The State Of War

I can’t think without horror about the war, about what’s happening right now. I was never so pessimistic about it since the very first days. I am so angry about ammunitions not coming to Ukraine, the US not accepting refugees, and all these talks that “the peace should be achieved at all costs.”

It’s so simple. I do not understand how those who suggest “peace in exchange for territory” do not realize that this won’t bring peace. That if Russia gains just any territory as a result of this war, that would be a signal that “it can be done.” That Russia won’t stop. Estonia and Lithuania, and other parts of Ukraine will be the next targets.

Why did nobody learn any lessons from WWII? Why does nobody see parallels? Rhetorical questions.

I do not understand what exactly “nobody wants a massive war” means. There is a massive war, and there will be a massive war. The only question is whether it will be initiated by the Western countries or by Russia. I hate to put it this way, but that’s what I think.

Roe/Wade, Abortion Rights, And All Related

When I returned from Europe at the beginning of May and looked around, I realized that the war dominated my life so much that I completely ignored pretty much everything. Not only did I put my life on hold and almost fail several important things, like conferences readiness, but I also ignored what was going on in my country.

Once again, I can’t change the development with Roe/Wade, but at least I can protest.

At first, it didn’t look like the potential SCOTUS ruling changed the situation around the clinics, but later, things started to get worse.

There were some very loud (at how to put it? Not so smart) antis who just repeated the exact text over and over and tried to harras the patients (and often – not even patients, doing horrible profiling).

This time, they brought an amplifier, and they first set it up at the corner of Washington and Des Plaines, but in about 30 min, they moved it to the bridge over the expressway, and then it could be heard at the waiting area of the clinic. We called the police, and they actually arrived, but then they did nothing! I still can’t believe it! They didn’t tell antis to turn the volume down! Honestly, they would rather not come at all!

The video below shows how loud they wee, and how police did absolutely nothing!

Also, I finally got contacted by MAC (Midwest Access), because they are getting ready to resume accommodating the out of state patients in private residencies. I told them that I moved, and I should have another home visit next week. I hope I will be able to helo that way, too!

Urban Gardening

This season, almost everybody in our building beautified their balconies, and the courtyard looks just splendid.

Also, at the end of last summer, one of the neighbors put together two large planters using the pieces of old furniture that those who were moving in and out were throwing away. This neighbor has also moved since then, but the planters were ready to be used.

Eight people from the building including me were interested. We bought the solid together, and one of the neighbors fixed the planters (they were too low). And thus, we opened our first urban gardening season.

As you can see, I am trying yet again to grow dill. Maybe it will work this time???

Salonen and Kuusisto

Continuing on the topic of cultural activities. Last week, when Boris was in Chicago, we went to two CSO concerts, both with Esa Pekka Salonen conducting. I like him a lot and didn’t mind at all that after a couple of ticket exchanges I ended up having two pairs of tickets to two concerts just a day apart.

It was a very exhausting week in terms of work, and I was not sure whether it would be a good idea to make myself sleep-deprived for two days, but both concerts were exceptionally good!. One piece which stood out was Dessner’s violin concerto performed by Pekka Kuususto. On my way home from the concert, I found a recording of this very piece performed by Kuusisto with a different orchestra.’

If you watch it, I guarantee you would feel what I felt!

It Was Perfect!

Don Quixote at Joffrey – just perfect. Every single little detail was just perfect. Such a treat! Can’t go to bed although it’s super late – remembering details of the performance and smiling 🙂

Campbell Farmers’ Market

Everybody knows how much I love farmers’ markets, right :)?

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Monterey

While I have some breathing room, here are more California pictures. When we finally arrived in Monterey, it was an afternoon already, and not even an early afternoon :). Did I say it already, how I completely forgot about traveling by car and traffic jams? Saying it again!

We had a late lunch/early dinner, and then we took a long walk along the ocean coast. The ocean is beautiful! So beautiful, it does not seem real! Not like I would trade living by lake Michigan for living by the Pacific :).

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San Juan Bautista Mission

One more part of our California trip. Our friends wanted to take us to see a mission, and I liked this idea a lot because I saw one. Moreover, I didn’t even know about these catholic missions, nothing about that part of the US history. And there was so much to see and to learn!

Our hosts’ original plans were altered by the Memorial weekend traffic (frankly speaking, after living for a year without a car, I forgot how it feels when you can’t go anywhere without a car!) But we all agreed that this change of plans worked well – there was so much more to see at the San Juan Bautista Mission!

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Rogers Park In Census

Most of my neighbors saw this article, and I had the post in Drafts for a while. This article in SunTimes makes me proud of my neighborhood, and reminds me why I love living here so much!

It turned out to be challenging to copy the whole article here, so I hope that my friends will be curious enough to follow the link!

Roses

The whole week after we returned from California was insane. On any given workday, I was actively engaged with more than one customer, so it was a constant context switch. Things were so intense that I could not even have a normal lunch break when I didn’t have to look at my watch all the time or check work emails several times during a meal. Boris and I had only two no-rush conversations during his visit.

Just to be clear, I am far from being done with all the things I need to accomplish by tomorrow, but I want at least to post more pictures from California:)