Windows to Russia
The feast of the Holy Trinity (otherwise, Pentecost) is dedicated to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ. This event brought into existence the Church of Christ and gave rise to the Christian faith on earth. On the feast of Pentecost the Church brings its children to the doors of its spiritual life….. Read More…
Therefore today will be a very busy day at the Monastery…
I will try to get pictures, if I can…
WtR
Many times Boza and I walk and George the Birdbrain comes along. He defies my ability to get a good picture of him as we walk. But today, I almost caught him sitting on a telephone pole top. Then as he saw me stop to take his picture, he chirped and flew away. He sat above Boza in a tree and by the time I saw him again. He flew away again. Boza watched him the whole time, but would not tell me where George was hiding in the tree… 😉
George is a regular on our walks…
Yesterday morning he followed us up to the bell tower and in a few minutes he had a huge praying mantis and was smashing its head against the ground. Then off he flew to home, with his prize. I have so far seen him with a snake, big worm, frog and now a praying mantis…
I mention George because he has been with us since he was a little baby bird and seems to want to stay in our company. He does what he wants, but when we walk; many times he is there, somewhere in the trees and or power lines. Following us around the Russian Village…
I have good pictures of him when we are in our yard. He is comfortable with me walking around and does not care if I get fairly close. But when out of the yard, he is skittish. Can’t blame him. It is a big world and Boza keeps kitties out of our yard…
I will get that picture of him as we walk. This time I was a split second to slow. So I settled for what I had…
This is part of nature that I tell about here on the blog and I know I am alright in the world, when animals accept me. Animals know about life and are not afraid to be non-politically correct. If they do not like you, they won’t be around you…
Also something that is important; Always listen to nature, for it will save your life at times…
WtR
I was walking through the yard this morning and looking at mowing the yard. Then I came upon a flower that I have never seen. In the middle of the yard…
Half lavender and half white flowers. A weed, as we many times like to call them. More beautiful than most flowers we grow, as we like to call them. Just amazing is what I like to call them…
I then imagined a yard full of such flowers. What a yard that would be. Lavender and white blossoms spread out over the whole yard!
I love clover also and wish that I could have a yard of nothing but clover. White blossom type, small, and I would spend hours looking for four leaf clover…
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This world was given to us to enjoy and yet we seem to be destined to kill this world! But it will not die, just us! For we will destroy only ourselves and the world will start over, cleansed and renewed. We are but a blink on the life of this planet and I really believe that others have been here before us and the earth started over. How many times have we and or maybe someone has destroyed themselves upon our beautiful planet, we call Earth?
I watch how much nature can take away as I walk the Tiny Russian Village. A village that use to have maybe hundreds of people and now only a handful. Nature has in a short few years, started to reclaim what is hers…
If we all disappeared tomorrow! In a thousand years, we would be erased except for maybe the structures like the pyramids all over the world. Steel rusts to dirt, concrete to powder, all back to where it came from. It makes all of our ambitions, wars, deaths and politics seem petty and that describes humans…
Petty creatures that think we are the rulers of all we see…
I think when I mow, I will cut around these flowers, like I would my roses. For if I am gone tomorrow, these flowers will still be here and will most likely be here long after the human civilization has expired…
I hope that they (these flowers and their offspring) will bloom when the next petty creatures come along and just maybe, they, Rulers of the planet Earth, 😉 will get it and live like they should, along side of nature and become balanced and truthful with our roots, for they are the same rots as these flowers…. Earth!
You can detest God, but you can not detest Nature and we are all from the same beginnings originally. That flower has a right to its life, just like you think you have a right to your life. It makes me wonder to what extend does the network of living things really connect to…
Are we that much better than all other living things on Earth? Maybe we are not as great as we think…
“Stop and unplug,” say I; “look around you, at the vastness and greatness of the natural world.” Some stop. Others need binoculars to tie their shoelaces.” ― Fennel Hudson
Such Beauty…
WtR
A very good example of what I pay for food is milk. I just bought 5 milks at 29 rubles per liter. That is give or take, 44 cents per liter and that equates to .44 X 3.8 liters per gallon = $1.672 per gallon. I then looked at the government information in America of prices just for milk…
Milk price America.gov : Then I looked at other items… (look it all up yourself at the link below! I do not make this stuff up…)
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap – Link in case the download fails…
Bread for me in Russia – 18 rubles per loaf = 27 cents in dollars. Price per gov. = $1.40 in America…
Eggs – 39 rubles per 10 = 3.9 rubles per egg. 6 cents per egg. America – 17 to 20 cents an egg…
Bananas – I paid 57 rubles for a kilo. America pays 57 cents for a pound. Big difference for a kilo is 2.2 pounds…
Whole chicken – I pay 79 rubles a kilo. America is paying $1.60 per pound. Once again kilo is much heavier than a pound…
I could go on all day, but with the few exceptions, I pay much less than I would in America for basic foods…
You should question things around you! Why does a country under heavy illegal sanctions and under massive attacks financially, still doing better than America for her people? Why does Russia now lead the world in wheat exports? Why is Russia becoming pork independent? Beef independent? Chicken independent? Why is Russia looking over her shoulder and watching the recession recede away? Why can Russia crank up internal production, but America keeps sending its life blood out the door? You should ask, “Why?”
Why is all this happening and all you hear is about how terrible things are in Russia?
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Tidbit 1: Yes, things as food cost more in Russia, but then they cost more for everyone in the world. Tidbit 2: Illegal Sanctions backfired and yet the EU and the USA keep them going as if they are doing any good…
The sanctions are doing a good thing; they are killing the host…
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Remember how terrible the west attacked verbally, media wise and even politically Russia about the Olympics a few years ago? Well it all is happening to Brazil and the shameless media, politicians and lies are abound from the western world. Hate is such a terrible thing to live life with…
I wish Sveta and I could go, but it is so far away and so expensive to travel that far. Money is tight, but we were able to go to the Paralympics here in Russia and that was a trip of a lifetime…
It is going to be wonderful for Brazil. They have fought a huge battle against the west, just like Russia did and China before that, with their Olympics. The only thing I will say to Brazil is, “Watch your back! The west is gunning for you!”
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The winds of power in the world are changing…
The old powers are slipping and they are scared. This is normal in the world, but never has the old powers had so much technology at their disposal. When I look at the advancements made since even the Vietnam war; I sometimes stop and pray that if there is a God, may he step in and stop what is brewing, like a volcano just about to erupt. I look around me and hope that if at anytime we need someone bigger than us to say NO! It is now!
“God” is as big as it comes in my eyes!
WtR
Actually to be honest, the internet started to work again by about 7 p.m. and I was just too lazy to write anything. When you get up at 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. every morning, bedtime comes early in the evening. I like to read and study Russian language at that time…
It is actually 3:30 a.m. as I start writing this article. The sky is cloudy, but I see the sun starting to peek through them and a wonderful breeze is blowing. Boza and I will walk after this article is done. The mosquitoes are still terrible at this time and since summer has finally showed up, it is about 20 C. according to my weather station…
Boza and I will cut some thin saplings for more support for the pea plants. I need to prop them up a bit better…
We had a water issue yesterday in the village. The cisterns are dry and everyone is grouchy. I will let the villagers deal with the issue. Everyone has water for now and I went to the store and bought four five liter bottles for emergencies. I hope someone pushes a button soon to fill the cisterns…
Well it is 4:30 a.m. and I will call this article done. I have a bunch to do and need to get going. Never enough times in the day and noon gets hot for us cold loving Russian types. 😉
I have some thoughts to put down in writing, maybe when it gets to warm to be outside, I will write them…
Have a nice day…
WtR
My hand and elbow are swollen like fat sausages and itch like I got into poison ivy. Grumble, rumble and bumble….Did I say Horseflies suck?
So lets look at some pictures I like…
Did I say Horseflies SUCK?
Have a nice day!
WtR
Posting defunct today!
Went to Big Village, got bit (more like swords of death driven deep) on the right top of my hand by a horsefly. Hand is swollen now. Taken antihistamine for it. Itches like crazy. Grouchy and grumbly!
Then a horsefly bit my left elbow and now it is swollen, itchy and I am super grouchy…
Then Boza tangled with a honey bee and got stung on the nose. He doing okay…
We gonna ignore the world and start over tomorrow…
WtR
When I was a little kid, grandpa handed me a small shovel and bucket. He then pointed at the outhouse and told me to clean out the pit…
I was fascinated and scared at the same time. I had visions of monsters that lived in the bowls of an outhouse and ate all given to it. Or something like that. Never crossed my mind that we had to clean it out once in awhile. Those kind of things as a kid, just seem to be ignored and many people grow up in this world and never even think about the care of waste facilities…
I thank my family for raising me right. They might wonder about me at times, but I was taught the basics of life and those basics were on a earthy level. The earth (water and or soil) is life and life should respect that earth. From the dirt comes food, be it animal, plant and or insects. Life all comes from the earth itself…
Yesterday, I tore the seat out from inside the outhouse. The man who built it originally never put a back door to dig out the waste. I had to repair the seat anyway and took the time yesterday to reinforce the outhouse and I cleaned the pit out. Memories of being a kid washed over my mind and after a few minutes of work. I found I enjoyed myself and for the next few hours, I kept at the task. Soon I was done and realized that there are things that seem terrible in life, but things still have to get done…
For inquiring minds…. I fill a wheelbarrow twice, mounded high to the sky, with waste. Yummy…
I realized yesterday that the outhouse has about maybe two more years of usable life span and then it has to be rebuilt. Torn down and rebuilt. The next outhouse will be much bigger and the pit much deeper and lined with bricks, plus a back door to clean the pit out. You see, I am making plans as I work repairing things as to the lifespan and need to replace. Just like, this week, I will finish tearing the old chicken coop down and finish cleaning the back yard, at least enough to rebuild the back wall on the home. Thus, you have to constantly plan and prioritize…
Why do I talk about such tasteless issues?
Because, you should and must know how to deal with basics of life. We may not always have such a perfect unappreciated existence, as some of us do now. I am thankful for such a usable place to use facilities and care for it is very important…
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The monsoon rains have uncovered the roof to a tunnel section. The monastery is undermined with most likely a dozen tunnels. Some are just utility tunnels, but at least four of them are huge walk-able brick lined tunnels, that connected all the buildings together at one time. Monasteries are good about that… 😉
My issue is that now they will start to collapse, they have removed so much earth from the top of the landscape, that we will have future issues. I will watch and point it out to Father Pavel when I can…
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Last few things….The pear trees are alive and growing. They survived and it surprised me. I never gave up on them, but it still surprised me. I thought they had bit the dust…
We are uptown at our village. We have an actual set of stairs at the river. Can you believe that? WE have a solid set of stairs. It is really nice and the bridge is more solid than I have ever see here. I know why! Father Pavel is making sure his flock can get here. It is not because of us few measly villagers living here. We don’t count. But I take what I can get and one day there will be a car bridge built across this river. I see it coming…
Svetochka will be happy to see her strawberries doing good and I moved the hand wash station and made it very easy to work with. It is now solid and usable for all. That should make a happy girl when she comes to the village…
WtR
Biggest, bloodiest and or whatever Mass shooting/killing “ever” in America? Not really, but lets pretend it is for the sake of less arguments. Just think American Indian and that will focus your brain…
“Bloodiest mass murder in US history at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday, federal officials said…”
It is not the headlines that I give a crap about. It was bound to happen and most likely will get worse, before it gets better. We have set our own fate and time will tell how bad it gets. I have said one day that the chickens will come home to roost…
What bothers me is the fact that America has become a simmering pot of water and a simple turn of the stove dial, will send it boiling in an instant. Too many more of these happenings, will cause explosions in violent waves, all over America…
Sad! Sad for the murdered/injured/effected, sad for the country and sad for the state of affairs of all people in America. Too much, too soon, too late, too many, too varied, too straight, too gay, too LGBT, too black, too white, too you, too me, too them, too us, too drugged, too gender correct, too politically correct, too scared, too mad, too happy, too sad, too propagandized, too gamed, too stressed, too mixed, too emotional and way-way-way too much incomprehension of what is happening right under your/mine/their nose…
What! You need you face slapped twenty times to see what is happening?
WtR
Sveta picked up a old Samsung smartphone so that I could use GPS and have a always carry camera. Well neither worked properly and since it was Symbian operating system, there was not much I could do with it. Literally junk, until I thought about installing android in it. I knew that the phone had a high quality camera and it had GPS built in. I also knew that Android could be shoehorned in if I so desired…
I took the Android 4.4.2 operating system from a Fly I4490i phone download from the internet and recompiled it. Then using a flash program made for phones. I experimented and experimented. The image the phone took, before I Androidized, it was terrible…
The camera alone was worth the effort, but I also have a working GPS in a small form factor. Battery life doubled and the phone is just 100% more usable. It is a little bit slow, but I have more time than money!
To me it was astounding at how it went from such a cloudy image to a very clear image. It answers a question about life. Software makes a difference…
I know that the images are of different things, but I took few images with the old, that I have very little to compare with. You can see the difference…
By the way, I am a computer – Android nut by hobby. Not very good, just a NUT!
WtR