On my commute this morning, the slight frost on the ground caused me to spare a thought for the commuters over in Russia, I read an article about it recently.
From Dec- mid Jan Russians experience day long winter nights, with the sun only glowing very faintly for a short while around midday. Along with the distinct lack of sunshine, temperatures often reach -40C, a (literally) skin freezing temperature. Outdoor activity is minimal, and the cities and towns are virtually empty. The flickering lights in high-rise concrete flats, and ghostly foot-prints in the snow are the only evidence of human life.
These brutal icey conditions beat in the veins of the nations art, literature and psyche. It is something which I have always been fascinated with, although I prefer to centre my thoughts on the romance of enduring a hardship rather than the difficult reality of it. I just like to think of the fur hats and copious amounts of vodka.
(photo by Simon Roberts)
(illustration by Ivan Bilibin from Russian Wondertales)Happy first of February everyone! Spring isn't far now.
Well. You sure gave me a different way of getting through this crazy Chicago blizzard we're currently suffering through. It could always be worse - there could be no daylight for months! Thanks for posting this, I do feel better about what we're going through.
ReplyDeleteHurry up spring!
That's what minnesota feels like right now :)
ReplyDeleteNeat blog!
Meri
merigoesround.blogspot.com
Wow, and I though I had it bad...at least I'm not in Russia! Happy February 1st to you, too! Good riddance, January!
ReplyDeleteHang in there love. Spring really is just around the corner!
ReplyDeleteWow, that article excerpt really paints a picture for me. Life there is so different from how I live where it's HOT almost year around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for opening my eyes.
Hugs,
www.brittanyhavican.blogspot.com
My goodness, i am not very good with extremely cold weather at all, i couldn't handle that! That illustration is lovely though :D
ReplyDeletexxx
I love this and the idea of being influenced by the brutal winter. Have you read The Overcoat by Gogol? Its a Russian story and my favorite short story of all time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise how bad it got in russia, thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteLove, vanilla
http://vanillaheartsstyle.blogspot.com/
I'm Russian/Ukrainian and my parents always told me how bad it got in Ukraine in the winter. It's nice for you to call attention to it. Beautiful words and photos :)
ReplyDeletehttp://atimelymystique.blogspot.com