and smell the coffee!
Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…