2018 was a year of returns and resurrections. Every time I reconnected with a long-lost friend, returned to an meaningful place, or even revisited a favorite artist in concert, I had a distinct feeling that loose ends were being tied up, things were being brought to a close, and everything was coming full circle so … Continue reading
It was a corner of Minnesota I had been hearing about ever since I became a friend of Sophia’s: her family farm, and the surrounding town of St. Joseph. This great, and somewhat unusual, meeting place of several different biomes—coniferous and deciduous forests, prairie, and oak savanna—had imbued Sophia with a reverence for the natural … Continue reading
I knew from the beginning that 2017 would be a year of big personal change. I could feel it. I moved—twice. My parents moved out of the house they/we had lived in for the past thirteen years. My aunt sold my grandparents’ dacha (summer home) in Kostroma, Russia—a place I had spent my childhood summers. … Continue reading
Film snapshots One year ago Memorial Day weekend Northern Minnesota Road. Hair. The Boy From Walker. Red. Lake. Paul / Babe Yellow / Blue / Sky Park. Name. Tower. Continue reading
Film pictures from a road trip in late July around the great Canadian-American lake loop, culminating in two subsequent days of birthday celebrations in the honeymoon capital of the world/home of the majestic natural wonder, Niagara Falls. Continue reading
My grandma, Babulya, and I used to go to the circus every summer I spent in Kostroma. I haven’t been to an American circus, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but in Russia, the circus is a rich cultural tradition and showcase of talent, and an outing I eagerly awaited each time. … Continue reading
It was the first day of February. A Sunday – our day off at the chocolate farm. Eva and I had spent it celebrating the birthday of our Costa Rican host father, a fiesta that included homemade mango cake, a hired mariachi band, and a house overflowing with Ticos of all ages for the special day. As … Continue reading
