Windows to Russia

I will lead off with the fact that Sveta is safe back in Moscow, her train ride was fantastic and she said, “I had a special coupe that held two people and being alone, I felt like a queen. The conductor woke me up and asked me for tea or coffee and she even had a treat to go with my hot tea!” Sveta enjoyed her trip and I am glad and actually the trip by train is much faster than by car to the village…

Now on to the title; When Sveta came last time to the village she brought my Blackberry that just arrived from China. It was an old model called the Pearl Flip 8220. It is a beautiful and well made phone, it just is old and outdated in this new tech world we live in. But it is one hell of a nice basic phone and that is exactly what I got it for. Just a phone to take simple pictures with and communicate to Sveta, via text and voice…

I had a serious issue though and that was the fact that a old Blackberry has to have a Windows OS computer, installed software from the supplied Blackberry disc, to transfer data such as images to anything else and I am in the village with nothing but a Android Tablet… (Doing just fine without that Windows machine – Thank You!)

I found my dilemma not an easy thing to overcome. Since the older Blackberry has very different formatted SD Cards and transfer of data is not a simple thing, in fact neither device could see the other device and therefore, images were non existent. I spent four days trying to solve the problem…

Google was very little help. Nobody was any help to be honest everyone is using cloud service, I call it Doofus service and I guess it works, but that is not the point is it? I want to connect physically with my device, from another device of my choice and I do not want to use a doofus service to obtain that desired end. The big wheels of data on all the great and powerful tech sites all said it can not be done and it has to be connected to an outside device such as a Windows Computer or the doofus cloud system…

So I finally found a guy who was talking about how great Ghost Commander File Manager was on his new Blackberry. It was the “Cats Meow” and he loved how great it worked to get deep into the files on his Blackberry. Granted this was a new Blackberry, but since I knew that Ghost Commander is a free apk for Android and I just happened to have a copy on the SD Card of my tablet, I installed the app and bing bang, I now can see and manipulate any and all files on the Blackberry, from the Android Tablet…

So no blackberry software and no cloud doofus stuff and no one telling me it can not be done. It still is unsaid until now that it can be done and I am saying it can be done. The information was strictly about a Blackberry phone and usage for that phone, not by Android. I was lucky and now if you have the same issue that I have / had, you can install Ghost Commander and solve the issue…

Recap: You can connect by a data cable from an Android tablet to a Blackberry device and use Ghost Commander File Manager on the Android and have a physical connection to view all files to transfer and manipulate to your desires and end…

Update; Total Commander a file manager for android, works even better. Ghost Commander work half the time. Total Commander works all the time. Get the version called beta and it is for Kit Kat android plus retro to the others. Total Commander it works for Blackberry to Android usb connection…

Now a disclaimer; You also can mess things up very easily, so I am warning you that if you play in the system files of either device with Ghost Commander and have root activated, you can and will screw  your fun times up. Also I want to add, I only have used this on a Blackberry flip phone and you may find that it does not work for you. It does work for me and it might work for you…

Also; No Blackberry was harmed in this process, by a Android Tablet, nor by a Grouchy Bear…

Next on the tidbit list is the fact that I finally, after a hundred years, bought a electric shaver. That is not the reason I am writing this section of the post. The reason is, the shaver is packaged by the Atlanta House company that is based in Peachtree Towers in Atlanta Georgia, USA. I know the place well and did much business with the main office in the past. I also spent many hours of boring time in business meetings as my company had a subsidiary headquarters located in the tower…

Now back to the razor; It is washable and made in Russia for Atlanta House. It is simply the best electric razor I have ever owned, but to be fair it has been awhile since I owned an electric razor and maybe they have just gotten that much better in quality. It cost 650 rubles which is about 18 to 19 dollars. I had to laugh as the box says, “American Designed!” Now it does not say American made it says American designed and that is the selling point. It is made in Russia for selling by Atlanta House located in America, all over the world. I also know that Atlanta house sells items from China and many are labeled as this device is labeled. (American Designed!) Atlanta house products are very good by the way and I have used and owned many in my lifetime…

More tidbit; Boza and I are bachelor’s again and we were sad last night as our sweety is gone away fro a week or so. It was kinda sad last night as I got back to the village and since we left Boza at the home, he suspected but did not know for sure that Sveta was gone. It was his choice to stay behind and really it is better on his nerves. He is not a car riding type of dog. When I got home, Boza had to check out the car, check out the yard, check out the village and check out the car again, as he was looking for Sveta and could not find her. Then I heard him give a big sigh and resigned himself to the fact that she was gone. I already did that same thing as he did, because I dropped her off at the train station, I had a head start on acceptance…

I am done rattling today, I have lots to do and Boza has lots of sleep to accomplish. Together Boza and I have lots of trouble to get into and we have to get going on our trouble part, for soon Sveta will be back and get us under control again… 🙂

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The picture below shows a planned future or at least a planned future by the orthodox Church. It is looking to be a perfect combination, as the last of the villagers die away and / or leave forever, that act alone allows the Orthodox Church to reclaim properties and rebuild the Monastery back to some form and semblance as it once was many years ago. These properties are usually able to be reclaimed free or at a very reduced price, either way the church has the money to do what it needs to do. This is coffee thinking’s today in the village…

In a very simplified sign, the Orthodox Church has installed a sign on the main highway to our village and their monastery. I see the long term plan and it looks to exclude the village from its future, for not a village home is shown. Just a glorified enlarged version of the monastery and past and present dreams and happenings. The sign shows the Holy Water Well #1, the eating place for monks #2, the Bell Tower #3, the monk dormitories #6, the place of the destroyed church #4 and the new little church #5…

Now almost all of what you see has to be built or rebuilt, there has not been a monastery here for a long time and in the past it was a female monastery, the new order or the monastery is to be strictly a male monastery. The old female monastery ended a long time ago and during the Soviet times the place had become basically two schools, one for blind kids and one for deaf and dumb kids. The bell tower was ignored during that time, but the church had been destroyed (blown up) and the big dormitories and cafeteria was utilized by the schools to deal with the kids. The school had a water tower, running water and steam heat. It was very modern by the times and standards. The school had also built many other buildings and taken over many village homes in the area. The remains of the school are almost gone and now the remains of the monastery are enduring better. Really due to the usage of materials, the church originally built with heavy thick walls of very hard bricks, the school built with non-reinforced concrete and those walls have all but turned to dust…

I want to talk about the Holy Water Well: Many people gather the water from this well and that is their main drinking water. It is a natural water source and is certified Orthodox Blessed. The water is a never ending flow of liquid that ends up in the big river at the fish ponds and I have drank the water before, in fact I have tried several times and every time I do, I get terrible heartburn, I mean terrible. The rest of the water sources around here, do not bother me like that, but this source causes me terrible heartburn. Strange huh?

The source for this well is way up high on a hill and it is a hard climb to get there. The map above does not show that, but it is straight up to get to the well. Scattered through out the website is lots of articles on this monastery hit the search and you will find an abundance of information…

Yesterday morning at 9am the bells rang for 30 minutes. Today on Sunday, people came from the other villages to pray to God at the little church. These people walk a long ways to do this and that is heartening in my eyes as I watch people who still believe in God and distance is not an issue…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Once what we said mattered and what we cared about mattered, but today unless you can sue about what bothers you or interferes with you or impedes your progress to wealth. Nothing matters and no one cares. Example: Someone fences off half your property? The only true recourse left is to sue that person and get your land back. What happens if they have more money and what happens if the have the judge in their back pocket?

A democracy is not for the people, it is for the rich and powerful and the ones that can manipulate the system to their advantage. Therefore even if you argue that we are not a democracy and are a republic. What does that matter when the battle cry of the powerful is, “Democracy or Die!”

We are a democracy by default of circumstances and democracies just plain suck when it comes to fairness, morals, people, money, power and rights. Democracy is the same as a dictatorship, except a democracy has more dictators to deal with and they all run around gathering power, to see who is the richest dictator, at the end game…

What an amazing self-righteous country we have become. We stand behind our pulpits in church and promote democracy by god and bombs, we stand behind podiums in universities and promote democracy by death and weapons plus we daily express by main stream media how good our bombs are as they precision kill only lots of insurgents and very few civilians, with never a child harmed in the aftermath of our delicately enabled weapons that discern evil from good. So if you die after we drop a “huge bad ass bomb” on your head , then you must be a really bad human, for our bombs are smart bombs and it is your fault…

The problem and the issue is not just a few of the people in the U.S.A. It is a huge portion of the populace and that is why I think that what has to be done is an impossibility from inside America. Which means it is going to be an implausibility until the U.S. petrol-dollar crumbles some more and countries like Russia and China quit supporting the dollar. Once some major players stop the dollar usage, the shores of America will be washed upon with greenbacks with nowhere to go and inflation will send America to its knees, as gasoline costs $15 a gallon and bread is $15 a loaf. The fact is, that major players are stopping the usage of the dollar and soon many more will follow…

I guess that part of the issue in America and much of the known world is that “We the People” are really too stupid and too coddled, to do anything about, well anything…

I thought about the average person in the U.S. They would crumble and die in a fit of hysteria to see how Russians live by choice (Not including Moscow or several other large cities in Russia!) in the world. Necessities for life are one thing to a Russian and another thing to you in America…

A government that use to be for the people and by the people, has become the government over the people and controlling the people…

What happened folks?

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Days like today bring back memories, even memories we do not want to be brought to the surface again. I have found that dreams bring certain memories with them and a morning like today, brings other memories with them. My dreams bring the past of war and when I wake on a morning like this, I find it has brought a past of another war that I fought years after the war of my youth. Two cups of coffee this morning, even before I tried to type a word on this post, is what was necessary, before even beginning…

Once I fought and won a battle of a brain tumor. It was not cancer, but what did that matter in the short term, as my vision left me and the pain was beyond anything that I endured to that point in my life. I was lucky or maybe it should be called blessed, an emergency room doctor, looked in my eyes after an employee of mine took me to the hospital, after I collapsed at work. The doctor saw something in my eyes and rushed me into testing. He gave me a shot of something that sent heat all over my body and I actually went back to work. For you see I never missed work and was one of those very dedicated workers, that never stopped and may death do us part…

Information as gathered over a few weeks of time and a specialist, plus the emergency room doctor took on my case. The doctor from the emergency room said, “You should be dead!I want to know why?”

Therefore, that started what became a year of pathogen treatments, including a 28 week round of chemo, that nearly killed me as I never missed a day of work during the whole time. I was divorced, alone and work was my life, as it always has been. My family was at work and my employees took care of me as I took care of them. I remember that God stayed out of what was happening, except to push me back on the fence I was riding as I fell back and forth between death and life. He seemed to think that the best place for me was in the dividing line, between the two. Maybe it allowed him to keep a better eye on me… 🙂

I realized today that it has almost been 15 years since fighting that war and I won. In anyone’s book, I won!

From the little cook who took me bodily (picked me up and carried me) to the hospital after I collapsed, to the emergency room doctor who saw something in my eyes and God who decided that I was not done on earth. Were part of my helpers to stay on earth. That is how I understand the saying, “God helps those who help themselves!” I refused to roll over and die…

Then after that tidbit of interesting fun, the introspect of surviving and the astounding fact that I still had mental functions available that were not damaged beyond repair, was very much over shadowed by the ensuing heart attacks…

I realized that God evidently decided that I needed more lessons in humility and such. For I gathered my weakened forces, that had been battered almost to death from a brain tumor, just a few months before and retreated and dug in to fight the good fight, through six heart attacks over the next few years after stopping a growing non-malignant tumor in its tracks. I worked and struggled to survive through it all and never once considered saying, “Screw it and dying!” I do blame part of the heart attacks on all the treatments for the tumor…

Then everything changed one day, I remember after all these years of struggling, I questioned what the hell I was doing and why do I care if I live? It was really a serious question and I had ever right to think it and ever right to contemplate it. I was alone, my family could careless and work wanted me dead or making money…

Then around Christmas time I had a first contact with a Russian woman. Yes that woman (or better as she says, “Girl, I am a girl!” ) was Sveta and Sveta is who evidently God sent to push me off the fence that he himself seemed to think I needed to ride for years and she gave me the focus of life again…

How else could you explain it? I should have been dead multiple times already and when I decided that maybe I should contemplate the death aspect, along came a little angel, that d my hand from halfway around the world as I went through a couple more heart attacks. She had never met me and she had never seen me and she had never talked to me. She was at the other end of a text message and e-mails…

What do you call it? Pure dumb luck? OK! I can accept that also, for God definitely is behind luck also…

So this morning as I woke up and found myself in shear unadulterated pain, pain that courses through my body and brings back something I heard many years ago, “If you wake up and hurt, then you know you are still alive!” I guess that today, I am very much alive, for I very much hurt…

My last thought for today and I have to get started on other things at the village place; I remember once a very long time ago, a time that still equated into being a teenager. Do you find it strange that we send teens into war? I had been shot and a boy named Sparky was shot (His hair was bright red!), we were all that was left, it was deep in the jungle and being a brave Airborne, was kinda related to death at the moment. I remember the first time I said this certain saying, that I said many times after this, for I lived while many did not…

I looked at Sparky and said after tying his tourniquet tighter, “Ready to dance with the devil?”

You know, I danced with ole Azazel many times, but I never held his hand, for the day I do…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

The Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015 (Defense Authorization Act) should be renamed the Howard P. “Buck” McKeon Global Manifest Destiny Act of FY2015. The Defense Authorization Act reads like something that the Biffer-Baum Birds in Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book might have written. And the image that most accurately depicts the collective efforts of President Obama, the Pentagon and the US Congress in the design of American national security strategy is Dr. Seuss’ illustration of the Biffer-Baum Birds constructing their nest out of bricks and threads: a precarious construction indeed.

The Defense Authorization Act, and the President’s recent speech to West Point Cadets, provides unshakeable evidence that the political-military-corporate leadership learned no lessons from one unnecessarily prolonged war (Afghanistan) and one needless conflict (Iraq). The millions displaced in Iraq and Afghanistan spilling into neighboring countries like Lebanon and Pakistan; the thousands of Americans and civilians killed, wounded or collateralized (with families left adrift); the creation of failed states in Syria and Libya, and the scam that is the “promise to American combat veterans” to take care of them upon return to an increasingly dilapidated homeland are all mere lint to be brushed off the shoulders of America’s elite.

Schemers
In the midst of horrific treatment of former US military personnel at the hands of the Veterans Administration and assorted military programs–and the fact that America’s political and military leaders never prepared its warfighters or its citizens for over a decade of war in Iraq, Afghanistan and “on terror”—this statement from the US Congress is totally hollow. “The committee remains committed to providing America’s warfighters, veterans, and their families with the care and support they need, deserve, and have earned. This bill would authorize an extension of a wide array of bonuses, special and incentive pays for the Nation’s men and women in uniform.”

Heath Ledger’s Joker in the Dark Knight was right about “authority.” Buck McKeon and his ilk “are all schemers.”

The President and his handlers seek to do it all over again this time against Russia and China through the Asia Pivot. There is some sort of weird neoconservative, neoliberal monster that now seems to exist in the form of President Obama (who is this guy, really?). And that means it’s “in your face” foreign and domestic policy. American activity in Ukraine serves as the best example of this “up yours” Obama Doctrine.

Up Yours! = Obama Doctrine
The Obama Doctrine narrative goes something like this: “Yeah, so we are going to brazenly assist in the overthrow of Ukraine’s elected-though controversial president–with help from Brown Shirt fascist groups and the CIA and assorted NGO’s. Our senior US State Department officials and senators are going to openly serve tea and crumpets to coup supporters in Maiden Square in Kiev. Once we have succeeded in toppling the elected government (nullifying the prior votes in Eastern Ukraine) we will then rob you of your Black Sea port of naval operations. Next we are going to send our vice president and CIA director to provide legitimacy to our marionettes in Kiev. After that we are going to have US military advisors/contractors assist in designing operations to destroy insurgent uprisings in Eastern Ukraine that oppose Kiev’s will. As this US government backed coup is a military operation, military information support operations (MISO) will be required and that means shaping opinion in the USA and Ukraine and the EU, which, in turn means propaganda to legitimize the coup. Yeah, you will try to get your propaganda out but it will not matter. Anyway we will trot out the Hitler ghosts for our purposes and will we get our legacy media outlets like the Washington Post and New York Times to vilify Russia (China too). And do you know what? There is nothing you can do about it. Oh, and for good measure we are going to ensure that member of the world’s richest club ascends to the presidency of the new Ukraine amidst a rigged election. And we are going to do the same thing in other countries. Up yours, man.”

Forget tribal, realist, idealist, neoconservative and neoliberal theories of international relations. The world is in the midst of some sort of emergent Gang Theory of international relations in which there is no Concert of Nations, or United Nations, but a Gang of Cultures. The USA’s culture of violence has made it ideally suited for such a world.

Coup’s for All!
The USA has given the green light to the coups in Ukraine, Thailand and Egypt. In doing so it has remained historically consistent in its debasement of representative democracy, hiding the real agenda.  There was a time when the US government, in collaboration with the mainstream media, could control the flow of information about such coups comparing them to the glorious American Revolution. The Internet and World Wide Web has changed the dynamic. America’s leaders have exhausted their supply of credibility. The world has learned from Assange/Wikileaks; Edward Snowden/Glenn Greenwald; and NSA/CIA whistleblowers like John Kiriakou that the grand brains running America into the ground do so for money, power and market-share–nothing more. The ruthlessness of their buy-sell ideology is plain sight.

For example, note the similarity of the mercenary verbiage of Reuters and the Defense Authorization Act’s authors in the US Congress. The 21st Century version of Idi Amin, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, grabbed the presidency there recently. Al-Sisi led the military coup that toppled the former president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi. The turnout for Morsi was 52 percent, for al-Sisi 46 percent.

Reuters: “One of Sisi’s biggest tests will be the politically-sensitive issue of energy subsidies which drain billions of dollars from the state budget every year. Businessmen have urged Sisi to raise energy prices even though that may trigger protests, or risk sinking the economy. Investors want Sisi to end energy subsidies, impose a clear tax regime and give guidance on the direction of the exchange rate.”

US Congress Defense Authorization Act: “This bill would also recognize the President’s determination that the Arab Republic of Egypt is progressing in its democratic transition and supports the President’s decision to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt for counterterrorism operations.”

In short, pillage Egypt’s middle and lower classes and use the money extracted from them to bow before investors and buy weapons ostensibly for counterterrorism. In fact, when the riots over rising food and energy prices take place in Egypt, or Ukraine or Thailand, those US Apache helicopters—and other American made military/law enforcement equipment– will be used to drive women, children and other protestors from the streets.

Will the day arrive in the USA when local and state law enforcement is absorbed completely by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security? Will officers of the National Police Department have licenses to kill?

Perhaps Ukraine is a window to the future of the USA’s Republic—maybe even Thailand or Egypt.

Secret Weapon for Asia Pivot: Diplomatic Functions to the US Military
How did the Human Terrain System (HTS) emerge as one of Obama’s secret weapons for the Asia Pivot?  Apparently Secretary of the Army John McHugh is a proponent of the program.  According to the Defense Authorization Act, PACOM gets the privilege of a Pilot Program for the Human Terrain System.  “This section would require the Secretary of the Army to conduct a pilot program to utilize Human Terrain System assets in the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility to support Phase 0 shaping operations and to support the theater security cooperation plans of the geographic combatant commander.”

Phase Zero Shaping, according to the Center for Global Development, can be seen as part of the Pentagon’s absorption of US diplomatic functions normally undertaken by the US State Department. The resources and latitude that the Pentagon provides to its Geographic Combatant Commanders is very broad. “The danger in this scheme is that it puts the Pentagon in the driver’s seat and threatens to militarize U.S. engagement… Interagency coordination is one thing, but assigning leadership for this integration to the Pentagon is a risky proposition… What the Pentagon is calling ‘Phase Zero’ sounds suspiciously like what some of us still quaintly refer to as ‘diplomacy’ and ‘development assistance.’ Given the Pentagon’s massive resources compared to civilian agencies, any ‘shaping’ activities that emerge… are likely to reflect U.S. military priorities and give short shrift to broader political and developmental considerations. After all, DOD’s primary concern in weak and failing states is to build the capacity of local security forces. Whether those forces are under effective and accountable civilian control is a secondary concern,” said the Center for Global Development.

The ultimate “Up Yours” just might be saddling PACOM with the US Army’s HTS.

At any rate, the Defense Authorization Act–buttressed by Obama’s recent West Point speech–has put the world on notice that “The Yanks are coming for your markets and your land!” That, of course, means more coups and, with the US national fear factor dropping, perhaps a false flag operation or two.

Starship Troopers: Kill the Bug!
The movie Starship Troopers depicts galactic traveling insects fighting against humans for domination of the vast void of space. But one need not go to the movies to understand what a clear and present danger bugs or “invasive species” are to the US Homeland and the US military. The Defense Authorization Act recognizes this. “The committee notes that in the fall of 2013, the coconut rhinoceros beetle, an invasive species to the Hawaiian Islands and Guam, was discovered on the island of Oahu and has been found on Guam since 2007. While it is unknown how the species came to Hawaii or Guam, the committee is aware that a coconut rhinoceros beetle population was identified on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which is in close proximity to Honolulu International Airport. Since discovering the existence of this invasive species on Hawaii, the committee notes that the Department of Agriculture has been leading the effort, jointly with the Department of Defense and appropriate State agencies, to eliminate breeding sites, and monitor and control the spread of the coconut rhinoceros beetle on the island of Oahu.”

According to the US Navy’s Shipboard Pest Management Manual, the German cockroach is the most common insect on US Navy surface vessels and submarines. They infest kitchen areas and lurk in the dark negatively impacting the morale of the sailors. There are scores of insects, like the Dermestid Beetle, that make their homes on US Navy vessels. Just a subtle reminder from the Earth that the most advanced American technology/weaponry literally has bugs living and breeding in and on it.

So what’s the point with “invasive species”? Post-911 hysteria led to a paper in the US Army magazine Parameters discussing the use of insects by terrorists to disrupt/damage daily life in the USA. In that paper (Invasive Threats to the American Homeland by Robert Pratt), prefaced by a quote from President George W. Bush, we learn that “A 1999 study by Cornell University estimated that approximately 50,000 foreign species have invaded the United States since the 1700s, and the number in the last 30 years has increased at an alarming rate.”

It is one thing to invest and engage in “pest management” but a war on terrorists and their bugs?”

Such is the warped mentality of American culture reflected in the authors of the Defense Authorization Act and, sadly, President Obama.

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer. Reach him at captainkong22@gmail.com

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Around 10 pm last night the train pulled into the station at Saria (the big village, I spell it how it sounds to me) and Sveta my sweety got off. She brought a few bags of stuff and most important, she brought her beautiful smile. It was nice seeing that smile and now she is sleeping, most likely until noon today. She was a tired girl and needs her long village sleeping time. Nothing is better on the nerves than a cool morning and the coo coo birds singing…

I can not help it, in the village I get up between 6 or 7 am like clockwork and it is because there is so much wonderful things to see, hear and do that I definitely do not want to miss it all. Just like this example: I was sitting sipping my coffee and looking toward the sun. The day is cool and the breeze is blowing. I was thinking that this is such a treat, considering what we have had to deal with lately for weather and from out of nowhere comes this little dog running down the hill. We are not talking about a standard village dog which is a breed that is a stunted big doggy, big head and furry fluffy body, but short little stout legs. The village dog rules the roost in their village and we have one up on the top and he lives with a guy we call Drunk Monkey. This was not that dog, but an actual Chihuahua, you know the true ruler of the world, that killer of a dog about the size of a skinny small loaf of bread, yea that one the one that tells you leave his mommy alone, or he will rip your head off without a second thought…

Now I was sure that somewhere there was an owner to keep this killer on restraint and hence, since I could see no master of the demon let loose on the village, I waited inside the fence and Boza decided to sleep more as his mother is sleeping. I had to endure this little devil peeing on the tires of our car and that told me first off that this was the Alpha Male of the village. He looked around, sniffed the air and satisfied that all was safe went back up the hill to let his masters (or is he the master) know that all was secure in the village…

See, always something exciting happening in the village and if I had stayed sleeping, I would have missed the fact that a superior beast had entered our habitat as we slept last night. Things like that are important to life and limb…

Therefore, that coffee is wonderful this morning, while the cool wind blows and the trees talk to me and tell their tales of past years and talk of the times that knights rode the hills on horses of great strength and power. I hear the songs of the monks in the past who have lived at the monastery, when it was in its peak of religious furor and he birds sing of a time when peace ruled the land with a steady firm hand, instead of a calloused hand of pain and hardship…

Yes it is a beautiful morning, Boza is sleeping peacefully under the bed and Sveta is home, sleeping and dreaming. The clock I rebuilt yesterday is ticking away as congenial as can be and I have sipped two cups of coffee as I wrote this thinking’s…

Oh, you can feel the Russian soul today as it waves in the wind blowing across the land…

That is why I love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

PS: The image is just two typical village ladies as they go about their business. Just part of what makes Russia, Russia…

I found an old Soviet made wind up alarm clock. It was covered in dirt and in pieces as I found it. I gathered all the pieces and later after finishing cleaning the corner I found it in, I sipped a cup of coffee and worked on it. The front glass is broken, someone painted it blue (The Soviet blue so popular in the old days!), it had layers of hard crusty dirt all over it and the mice had made it part of a nest…

I set down, sipped coffee and decided to save it…

I took it apart and found that it was very well built. The internals were excellent in both quality and being sealed against the outside world. This was a case of looks can be deceiving. It looked like a $1.95 Sears special on the outside, but inside it was a $100 alarm clock. This is what I have been finding through out my adventures in Russia. The Soviets seemed to not care about the way something looks, they just care about does it function and this same philosophy holds true to this day in Russia…

I remember those days in America, as a child I had many things that I see around me everyday here. Things that were not flashy, but they lasted forever…

Remember when we bought things that you would only buy once and use that item for your life and hopefully hand it down to your kids. Be that something a rifle, car or refrigerator? You bought Maytag washer because that would be the last one you most likely would buy. You bought a 6 cylinder 300 cubic inch Ford truck for the farm, because it would last for 10 years under hard work. You bought a Winchester lever action rifle in 30-30 because it put food on the table, protected your family and lasted three to four generations of family members…

I find this true still in Russia, but as in America, it is fading and the desire for instant gratification, be it physical, mental, visual or audio has become more and more prevalent in Russia also. I call it, “The McDonald Syndrome!”

The example that I think about is the car Sveta and I own. We have a 1999 Volga Wagon and it is not a sleek, fancy nor flashy looking car, but I will tell you that it is tough. It is as tough as any 1/2 ton pickup that I have owned in America and a Volga is not a pickup! But she is as tough as  pickup and I should know, I have owned both in my time…

A Volga is simply built to survive Russia and that my friend says it all. Russia is not a forgiving place to own a car in and Sveta and I have tested the Volga to extreme. It can be fixed with bailing wire, duct tape and a basic set of tools. It is the best car I have owned in many years and I have owned a bunch of cars in my time. Therefore, just like the alarm clock I just fixed, the Volga is the same way. Looks cheap on the outside in materials, but underneath where it counts, quality…

So, after a bunch of thinking’s by me, I am on a quest to do the body work on the Volga we own and get it repainted after I am done. It needs a few body parts replaced and I am definitely pushing to have a Volga Gaz van drive line installed. We need the six speed transmission, heavy rear end with positrac and extra heavy larger clutch assembly. It also needs a new dash assembly for the old one is simply dead and maybe a quarter of all functions work or exist at all. Sveta sees that this needs to be done and since she likes to navigate as we travel and finds that running through deep rivers and over rutted roads is a fun way to travel, maybe this winter it is time to put the Volga in the shop and get some things done…

Wow, all that over a simple old alarm clock…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Most people I know would not find the village that I am at, as being anywhere close to perfect. That is anyone I know from all over the world. I know people from India who would go insane at the shear thought of such isolation and I know people from Australia, who would scream foul over the lack of isolation in this village. It is true that we are all so different and so messed up at the same time. Everyone has a aspect that varies from literally anyone around or near them…

Yesterday, I washed the car. I saw how dirty the car had become traveling the roads around this area. I took a photo with the car in it and Sammy the Volga was dirty! I solved that yesterday, two buckets of water, a spot of soap and some elbow grease. I made the car look much better, but I fought horseflies and deerflies the whole time. So as I discovered this trip to the village, as the mosquitoes disappear from huge clouds of moving death, under those clouds of waning death come buzz bombs from hell. They seem to be the second wave of devils that ensure the death of any living creature, that outwitted the mosquitoes…

I made the mistake of wearing shorts, for you see it is very hot here, and I gave these demons an opportunity to show us mere humans that we are actually just part of the grand scheme of a mighty food chain in life. I realized that I had worked too hard and too long, when I looked down and saw that I had multiples of rivulets of blood streaming down my legs…

Then it was probably a good thing that I am isolated in a tiny Russian village, for if I acted like I did and became a dancing fool, trying to swat flies of death around me. They would have put me in an insane asylum. As it was, since I am very alone here in this village, my antics were only to the amusement of the bugs and maybe one silent neighbor who is smart enough to hide from the insects from Hell…

Disclaimer: *No, don’t worry, not a single horsefly was harmed in the process of my dancing.*

Since my foot is doing much better, Boza and I took a walk. We went to look at the monastery and see what was happening. A bulldozer had been trying to push something around and since they were gone, we went to look. We found that they guys doing the work, simple did nit have enough bulldozer for what they wanted to do. They tried to drag off a huge (I mean huge) tree trunk, that had been cut down a few weeks ago. The church wanted it gone and the Fish Village tried to remove it for them. They failed miserably, but succeeded in tearing up the grounds for what looked like miles…

The bulldozer was really good at digging itself into a hole as it tried to drag the tree trunk away. It was obvious that they needed to cut that trunk into several pieces. But since the best saw they had was a pruning saw, that never happened. The tree truck seemed to be rooted in place on its side and the bulldozer seemed to be on ice…

The bulldozer finally left, dejected, broken and defeated. It dragged a piece of it behind itself and Boza and I were able to follow its track out of the village, like a wounded animal trying to escape. I found several pieces of metal that I knew came from the bulldozer and put them up on another tree stump so that they will find them, if they attempt to come back for round two, with the champion tree trunk…

Good thing that the tree trunk could not run to catch them, for the scene could have been very upsetting indeed. As it was, mankind was able to survive and fight another day…

Disclaimer: *No human was hurt in the process of trying to drag a tree trunk the size of Godzilla!*

Therefore since yesterday is over and today is just starting, I let the dog run around and I looked the car over. It looks good and is ready to pick up my fair maiden from the train station tomorrow. I noticed several more people had left the village and now it is very quiet. There will be some more come by the weekend and party as many do. We went to look at the tree trunk and it gloated as it did yesterday over the fact that it had defeated the human devils and I assumed that it will be sometime before the humans try to attack it again. I figure as soon as the humans find a big enough chainsaw, they will be back…

I sip my cup of coffee and do my thinking’s. Those thinking’s have led to this article. This article has made me realize even more good things about the village and thus, there will be more thinking articles about the village…

Yes the village is almost perfect, at least for me, it is alive in its own sense and it still has soul. The only thing that makes the village lacking, is the fact that Sveta is in Moscow and I am in the Russian village. Sveta comes tomorrow and will stay 4 days, then she will take a train back to Moscow…

Perfect almost, but I still miss my sweety…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Finally Gardens are just about planted and trying to survive in this fairly harsh climate we have in Russia. This weekend a family of six whirled into the village, grabbed the buckets and emptied the well. They were in survival mode to save their garden. They had tomatoes planted from the week before and this week they planted potatoes. The potatoes were planted like the tomatoes were. Half grown plants in the flats they live in. This is the first time I have seen potatoes planted that way, but hey you do what you have to do…

This family left in as big a whirl as they arrived and Sunday night was calm, peaceful and no water. They drained the whole place and the guy who deals with water at the well, evidently was too drunk to care to even refill the little wells or in reality cisterns. That is normal in the village. I was kinda upset, but I realized that I was not alone and a neighbor threw his bucket to the ground and said choice words to who ever would listen, as he found an empty well. Now as Sweet little Sveta says, “It is all good, we need the well to be drained to help keep the water fresher!”

While I agree, I also think it was rude, crude and socially unacceptable…

Okay, now back to what I was thinking…

Winter is harsh and long here. I know people in America who are already reaping what they sowed earlier and when I hear that cabbages are ready, apples all being eaten, I smile, for here the apple blossoms just blew away from the trees just a few days ago. We still have some time before we have apples fresh from the yard…

Winter is eight months long many times and therefore, you must grow everything to be planted in a different way here in Russia. Thence I watched potatoes plants being put in as a foot plus tall plant. You do what you have to do and these people come and go in a whirl as I see now and they have to take advantages which ever way they can. Now f someone lives here year around, they plant potatoes normally, but the potatoes are no farther along that what these people have done. I was reminded of this from an e-mail and I was told that they were already eating new potatoes in America…

That is a big difference…

Growing season sucks, but we do have an advantage, the day is very long and the sun shines for most of that long day. So therefore, we get lots of growing light and the plants respond to that. I find it interesting how plants of all types literally grow like weeds here in Russia. Makes sense though, they have to , to survive…

It is really strange as I have mentioned before, we have three seasons in the four months that we have decent weather. Spring, Summer and Fall all cower to the power of Old Man Winter in much of Russia. I realize that southern Russia has different growing seasons, but I also study and realize that much of Russia is the same and areas like Siberia are even much worse, they have permafrost year around, which makes life interesting to say the least…

Speaking of season, the wild roses just started to bloom today and they are beautiful. I am a softy for wild roses, actually any rose is my favorite and I want to try to grow Tea-variety roses here in the village. I am afraid that the cold would kill them more often than not.

So roses are blooming as the Lilacs fade. Now that is perfect, the smell of Lilacs wafting to the new smell of Wild Roses…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I use to think being blessed was something spiritual and powerful, then as the years went by, I realized that being blessed was a state of mind…

That is what I am thinking this morning as I sip that cup of coffee…

Every morning I wake up at around 6am and I find a big fat house fly on the inside of the screened window. He looks like the same fly and acts like the same fly, that I kill everyday at the same time. He is slow moving because it is cold in the morning and he seems to wait patiently for me to end his existence…

Today I am leaving him alone and watching what he does. He will be a nuisance and irritate me as the warmth of  the sun takes hold of the day and revitalizes his metabolism. He just buzzed me as I am writing this article and yes the sun is full on the window now…

You may wonder why I write this article and really who cares?

Well I finally looked beyond the fly and found something much more important and worth thinking of. Worrying about the fly and killing the fly was a minor issue that covered the real issue and blessing. For outside the window hanging on the screen that I built seven years ago. Was a cloud of mosquitoes, all wishing to take the flies spot inside on the window and I realized that one fly was a blessing and should be cherished, for the alternative was a hundred blood sucking mosquitoes…

Then a thought or memory came back to me and I remembered that several years ago, we came to the village and found our home invaded with hundreds of Lady Bugs. They were everywhere and Sveta spent the time it took to remove all of them carefully and took them outside. Sveta can do that and she cringes at me as I answer life with a smashing blow of death to insects.  I have watched Sveta many times as she is able to catch and release almost anything. Anything from Bumble Bees to Lady Bugs. Now I have to say, “Sveta does smash mosquitoes and therefore I think that mosquitoes are alien life forms, for even Sveta dislikes them!”

I will see if two flies appear tomorrow or does the one fly still live alone with me?

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia