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.

Lyric Opera Season Preview

That was the event where I lost my phone for 20 minutes! As a subscriber, I had an invitation to the Lyric season preview, to which I planned to go with one of my friends, who canceled at the last minute. I thought I would still go, although I already knew what would be performed during the season, and I had already renewed my subscription. Still, I thought it would not be bad to attend; after all, the Lyric Opera House is just two blocks away from my office.

Then I looked at the email with the event details and saw that they would have a reception from six to seven, and decided to come earlier to get some fine bites.

I was glad I went, because everything looked very festive, and the snacks and desserts were delicious, and then I found that there was not only complimentary wine, but complimentary tea and coffee as well. And five minutes later, I realized that I didn’t have my phone on me, which meant that I had nothing literally!

During the next twenty minutes, I deeply regretted going, and was trying to figure out how I could restore my life (I have my State ID and my physical card in the phone case, and I wouldn’t be even able to get home!

Fortunately, the phone was found and returned to me twenty minutes later, but those were very miserable and scary 20 minutes!

Another Concert With Mom

I think I will stop taking my mom to the concerts :). On Sunday, I took her for another one, this one was at the CheckOut, a new venue relatively close to where I live. I’ve been there several times, both on my own and with my mom. She is always complaining that the sound is not good enough, and the venue allows her to be super-close to the performer, and see and hear everything.

To be quite honest, this concert was a disappointment for me. To put it politely, it looked like the performer used to be an excellent piano player many years ago, and now is rapidly losing it.

I know that this can happen even with the most outsatnding musicians. I will never forget how I went to listen to Van Clyborn concert at Ravinia many years ago, and he was not even that old, but it was a micerable experience.

My mom didn’t get what was going on, but she was saying that “the movements of his hands were not in sync with the sound,” which was totally her imagination and that “it was bum-bum-all the same over and over,” which was also not exactly the case.

I have another pair of tickets for both of us for the concert on May 3, but I looked at the program and at the performers and realized that it wil be another “what is his national origin,” situation, so most likely I will return these tickets. Actually, than was a replacement for the concert which I could not attend because of my travels, and I knew it won’t be an adequate one, so I do not have big regrets!

Sunday

I will be honest, there are multiple stress factors in my life these days, and I am not always in my usual calm mode, so I can’t always enjoy my weekend mornings. On Sunday, I knew that there was no way for me to finish everything I planned, or rather, I wished I could accomplish (since I knew there was not enough time, those were wishes, not plans).

Still, the early morning sun was there, and this morning light is so perfect – it blows my mind eash and single time! Blessed mornings!

A new sculptural composition in place of the previous bronze horseman
As much as I love my Charmers Cafe, since I learned how to make cappuccino at home, more often than not, I have Sunday breakfast at home (partially because they are not open on Sundays until 8 AM, and I can’t wait that long!)

Just 30 minutes ago…

I lost my phone, and, as Boris says, I entrusted everything to it. And I had horrible 20 minutes until it was found, and now I am trying to get back to enjoying the event where I lost it!

I am happy that it was found before the program started!!!!

And More CSO

That was the third CSO concert I attended within one week. This one was last Thursday, and I went with my neighbor, with whom I attend most of the events. The conductor was Andrey Boreyko, and the featured soloist was Evgeny Kissin. I told my neighbor that the first time I saw Kissin performing was when he was nine years old, and I still remember it, because he sounded extraordinary. Well, 40+ years later, he is definitely a great pianist, but I somehow felt like he lost his spark, or just was not at his best.

The technique is flawless as usual, but it didn’t touch me as much as I thought it would, and I attribute that to Kissin not putting his whole soul into this performance. I do not know how to better describe what I felt.

You won’t tell any of that, looking at the pictures below, so I am willing to accept it was just me.

One more note. One of the pieces performed was a Suite from the Tale of Tsar Saltan, and even the program notes stated that the Flight of the Bumblebee is the only music from Rimsky-Korsakov that the world knows. The audience became very enthusiastic with the first sounds of this part of the suite, and even my neighbor pushed my elbow 😂. Well…

Signs Of Spring

1.

I saw people at all the beaches last Sunday while my mom and I were in an Uber on our way to the CSO concert. Not only were each beach we passed filled with people, but I swear that each piece of concrete which was close enough to the lake had at least one person sitting on it :).

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go to the beach on Sunday, but on Monday, when I was walking from my mom’s house to my house, I stopped at Loyola Leone beach and touched the water for the first time this season 🙂

2.

Everything is on bloom along the Lakefront Trial

3.

Peach blossoms delivered with my CSA box

4.

Also, today was Earth Day. Last year, the weather on this day was very gloomy and wet, and also, it was too close to the conference, so I ended up not doing any community cleanup. This year, I saw a workday at the Leone Beach Nature Area. Sensing that it might be one of the very few opportunities for me to do something nature-related, I signed up.

We put new mulch over the pedestrian paths. I didn’t have time to take a picture while we were working, but I took one when I walked to my mom’s house later today.

Seen On The Lake Red Line Station

A middle-aged white man with a ponytail was playing a guitar and singing on the platform. I always appreciate it when street performers do not use amplifiers or recorded accompaniment, so I reached into my backpack for a dollar bill.

Only then did I read a sign attached to his bag: No Tips Please.

The Two Prosecutors Novella

At first, I thought it would be difficult to find books by Georgiy Demidov, but it turned out that most of his works were published a while ago, have audio editions, and are available for free courtesy of the now-dissolved Memorial society. I could not find the Two Prosecutors right away because this work was included in a larger collection of stories, so I downloaded several of his books and started listening. Immediately, I realized that I had already read some of Demidov’s stories; it’s just that his name didn’t stick. Moreover, I remembered that I was not very impressed, and, looking at what I learned about him and his fundamental disagreement with Varlam Shalamov, I realized that I was in agreement with the latter and didn’t like the same aspects of Demidov’s works.

Still, I wanted to find and read Two Prosecutors, since the movie was so powerful and left such an impact on me. When I finally found it and listened, I was shocked and disappointed. The film was so much better! More precise, more expressive, more powerful.

Now I am wondering how Sergey Loznitsa managed to see such potential in this story, and now I admire his work even more!

***

Yesterday, I stopped by my mom’s to tell you about my second cousin’s death. I sort of expected the reaction that followed, but still, given how she always tells us how nervous she gets when she doesn’t hear from someone and how we should keep her informed, it’s a bit inconsistent.

She made sure she understood me correctly, asking me to repeat who died. I told her that yes, David Raskin had passed away, and we were not informed. She said: Well, Alla (his widow) could have sent me an email! I told her that Alla was found unconscious on the floor and was taken to a hospital, to a cardio clinic, and she didn’t even ask how Alla was. Neither did she ask when exactly David passed away, nor what the cause of death was. She was just very sad, he was the last relative, but oh well, what happened can’t be changed. Now, can you look at this message on my phone?

The situation in Russia is pretty hopeless because there are people whose only goal is to find out how each situation could benefit them, and they do not care about other people, other people’s feelings, preserving memories, or pretty much anything except their own gains. The only thing I was able to negotiate was “putting aside papers that look old.” I will try to put together a list of things that I want to keep, if possible, but I have no idea whether I will be able to take anything away.

Sunday

There was one more CSO concert on Sunday, the one where I took my mom. I used to purchase a separate matinee subscription for her, but I know that no matter what she says, it is becoming difficult for her to attend the events often. Besides, to be completely honest, going with her is not more entertainment for me, but a difficult job.

She used to enjoy the music, but now she always says that she was looking at the musician’s hands rather than listening, and I feel a little bit resentful spending money on the tickets when she is not really engaging in the show. That would be OK, as long as she’s saying she enjoys time with me, but also, she keeps saying unpleasant things about everyone: a conductor, musicians, patrons, and staff. She recognizes many musicians, and she has some opinions on their character, which I have no idea how she got. Most frequently it’s “he always thinks too high of himself, he likes to show off: look at me, I am so great!” I think that most likely it’s because when she sees people on the stage smiling, she does not understand why 🤷🏻‍♀️. She also comments on everyone clothing, body sizes, hairstyles, etc, and always asks “what is the nationality of this artist,” and get upset when I tell her I have no idea.

The concert was very good, and I hoped that the program which contained several smaller pieces will be better for her to stay focused. Unfortunatley, the seats I got where on the side, rather than in the center, so she had trouble capturing the sound, and also she could not see the musicians hands, so she didn’t like it that much. She could see the conductor, which partially compensated for the rest 🙂 .