Windows to Russia

I am just going to let the images talk for themselves. The trees are covered in a super frost…

This morning after a clear as a bell sky! The moon was big and bright and it got cold, damn cold…

Boza and I walked and I could not keep my eyes from freezing shut. My eyes watered and eyelashes froze together, needless to say after about an half hour of fighting that kind of cold, we both decided that life was better inside where the fireplace was going…

It is so wonderful and so beautiful and so exhilarating. It is heaven to me…

The images talk for themselves…

WtR

All but one taken this morning as Boza and I attempted to walk…

Stunningly beautiful, if not brutal at the same time…

WtR

I spent two hours this morning with Vova. He called Sveta last night and told her that his family had misplaced his nitro spray when they visited before the New Year. He had very old pills of nitro and they were not doing the job. I had given him a nitro spray a few months back, but it seems to be gone. I have extra, for nitro is my life saver and this morning I grabbed an extra I keep, some food (kielbasa, salo, chicken and such) and two packs of cigarettes that I store aside for Vova. He is out of cigarettes and that is most likely part of his issues…

So with a care package in hand, I staggered up the hill through what had to be 10 foot drifts. I had to crawl and scoot myself over much of the way and finally made it to the top of the hill. No snowshoes or skies is rough. skis and snowshoes just float on top. Vova was asleep, but I made him get up. I had to make sure he was okay…

He used the spay immediately and in about 15 minutes he started to come to life. I then gave him everything else after he was doing good. We checked his blood pressure and his sugar levels and everything was messed up and high. He saw the cigarettes and I thought he would cry, he hugged me ten times and then got down to business of sending me home with supplies of his own, that he has extra of. He had a sack already to go before I got there…

cabbage

I was given a cabbage and that is a part of this story that I will tell more of…

There is a woman who loves Vova very much; she would do anything for him and as in most cases of life, Vova likes her, but love is not the issue with him. Vova loves the summer fling he had with the rich girl…

Last night Boza and I were woke up with Boza starting to bark. We looked out and saw a person walking up the hill on skis. Moon is full and the sky is clear so seeing was no issue…

I thought, “Oh, someone to drink with Vova! Crazy person!” Drunks feel no cold…

This morning I find out that the person was the girl from Marjara (spelled like it sounds) and she had brought bread, cabbage and special jams to Vova. All from her garden or stock. She did not have access to something like nitro (no pharmacy in her village) and most people do not keep enough for themselves, much less extra…

She came and went and did not stay all night and the issue here is that when she walked several kilometers it was -27 Celsius or -16.6 Fahrenheit. She tried to help Vova, for he was calling out for help and she did help him. He was fed and tucked away for the night, warm and safe…

Then it struck me about how this woman came all the way from a village across the river and many kilometers away. It seems that the term love is not strong enough in this case and then I thought about many Russians I know and they seem to all be willing to go that extra mile for friends…

I wish Vova could feel about this girl, the same as she does about him…

* * * * * * * * * *

Vova is doing good and Boza and I ate a good meal, now we are going to stay warm. It is still -24 and brutally windy and fridged. Smart animals stay hidden and warm. Boza and I are going to be smart animals today. Tonight will be colder, Vova says that it will be -33 and get ready. He has a thermometer that reads down to -50 C. and at the time I was there, it was almost -30 then…

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I got a big cabbage, more potatoes, small thing of jam and two loaves of bread to take home. So this woman carried food for both Vova and I to be exact. I realized that Vova had this food in another sack waiting to get it to me…

Want to know something? (As a tear runs down my face!)

I have a sweetie who would walk through all this snow for me and back. I realize that and while I would do the same for her, I have never had anyone care about me that much before. I also have a friend who cares if I live or die. In fact several friends now and that is something, I never had in America…

I am a rich man with friends and loved ones in Russia!

WtR

But keep them to myself most of the time anymore…

No one wants to hear the truth and no one desires the truth. We have stepped off the precipice many years ago and since the chasm at the foot of the mountain is so deep, it takes time to hit as an ending…

We are not just falling from the top, we are falling into the yawning huge canyon of life and the bottom can not be seen. Therefore, we are feeling like it is all okay, as we fall in what seems to be am endless dream…

I love this planet we are on! This has to be one of the pride and joys of Gods creations and I am sure there are many out there, rotating around many of the trillions and trillions of stars that make up our universe…

I believe that our solar system is just a tiny fleck in our universe, but our universe we live in is just a tiny fleck in a bigger verse. There is no end and no beginning, for the “chicken or the egg riddle” has no meaning in the life of the cosmoses…

Energy is all that matters and energy never is destroyed. Energy just trans-places, transfers, and or simply put; Energy just is and will always be available, it just changes its face to suit the needs for its own desires…

We are a silly race of creatures that seem to be so shortsighted that we are literally incapable of seeing what is beyond our noses. It seems that we are getting less desiring of the stars and more embracing of secular material…

Good and evil is an interesting Hollywood concept; but I have yet to see much difference in humans when it comes to the overall picture. Everyone has their vices and everyone has their dreams and everyone has their morals laid bare at times. Under all facades is the same core person and I have yet to see but a few a humans that did not sell out the rest when the going gets tough. I do not mean car wreck tough, I do not mean hurricane tough, I do not mean earthquake tough. I simply mean; When we are looking at the Gates of Hell (being Hell whatever your version is to you,) you will sell your first born, second born and or soul, to keep from going there. There are some of us who have been to the Gates of Hell and have fought to crawl back as so many took the easy way out and gave up what makes them human…

Humans have the capacity to be incredible. We just do not realize our capacities and instead of developing our abilities, we expand our deficits and try to act like we have accomplished something good in life. If we simply lived life with nature, we would accomplish a much higher plain of encumbrance, with higher intellects. maybe we will survive to see such an era, but I think we have tried several times in the last eons and have failed miserably every time…

War rules the Earth and until we remove the Gods of War (Ares – Aris,) we will never so daylight or even a simple sunrise for what it is…

A simple fact has been expelled from our minds and replaced with dribbling data fluctuations; Chaos reigns on earth and little unbeknownst to most humans, mankind at one time believed “Chaos” was the beginning of all that we know and see. It seems that at one time, we looked at Chaos as the beginning of the universe and now I see Chaos as the ending of our universe, if we do not reign it in and control it…

Just not sure we even have the capacity to control Chaos; for Chaos is who begat us and unless the student can master the master; we are doomed…

Believe what you may, but all Gods are the same and all Gods come from one or the same. God is the same all over the world, as is the Devil himself. We have choices top make and those choices are what make or break our lives…

I believe in God, but I have a twist inside of me that realizes that God is plural, not singular, for even God came from somewhere, someone, somehow and we, while in his image, are a far cry (many stairs to climb) from those that we call God(s)…

We should never have stopped reaching for the stars…

WtR

Sveta worked a deal and bought me a set of snowshoes yesterday. She found a guy who bought these snowshoes new two years ago for their dacha and never used them. They are perfect for what I need and are an older style of a Canadian type snowshoe…

I found the same shoe online at http://www.namdalsavisa.no/diverse/den-store-trugetesten/s/1-75-1083718 and they run 1598 kroner, which is $231. Now that I would never pay, but; $50 was a deal. Sveta found the guy and got the shoes and sent me an image of the shoes. Now I think that this is my birthday gift for several years… 😉

Actually due to people sending donations to cover the $120 hosting fee for a year, we were able to have extra money to buy something of a necessity. Now that deserves a big thanks to all who have donated to keep Windows to Russia online. I also want to thank all the people who send e-mails of support and do not have the money to send. Everyone who reads is important, unless you wanna hate and threaten our lives. Therefore, thank you for any support given. I know money is tight all over the world…

In Russia these would be considered a hunting style of shoe and since most people here use skis, there are not too many snowshoes around. Russians from what I understand are trained in school to use skis and special walking/hiking skis are the norm…

I grew up with snowshoes…

WtR

Boza came to life at around 4:30 a.m. and started to bark. I grabbed my coat, boot and therm pants. We ran outside to see what was invading our space…

We found tracks near the outhouse and followed them. Small tracks of something hopping. Boza was hot on its trail and the snow was flying as we ran through the yard. Then on one of my paths I cut for Boza, we surprised a huge wood rat. He was trying to do his ratty business in our yard and left us a little pee spot, plus a solid or two of waste product. With a squeal and literally a scream, he shot down our path, with Boza barking on its tail…

Now I am here to tell you that I have watched Boza leaping from spot to spot and I call it the rabbit hop. This rat hit the deep snow and he hopped just like Boza does. What came next was cool. He went through the fence like the fence was not there. This was a huge rat, I mean fat and sassy (he looked as big as an elephant at the time it happened.) As you can see from the photo, he went through the chain link hole. I am amazed at how rats and mice can squeeze through such tiny holes. The fence did not even move or twang as it passed through. This was a fat rat… 😉

I know this is the wood rat that has been under our house several times and he ran into the neighbor’s yard and disappeared. Looks like we need to get ourselves a rat and remove him from existence. They will tear up a house quick. He comes from the little community trash dump nearby and I am sure that food is getting scarce in that tiny dump area…

Boza is sleeping now, but I have to say that his nose knows when something is in the yard…

Just thought I would pass on what Boza and I do for fun in the Tiny Russian Village…

WtR

Life is fragile and let it down and it will get you. In the Russian Village as in any village far away from society, life will catch you unaware and surprise you. This is on my mind because Vova has not appeared for a day and his lights were off all night long. I must drudge through the snow to his home. It snowed all night and now the drifts are 6 to 7 feet deep. Therefore it is time to make a social visit to Vova…

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Life is a full time job here in the Tiny Russian Village. You have to prepare for anything to happen. If the electricity goes out; well it could be weeks before it comes back on. The well freezes and you have to chop a hole to get water. Wood from the wood pile does not carry itself and you must constantly carry wood. Boza wants to play and run and you must try to accommodate his wishes also. You have to keep yourself from getting too hot and sweating outside and at the same time; keep yourself from getting too cold. You have to adjust as the Tiny Russian Village gets smaller and smaller everyday, for the snow is getting deeper and deeper, everyday…

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When I cook, I cook for two or three meals at a time. The skillet above is full of potatoes, carrots, kielbasa and onions. I ate a third of it, with the help of Boza of course, and will eat more later today. Looks like three meals in this skillet…

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The 4×4 you see belongs to Vova and it has a bad alternator. I just communicated with someone about how people seem to hate to fix things, they simply buy new instead. This is an example, but besides Vova has his Niva for getting girls, he says. (I have a girl and she is nice and sweet!) This truck is the answer to the issues here in the village, Vova has all papers for the truck and I think if the price is correct, like almost free, case of vodka, a please let me have it, then I can work on it in the spare time during the summer and next winter have a way to get around. It needs some minor work and a new set of tires. If I can swing the money and not destroy my budget, (to terribly bad,) then it is what Sveta and I need. It will crawl through very deep snow and get us to civilization…

Sometimes we have to buy what is a necessity and in this case, this truck would solve huge issues…

Probably never happen, because money is tight for this American and even the dirt cheap trips we use to take, have become out of reach in price. The world is crashing as people look around and ask, “What Happened?”

* * * * * * * * * *

All my cut paths are gone. The snow has drifted in and they smoothed over. I see at least an extra foot of snow this morning and getting around is tough. Sveta is trying to work a deal for snowshoes, but that is in the city, where deals can be made. She has found a set of very expensive snowshoes owned by a Muscovite, who has never used them and never will, and she can possibly get them for like 4000 rubles ($50) and they are made for big men and less than a third of what they cost right now in the store. She is looking for skies for her and maybe she has some at her moms house? This is one of those budget destroying items that becomes a necessity and since she wants to come down in February, I will be able to use them through March…

Sveta and I decided that as we can afford such luxuries, we buy what will last and not cheap. Items have to last for many years, not one season. The fact that these snowshoes are cheap is a plus benefit and why we have to try to get them. They are quality…

Lucky the paths are easy to redo as the snow is dry and light!

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I had to smile at an e-mail I got from an office in Washington, D.C, “How do you like the cyber attacks, you unpatriotic POS? We have more to send your way!”

and

I responded, “Good and please pass my site around to the rest of your cronies! It is good for rankings! But hey why would you call me a Point of Sale (POS?) or do you mean it in the way of Urban Dictionary type of language! But thanks anyway, however you mean it…”

You have to wonder how they can send hate from a DC office and such, but when I complain and send the facts, I am ignored and they, those who are suppose to care about such hatefulness, look the other way… 😉

WtR

I will explain again for several people have written and say they are confused… 🙁

The village is called by the locals in this modern era; Kommuna…
The actual name is “поселок Заря Свободы” and or “Dawn of Liberty Village” …
I call it, “Sunrise to Freedom,” for that is my first translation of the village and it is what I call it…

Talking to locals; just say, “Kommuna!”

http://windowstorussia.com/where-i-live-russian-village.html

Link above is where our village is…

Red is our Monastery Village…
Grey is Lumber Village…
Yellow is Fish Village…
Green is Church Village…
Black is Big Village…

Hope that helps?

WtR

This old Soviet alarm clock that I have to remember to wind once a day and every few days adjust the time by a few minutes, is a reminder to me. A reminder that we just keep going and if we do not wind ourselves up everyday, we stop running and that is that…

The idea I realized is to figure out how to keep winding your clock. Just like the Old Soviet Clock, that has to be wound daily by you, your body has to be wound also…

Most of the time we have to be wound daily like the clock has to be. When we reach the point of multiple winding a day, we start having issues and feeling like life has become rough and unfair. Sometimes we do not have enough time at our disposal and figure out why we are winding down so quick. Sometimes we just don’t care if we end up on a scrape heap of life, but I have figured out that we all can wind our springs and that makes life better…

Not many years ago, I reached the point of having to wind my clock inside of me every few hours. It was rough and it was certain death, if I did not figure out how to stabilize myself. I had worked in high pressure for so many years, that I had almost put myself in the grave. I came to Russia and discovered the Russian way of life…

A typical Russian does not look at money as a good thing! A typical Russian values their free time more than extra money! A typical Russian does not value material items to any great extent! A typical Russian……….

I have learned to be a Russian; E.g. – Right now the sun has come up and the sky is clear. I took Boza out and we stood in the sunshine. We absorbed the feeble rays as they basked us. The warmer temperatures last night had gone away with Sveta on the train and it was -17 this morning. But those sun rays were better than any Bahama in the world…

I rewound my clock in the sun’s rays and I feel good. The value of those few moments of sun rays is more valuable than any amount of money in the world. Rich is not in your net worth, Rich is in your heart, soul and mind…

I understand now in my life that every time I drove myself to be number one and every time I ignored the family, ignored my health and ignore life in general. I was slicing a little bit of life off, and that was life that would never be found or enjoyed again. Life, Health and happiness is worth more than money, material items and power; any day of the week…

I live in this Tiny Russian Village and I am winding my clock everyday. This weekend, I checked my blood pressure as I do many times a week. I check my heart rate, as I do many times a week. My blood pressure is 106/65 and my resting heart rate is 65 now. This is compared to several years ago of 145/102 and a resting heart rate of 95+…

I am in better shape than I have been since a teenager and that is impossible to recover those days. I am losing weight, I am building muscle again and I am garnering the ability to stop so much damn medication. Since I have come to Russia, I have stopped taking drugs that were pushed on me in America by M.D.’s; 6 types of anti-depressants, and at least 6 types of variants of heart medications. Sveta has stood by my side and helped me to break everyone of these addictions. I even stopped smoking when I came to Russia and drinking alcohol is non existent anymore…

Therefore, like the Old Soviet Clock; we can never stop winding ourselves. Winding ourselves with good life and good things. The day we try to wind ourselves up with stress, power, games, deceit, pain, ignorance and many other items in life. That is when our clock will wind down and wind down faster and faster everyday…

The world is full of people whose clocks have wound down and they go through the motions of life, but never see life for what it is and that is why we do not value life all over the world as important. We are even unable to see our life as important…

Have a nice day and catch a sunbeam and wind your clock inside your heart. You deserve it…

WtR

It snows nonstop and yesterday I realized how ignorant I was not to get some snowshoes / Snow skis. Expensive yes, but still an investment worth the time. Maybe I can make a set? I will study the internet and see what I need to do. I have piles of snow starting to reach waist level in places and drifts much taller than that. It looks like two months of snow ahead and very little reprieve…

Sammy the Volga is bedded down until spring thaw and at this point it is all I can do to keep a path open to the gates, loop around the yard and to the well. I have to cut a path to the dump area and keep a path down the road near the home, so that Boza can do his doggy duties…

I will it seems have snow piles taller than my head and soon I will be hauling snow by the wheelbarrow and out of the yard. Getting kinda cool now…

Russian Village Home

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Last night several people from America donated money for the hosting. I was extremely happy and to top it all off; I did not get a single hateful e-mail. I got several upbeat and helpful e-mails and I am thankful for that. It seems that at times the good people will speak. There are good people in America and I acknowledge that. Thus, I appreciate when Americans prove me wrong. Wish it was more Americans, but I will take a trickle and hope it grows to a stream…

I will stay silent about who donates, unless they tell me it is okay! You are able to communicate through PayPal and leave me a message and whether you want me to have your e-mail address or not. Silence is best in my eyes, but that is up to the individual…

We are getting close to enough money for paying the host bill and then I can start on the other fees associated with the site of Windows to Russia…

Once again Thank You very much for the money to pay the sites bills and for caring…

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This is my favorite spot in the world. —>>>

I thank God here, I thank Sveta here, I thank Boza here, I thank anything in the world that is good here and I wish and pray for the bad in the world to get its act together. This is my favorite spot to sit and look out over the valley and breath the freshest air and most wonderful energies of the monastery, this is where I sit to heal and it does not matter what the weather is…

This is my spot to contemplate life…

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As the title says; Sveta has to leave tonight and we will have to call a taxi and walk two or more kilometers to get to the main highway to meet that taxi. Then I will send Sveta off to meet the train and walk back to the Tiny Russian Village Home…

It will be sad for her to leave, but it has been wonderful with her here. She might try to come back at the end of February, but I think that the snow will be seriously deep. I will be making a few store trips on foot and stock for February. February looks to be snow the whole month and never any melting…

* * * * * * * * * *

The mental list is growing and it looks like I will have to write down the issues that I find as I live here. There are things that are necessities and things that are wishfulness. Either way, they have a purpose and reason in my head. We are seeing snow skis being used and snowshoes being used. Not sure which is best for Sveta and I? I also know that Boza is going to get snowed in, before I am. He is close to the ground and it is getting hard for him to get around. That is why I must clean areas for him to walk and play. He still loves to play ball and a little snow should not take that away! Should it?

Have a nice day…

WtR