How can I ignore the beauty of these two photographs sent to me this morning by my friend, Anton Gulentsov, who lives in Smolensk, Russia.  He and his father and his son went out fishing early before 5 am.  Anton sent the photographs… I’m using them because they remind me of the beauty of the Smolensk region, and because they remind me of how fresh and good the coldness can be… and because they remind me of the freshness and goodness of a wonderful friendship. It may be spring in some parts of the world, but clearly not in Smolensk yet. 

I turned to stuff in our house in San Diego for a photograph that was Russian and American. I found a little stack of Russian dolls and a couple of paintings on lacquer boxes, the Russian dolls and one of the lacquer boxes from a trip in 2008, and the last of the boxes I bought when my family was first in Russia in 1971.  Beauty and dignity and fun go a long way back in Russia.