Dacha
Nine years ago on August 28 I proposed to Olga. We were at dacha (a Russian country house) celebrating her grandmother’s birthday. A couple of days ago, we had another birthday lunch under the apple trees at dacha. Russians love to give toasts at special occasions. Orest Grooten, Olga’s grandfather, gives a toast to his [...]
The end of the summer is upon us, and now is the time of harvest and of looking forward. The apples, mushrooms and berries (and carrots, peas, cucumbers and potatoes) are plentiful. Last week we were at dacha again for Olga’s grandmother’s birthday; she is 77 years old this year. On that day, August 28, [...]
Continue reading about A Postcard from Russia — Apples, Mushrooms and Berries
Here are two contrasting videos. The first is what I see a lot of when I’m in the city. The second is what I wish I saw more of at dacha.
Please keep this in prayer — on the way to church yesterday Olga’s mother, Tanya, was hit by a car. She has lost some teeth and has a concussion. The neurologist said that she’s OK, but some of her upper jaw has been damaged so that it will be difficult to implant teeth in the [...]
We went to dacha a few days ago. Olga’s grandfather Orest is not feeling well, and we brought him to the city to go into the hospital. He’s 90 years old and though his health is failing, his mind is still sharp. I took this video of a classic dacha moment. Orest is building a [...]
Can you tell that I’m learning how to post videos? Here are four short videos from our visits to Olga’s grandparents’ house. The Russian summer or country house is called the dacha (rhymes with gotcha). In usage we say things like, ‘I am going to dacha’ or, ‘how was dacha?’. These videos are pretty poor [...]
Today, as I was gathering photos for the site, I ran across this picture. I proposed to Olga in the garden at dacha. It was her grandmother’s birthday, August 28, and we were there to celebrate with her. Earlier that morning Olga and I both felt God’s clear call for us to be married (that [...]
