My granddaughter Nadia grew these snapdragons from seeds, and cut them herself, and requested that they would be put in water to survive a long trip.
A Precious Gift
Author: Hettie D.
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
At The Beach With My Girls
At some point, Anna expressed a concern that the beach’s proximity will alter her daughter’s priorities in Chicago and that instead of the “museum Baba” I will become a “beach Baba.” And indeed, the first request was about going to the beach. The girls arrived late on Friday, and Saturday morning, we headed to the beach straight after breakfast.
We spent about three hours at the beach, the girls mostly playing on the shore and in the shallow water. I was helping them to build the sandcastles and used the opportunity to go deeper into the water while there were no lifeguards on duty.
Also, we had snacks in Ropa Cabana (seen on the background), a new beach food stand run by one enthusiastic couple.
I thought it is going to be a beach every day, but after that, we took a deep dive into the cultural experience!
What Is Going On With My Life
The past six days were packed with events, and I do not even know where to start.
It all started when Vlad mentioned that he would come to Chicago to celebrate his (and Anna’s) 30th birthday. Their birthday is on August 23, and Vlad told us that he would have a party on August 29. When I mentioned it to Boris, he said he would try to come, but he had two conferences right before that (ending August 26) and some dental work scheduled for September 1. When he told me he could only come for three days, I told him that it’s not worth it. He replied to the effect that it is important “for the kids,” and I backed up :). I told him, though, that it will be very hectic. And that’s how it was!
And as if it was not enough, I had an “extra bonus” of an extremely long and tiring discussion with the Russian translator of our book. This story probably deserves a separate blog post, but for now, I will say that it took a lot of time which could be spent more joyfully. I was running on four hours of sleep again, and then the family weekend was here. I promised the translator that I will deliver a final review over the weekend, and since I had zero time during the day, I ran on four hours of sleep for several more days.
The time spent with my girls was such fun, though! The four days were packed with activities and kept everybody, including me, very busy.
And four days before the party Vlad called me and said that he is going to propose to Dylon before the party! And then, he planned a lunch with the family on Monday.
And we had another million activities with the girls, and I took two days off work while already having a backlog :).
To summarize: I am very happy, very tired, and very sleep deprived 🙂
Vlad and Dylon are engaged!
1967: A Field Trip To Oranienbaum
Sometimes, mom would take me to one of the Palace Museums. Since Saint – Petersburg used to be the capital of the Russian Empire, the were multiple summer residencies of the royal family and grand dukes. And even though Leningrad was not the capital of the Soviet Union, the palaces were still there, and almost all of them were turned into museums. If you read into the history of WWII, and specifically about the Seige of Leningrad, you will learn that most of these palaces were literally burnt to the ground. The majority of them were carefully restored in their original glory, but no matter how authentic these palaces looked, that was not the original work of the 18th century.
However, one of these summer residences was not ruined, or the warfare damage was minor. I am talking about the original Alexander Menshikov’s mansion, Oranienbaum, which was renamed Lomonosov in an attempt to exclude the German names from the Soviet toponymic. After Menshikov, several other Russian royalties owned the place, and more palaces were erected nearby.
Due to several strategic reasons, these palaces suffered only minor damage during WWII. In the end, this didn’t help preserve the architectural masterpieces – the campus is located further from the city than other summer palaces, so its maintenance was deprioritized.
Fortunately, Sosnovaya Polyana is approximately halfway between Saint-Petersburg and Oranienbaum, so it was a shorter trip for us. On the other hand, the palaces didn’t look as grand as in Peterhoff, and most of the time, there were fewer tourists and shorter lines to enter museums.
I loved the park and the palaces, especially the one called “Sledding hill” (Katalnaya Gorka). The name is charming, and the palace is small and elegant.
Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest
Another interesting event that happened last weekend was Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest. Since that’s my first year in Rogers Park, I was not aware of the scale of this event. Next year, I will be better prepared and will allocate more time to attend, including enough of night time! Granted, I had tons of things happening that weekend, but I still could plan it better! (FYI – I still ended up going twice!)
Aquarium Member Night
On Tuesday, there was a member night in the Aquarium. There were two days to choose from, August 24 and 27, and I’ve realized that I won’t be able to make it on August 27, because my family is coming for our big weekend. When I signed up there was not much information about what would happen during the member’s night. I just knew that there wouldn’t be an aquatic presentation and that there will be no speeches:), and there will be no banquet. The entry was timed, and I thought it would be just an opportunity to see the exhibit without the crowd.
I took mom with me because she didn’t go when I want with Anna & her family.
It turned out that the Aquarium came up with the program just hours before it started, and I didn’t even look at my personal emails! Still, I was able to figure out what we can do and in which sequence.
Mom was pretty much like a child, which was good in this case. It was the first time in her life that she saw the 4D movies, and she loved it, although she said that it was a little bit too much stimulation for her.
The ending of the night was a little bit dramatic. When we headed out, we saw that the terrible thunderstorm we expected earlier had finally started. And it was terrible indeed! There was no way we could get out; no umbrella could keep us dry!
So we turned back to the museum and went to the cafe to have dinner. I was hoping to see the rain calming doing, but that didn’t happen. So we asked the staff which exit will be the most convenient for Uber pickup and headed out. We were lucky to get an amazing driver who was from Rogers Park herself, so we talked all the way :). And then she said that there is no way I could walk home from mom’s place, so she pulled up and waited till I walked mom to her apartment, and then added my stop to the ride:)
But regardless, it was a great event. I think that the Aquarium staff went above and beyond to make it a memorable experience. ANd I was so glad to see that there were many kids attending!
Summertime in 1967
Looking at the pictures of my granddaughters taken by their multiple living relatives, I can’t stop comparing the summer Nadia has now with my summer of 1967 when I was the same age.
Yes, once again – no pictures for the whole year. Apparently, nobody thought that something interesting is going on in my life and people’s life in general.
My mom worked. My father was mostly out of the picture. Nanny Katia watched me and took me on the Neva River and to the Bobrinsky Garden. My aunt and great aunt read books to me, and in summer, I was again at Sosnovaya Polyana, my last summer with Baba Ania. Mom says that Baba Ania already had a stroke earlier that year, and the left side of her body already didn’t function properly, so she had to manage with one hand. But I remember nothing of it. When my mom or my father come, there were pictures.
I was obsessed with Indians. A children’s comic books series, Cheerful Pictures featured a group of diverse characters, including the Indian Chief Va-a-tu-re. He was the best, and I loved all about him. There was no way for me to replicate his costume, but mom helped me decorate myself with small tree branches, flowers, and leaves and make my silhouette resemble the one of Va-a-tu-re
My Twins Are 30!
Can you imagine how I feel about this???
They will be all in town on Sunday, and that’s when we will celebrate their Big Birthday. I will hold off with the lengthy post till then – I want to add the most recent pictures. However, I posted about their birthday on the Instagram, because I wanted to mark the actual day, and here is a copy of that post:
There are nine pictures to scroll 🙂
The Lake. Yes, One More Time :)
I continue to develop my relationships with the Lake. And finding the moments when I can genuinely connect with it. Each time I am at Loyola beach, I can’t believe how lucky I am. That’s one of the least anticipated things in my big move and a big change in my life.
Boris told me he does not understand what’s the point of being on the beach. He would rather swim in the pool (Olympic size), and he would rather not be in the sun at all.
For me, the beach experience means having it all at once: having the Lake close by, listening to its sounds, immersing myself into its waters, feeling the surface of the Earth under my back, and most importantly, the sense of “letting it all go.”
The fewer people around – the better, but surprisingly often, I feel this connection even with many people around. In the moments like this, other beachgoers become a part of what makes the Lake so special.
The beach is very crowded on hot days, and sometimes I feel that I should let other people enjoy it – for those who do not have central air conditioning (and there are plenty in our neighborhood), being close to the water is almost a necessity. They say around here that the beach is our common backyard, and ain’t we all so lucky to have it?!
Being close to the Lake was not on my checklist when I was looking for my new home, so I consider it to be pure luck that I ended up here 🙂
On Friday, I came to the beach at 7:03 PM, and it was the most perfect unwinding I could imagine. I laid on the sand, and the seagulls were flying over me, cicadas were louder than ever, the night was warm, the air was silky,
Thank you to those above us for creating Lake Michigan, creating August, and making the air velvety on this perfect night. And may we have many more nights like this.
Seriously, I can’t get enough of them
Hettie's Reflections 