Leaves are turning and it is cold; but not the coffee…

Summer is an interesting thing in Russia. There just is not a summer most years. Seriously, there has not been over a week that anyone could swim in the lakes this year. Oh, some diehards decided to try to, they ended up sitting on the beach in their swimsuits shivering.  Now as I looked this morning, the leaves are falling and turning yellow and red. It is faint, but they are turning…

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It was 4 degrees above this morning when I first got up and after the sun poked her head-up, it became a more manageable 6 degrees. The sun is still warm enough in the day to get us back into the 20 pluses, but the nights are getting long and it is single digits from now on…

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This is one of my seats overlooking the lake. This is where I catch images of Mamma Eagle as she hunts and fishes. That is my sidekick (Boza) in crime watching birds behind me. I want to thank Sveta for taking this image, for it captures the Bozka and I as we study the world. The man in the moon is even watching with us…

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Sveta will be gone Wednesday and then Boza and I will watch the village empty of people, the auto magazine will stop running to our village and the days will get short. I have to leave for Estonia sometime in October, but that is a ways away, then after about two weeks in Moscow, Boza and I will come to the village for the winter. I will stock up on food for me at that point, I have stocked food for Boza, there is about thirty boxes of food for him (three months worth now,) and I need to get that to about four months worth of stock, before winter sets in…

For Boza and I will be walking and taking pictures all winter in the village. It looks like at this point it will be only Boza and I, plus one woman at the top of the village, near the monastery. Vova is going to move in with his new girl for the winter (in her huge home,) as soon as he gets all his animals taken care of…

I know Sveta is starting to wish to stay here also, for she has found an amazing thing has happened this trip. Sveta’s issues she has with health, have simply cleared up and almost went away (in another week they would be non-issues,) that is after same issues disappearing on a trip a month ago and coming back when she got back to Moscow. This is what I keep saying, “The village heals…”

Boza is starting to get his winter coat of fur and I am getting ready to acclimate to cold. It is time to get tough again and live a clean life. I plan on dropping more weight and getting thin, it is strange to remember when I weighed 225 lbs playing sports of all types. I leaned to 185 lbs in the army and could do push ups with my Drill Sargent standing on my back, I really disliked him for that… 😉

I understand that sometimes we must dig and find our roots again. It is important and Boza and I have dug and we have found the roots, now we have to learn to live with those roots of our souls…

coffee of lifeBoza is no longer a city dog, he eats fish heads and chases ducks with joy. Life is a bowl of cherries for Boza, and he does not care a darn about the pits…

I guess that is what I will learn to do this winter, “Life is a bowl of cherries and to hell with the pits!”

Have a nice day…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

About the Author

Russian_Village

A survivor of six heart attacks and a brain tumor, a grumpy bear of a man, whom has declared Russia as his new and wonderful home. His wife is a true Russian Sweet Pea of a girl and she puts up with this bear of a guy and keeps him in line. Thank God for my Sweet Pea and Russia.