Only Sort of Inspiring (Or Is It?)

I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. If you knew when you began a book what you would say at the end, do you think that you would have the courage to write it? What is true for writing and for a love relationship is true also for life. The game is worthwhile insofar as we don't know what will be the end.

(Michel Foucault interview in Technologies of the Self)

For all of us trying to write, these words are cold comfort, no? Nonetheless, are they not also secretly exciting?


So, I've decided to stay on and try to write here while I can.

I heard a story recently by the expatriated Canadian Mavis Gallant called "When We Were Nearly Young." In it, a girl goes to Madrid thinking that "if I set myself against a background into which I could not possibly merge, that some outline would present itself." It doesn't work. (Or does it?)

I'm waiting for an outline, too. Not so much of myself, but of the way I want to write about the things that I am writing about. It's coming, slowly, and I'm scared that if I leave and go through all the steps of playing house again, I'll lose momentum and the things that are exciting now will slip my mind.


Here are some boring things that I've been doing to get excited about another Moscow year:
1) ordering books and shoes for MomGote to bring in June
2) reconstituting dried chickpeas for making hummus
3) begging you guys to visit (!)


4) reciting Saroyan: It'll hit you you in July.

Dacha Days

My mom's in town, and after a long day of wandering the city, we spent the evening at a dacha in the charming town of Pravda. (Not kidding.) Since some of you have been asking for pictures that do not come from Google image search, here you go.

Isn't it beautiful? I have been asked to mention that the above-pictured shed is NOT part of the dacha we visited, but belongs to the neighbor. The shed that was on the property we were visiting was in fact dismantled many years ago to make way for...

This!

This is our lovely host and my mom's best friend. She is a wizard at maximizing flower growth while minimizing time spent mucking around the garden. She is also a very funny lady with a well-developed sense of irony. I can tell why she and MomGote have been friends for so long.

Here are some of her accomplishments. I have no idea what any of these flowers are, so you botany buffs, go ahead and chime in with the Latin.

Another thing our lovely host conjured right out of the ground is a pair of hazelnut trees! This is actually why we went to Pravda - to help her with the harvest. Have you ever wondered where your Nutella comes from? Well, partly, here. Hazelnuts grow on trees:Here I am picking them out of their little cocoons:
Look out for squatters!
They can also be used as decorative accessories.
After a hard day's work, we went inside for some tea. (That's right: electric kettle!)
My mom cuts up the juiciest nectarines of the season.
And then proves her Gotely chops by climbing the apple tree!
Good night, crow.
Good night, Pravda!