Orphaned in the Post-Soviet Union era, the Lebedev siblings are alone in the underbelly of the most beautiful city in the world, St. Petersburg. Fedya is nearly thirteen and tries his best to keep his family together but fails. He surrenders his two sisters to the orphanage system and joins a ring of thieves. It’s not long before the gang has a run-in with the Russian mafia and Fedya becomes the focal point of a madman’s revenge, and a desperate race ensues for his life across Russia into Latvija. His sister, Elena, is brutally bullied at the orphanage and almost loses her life, while their youngest sister, Irina, is illegally adopted out of the country after a severe bout with whooping cough. Despite their circumstances, the siblings hold on to a quixotic hope to reunite. Whom can they trust? Possibly, no one. SEE REVIEWS
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Transitions
Of the many themes captured in the book, the one that kept repeating itself for me was Martha reporting on the status of the mothers in labor. “She’s transitioning” or “has she transitioned yet?” etc. And although I understand she’s referencing that moment when the pregnant mother’s body is moving from regular labor to actually pushing the baby out, I thought about a different kind of transition.
The Groundhog's Shadow and Other Gray Thoughts
The tradition of Groundhog Day goes all the way back to the 1880’s and is based on weather lore that came over to the U.S. with German Immigrants. It’s sort of a silly thing, where the outcome has a 50% chance of being right. Despite those odds, poor Phil has only had a 39% accuracy rate.
Book publishing has its own set of odds that can be quite daunting. Here are just a few examples:
Travel, Beauty, and Awakening
I just returned from a long awaited “bucket list” trip down the Danube. While waiting and planning for this trip for the past sixteen months, I felt sure this would be the cruise of a lifetime. Instead, the ship was stymied by heavy rains in Slovakia prior to our arrival that caused flooding and high waters downriver which meant our ship (run by Viking) would be unable to “fit” under the bridges along the way. My river cruise turned into a bus tour over half the time.
On Gratitude
I was told it takes about 10,000 repetitions and reminders before a child learns to say “please” and/or “thank you.” Courtesy is a lovely thing, but not automatic.
However, does repetition translate into authentic appreciation or gratitude? Have cultural norms merely trained us to spout rote responses in the name of politeness without meaning?
According to “Psychology Today” https://shorturl.at/o7iSV gratitude is an appreciation for what one has. How many of us are truly satisfied with life as it is, with what we own now? Am I?
I’m working on it.
Bingo!
Bingo!
Oh, when we hear that word resound through the room: Bingo! Some voices exultant and laughing while others are disappointed and we can hear the banter, “I was so close,” or “I just needed one more square,” and so on. We all end up in the spirit of the thing. And we want to be happy for that winner, and yet, of course, there’s that little voice inside our heads, “I wanted to win.”