Friday, February 14, 2014
Friday, 2/14, Happy Valentines Day!
Just a brief post on climate and the resulting problems. Up until 3 days ago, it snowed almost daily here. Powdery, constant, and about 5-10 degrees F. Tuesday it began to warm up, mid 20s. This whole time it has been fairly easy to adjust to walking at a quick pace, dodging vehicles fairly easily. as I've said before, I did what the stray dogs do and cross with an old lady---until I began to adjust to the tempo of the whole thing. My Russian Professor at NVCC, Jacki Holland, refers to this as "playing the matador" which is a fairly apt characterization. You sort of have to determine risk and reward, ascertain the intent of drivers, and then go---sort of hoping they'll stop and not slide over you. This is of course when you don't have a light---which is easier, but you still really have to keep your wits about you(left turning vehicles, red light runners, drivers of German luxury vehicles). The snow really helped with traction when walking, building up a nice navigable base. There is a layer of ice everywhere, really hazardous to walk on, and the snow alleviates that.
wednesday it was 35 degrees F. I do realize I have sent the russian weather to the DC area and for that I am sorry. So when things melt it gets even more treacherous. 35 F by the way is balmy. You walk around sweating, inside and out. That helps cool you off, but you do a lot of laundry. When the temp is in the 30s it is practically impossible to walk. There is a wet layer of ice on every inch of sidewalk---and they are slanted invariably one way or another. On top of that the ice is uneven as well and covered with a layer of slushy water. When the temp gets to freezing, it is a skating rink. Everything is ice, thin and VERY treacherous.
I've by the way slipped a lot but only fallen down once---Wednesday---and that was because I tripped on a protruding piece of ice. I fell on my hands and knees, was pretty well padded, banged my right arm a bit, then right back up. Thirty or so Russians at the bus stop. All saw it. Their expressions did not change. The thousand mile stare. I might have been invisible. Incidentally, I've seen little slips very infrequently, BUT HAVE NOT SEE A SINGLE RUSSIAN FALL DOWN! The elderly are everywhere, plugging along. Women wear heels the length of a yardstick. Nobody falls.
On top of this, rooftop precipitation is now giving in to gravity. Huge chunks of 6-8 inch thick ice and snow are falling 3-9 floors onto the sidewalk. They tape off sections of the sidewalk sometimes and inside you see these huge chunks of ice. I am trying to take routes now where the sidewalk goes by 1-2 story buildings. You try to keep an eye on things above you, but that forces you to not pay attention to the ice underneath your feet. I'm usually a pretty "walk around and check stuff out" kinda fella, but these days I hurry to the office in the morning, hurry home in the evening, hope the lock is working, and stay in. Tomorrow is swimming again with the union group and afterwards the US v Russia Hockey game atDr. Bobarykina's home, Her daughter Ksyusha will be performing a program on the piano as a prelude to this epic battle.
Happy Valentine's day to my beautiful wife, Janet. I miss her so much.
wednesday it was 35 degrees F. I do realize I have sent the russian weather to the DC area and for that I am sorry. So when things melt it gets even more treacherous. 35 F by the way is balmy. You walk around sweating, inside and out. That helps cool you off, but you do a lot of laundry. When the temp is in the 30s it is practically impossible to walk. There is a wet layer of ice on every inch of sidewalk---and they are slanted invariably one way or another. On top of that the ice is uneven as well and covered with a layer of slushy water. When the temp gets to freezing, it is a skating rink. Everything is ice, thin and VERY treacherous.
I've by the way slipped a lot but only fallen down once---Wednesday---and that was because I tripped on a protruding piece of ice. I fell on my hands and knees, was pretty well padded, banged my right arm a bit, then right back up. Thirty or so Russians at the bus stop. All saw it. Their expressions did not change. The thousand mile stare. I might have been invisible. Incidentally, I've seen little slips very infrequently, BUT HAVE NOT SEE A SINGLE RUSSIAN FALL DOWN! The elderly are everywhere, plugging along. Women wear heels the length of a yardstick. Nobody falls.
On top of this, rooftop precipitation is now giving in to gravity. Huge chunks of 6-8 inch thick ice and snow are falling 3-9 floors onto the sidewalk. They tape off sections of the sidewalk sometimes and inside you see these huge chunks of ice. I am trying to take routes now where the sidewalk goes by 1-2 story buildings. You try to keep an eye on things above you, but that forces you to not pay attention to the ice underneath your feet. I'm usually a pretty "walk around and check stuff out" kinda fella, but these days I hurry to the office in the morning, hurry home in the evening, hope the lock is working, and stay in. Tomorrow is swimming again with the union group and afterwards the US v Russia Hockey game atDr. Bobarykina's home, Her daughter Ksyusha will be performing a program on the piano as a prelude to this epic battle.
Happy Valentine's day to my beautiful wife, Janet. I miss her so much.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
PBS: Battle for Stalingrad(now Volgograd)
http://www.pbs.org/behindcloseddoors/episode-2/ep2_battle_stalingrad.html
A pretty good account of the horrors of war in Russia a few hundred miles south of Saratov in what is now Volgograd.
Photos from Victory Park
This is a somber yet beautiful memorial to Russian WWII losses against German invaders.
My father was a navigator on a B17 bomber on the other side of the world in the Pacific. The Russian sacrifice in this conflict is almost unimaginable.
I felt a connection.
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