Ice

Today was the worst day for walking that I've seen yet in Russia. We had about 1/16 inch of frozen rain and snow pellets in the morning and the temp never got above 20 F. Prospekt Kirova, the wonderful mile long pedestrian corridor in the center of the city is usually a joy to walk on. Today it was a rink.... just a little film of nastiness on all the large cement tiles. Many of the sidewalks in the last week had started to become manageable---city workers chipping away with large iron picks at the layers of black ice that form daily. Today was not good. I saw more Russians fall today than the entire time I've been here. Usually they are masters at the quick recovery--a little slip---then a regain of footing. Today they went down like sacks of potatoes. An old lady fell in front of me on Moskovskaya...sat down real hard. I moved to give her a hand and she looked me like I was a Martian----just slowly dragged herself up. Another woman on Kirova in front of me, on the phone, went down hard with an oooof. Lay there for a moment, got up, and kept talking. Younger folks, when they fall, laugh like banshees. I feel for all of them. I've not hit the ground yet but I expect it.