The Gift of Gab
ОМСК The gift of gab on all these blogs everywhere can make your head spin. Everyone seems to be posting blogs these days, and one popped up about 8 reasons or so not to go to the seaside for a holiday; I took a look. Of course, I don't have the means to go to the seaside anyway, but it would at least be cheerful to see someone throw mud on all the perfect little holiday excursions that require many hours of flying. And there is a world war on, although most try to keep up with the old habits of running around, buying a 2nd home in Spain, and such that I would hear from students who have money. At some point, the penny drops and all these 'experiences' drop away too.I'll sound stodgy and old fashioned, but I realize as a kid, vacations meant time with relatives. Grandma's farmhouse, the big red tractor in the garage, the 5 cousins across the street, and the 2nd grandma down the road. The cousins had a cottage on Lake Erie, and all sorts of summer joys could be had, such as swimming, water skiing, tubing, and monkeying around. I remember weddings, funerals, and a sense of clan that was dissapearing each year growing up, however.Nowadays, the type of modern vacations everyone has means tiring flights, lines, cancellations, and dehydration on a torpidly hot beach in July, the time when all the locals flee to the mountains or somewhere else. Sure, it was great, but exhausting too, as one tries to pack in so much into a short period of time.Last year, I took a short vacation to Tara in the Omsk region. I really enjoyed the day, and the trip was cheap and only took 3 1/2 hours. We sped by the uneven plains of the area, through glades of pines, firs, and birch, and with the blue dip in the distance that signaled the Irtysh River.Tara was founded in 1594 and has a rich history. The stone church, history museum, art museums, and setting of the town provided a look into a provincial Russian city of 20,000 or so. And Tara's people can take pride, as they have a lot of advantages in a smaller city on the edge of the taiga. My one-day vacation there cost only 5 thousand rubles or less, including tickets, meals, and museums. That was the year I stayed home with the dogs. The family went to St. Petersburg, but all the flights were cancelled when they got to Moscow due to drones. Then, managing to catch a train, they finally reached the flat rental in St. Petersburg, but the flat overlooked a large cemetery. It didn't help either that someone was sick and my mother-in-law passed away too, and I was the only one home to deal with quite a bit.In short, we all agree that we need to reevaluate our lives and times and face what we need to face. The old times are gone, and I think everyone senses that. We needed to harden our senses and adapt to the new reality when Western Europe and America are glad to make war on Russia, as they had incurred a minimal cost, especially America. China has instructed all companies to ignore American tariff threats, and so we see an increasing blowback to America. Iran is just the beginning, as America cannot impose its will anymore around the world as it did just 'yesterday.'
ОМСК The gift of gab on all these blogs everywhere can make your head spin. Everyone seems to be posting blogs these days, and one popped up about 8 reasons or so not to go to the seaside for a holiday; I took a look. Of course, I don't have the means to go to the seaside anyway, but it would at least be cheerful to see someone throw mud on all the perfect little holiday excursions that require many hours of flying. And there is a world war on, although most try to keep up with the old habits of running around, buying a 2nd home in Spain, and such that I would hear from students who have money. At some point, the penny drops and all these 'experiences' drop away too.I'll sound stodgy and old fashioned, but I realize as a kid, vacations meant time with relatives. Grandma's farmhouse, the big red tractor in the garage, the 5 cousins across the street, and the 2nd grandma down the road. The cousins had a cottage on Lake Erie, and all sorts of summer joys could be had, such as swimming, water skiing, tubing, and monkeying around. I remember weddings, funerals, and a sense of clan that was dissapearing each year growing up, however.Nowadays, the type of modern vacations everyone has means tiring flights, lines, cancellations, and dehydration on a torpidly hot beach in July, the time when all the locals flee to the mountains or somewhere else. Sure, it was great, but exhausting too, as one tries to pack in so much into a short period of time.Last year, I took a short vacation to Tara in the Omsk region. I really enjoyed the day, and the trip was cheap and only took 3 1/2 hours. We sped by the uneven plains of the area, through glades of pines, firs, and birch, and with the blue dip in the distance that signaled the Irtysh River.Tara was founded in 1594 and has a rich history. The stone church, history museum, art museums, and setting of the town provided a look into a provincial Russian city of 20,000 or so. And Tara's people can take pride, as they have a lot of advantages in a smaller city on the edge of the taiga. My one-day vacation there cost only 5 thousand rubles or less, including tickets, meals, and museums. That was the year I stayed home with the dogs. The family went to St. Petersburg, but all the flights were cancelled when they got to Moscow due to drones. Then, managing to catch a train, they finally reached the flat rental in St. Petersburg, but the flat overlooked a large cemetery. It didn't help either that someone was sick and my mother-in-law passed away too, and I was the only one home to deal with quite a bit.In short, we all agree that we need to reevaluate our lives and times and face what we need to face. The old times are gone, and I think everyone senses that. We needed to harden our senses and adapt to the new reality when Western Europe and America are glad to make war on Russia, as they had incurred a minimal cost, especially America. China has instructed all companies to ignore American tariff threats, and so we see an increasing blowback to America. Iran is just the beginning, as America cannot impose its will anymore around the world as it did just 'yesterday.'