April 10-16, 2023. Days 411-417 of war.
This week was filled with various important occasions in Eastern Orthodox Church - none of which we follow but some of my grand and grand-grandparents were following in their time. This started a whole chain of memories - how great-grandma would take my Mom for a walk to "look at the lights" but had to make sure not to go to church as it would create some serious problems for the careers of Mom's parents. The kinds of "Paski" (Easter bread) she was making. Colorful eggs, painted eggs. How my father's family avoided all mentioning of religion completely and how he suddenly became quiet when I asked if he remembers anything.
We spoke about spring arriving in Kharkiv and how people are sending each other photos of flowers and the first green shoots. Many places that people usually go to during these first warm weeks (and on Easter Sunday in particular) are off-bounds. For example, many cemeteries and parks on the outskirts are still not clear from the results of bombings (many cassette bombs don't detonate until someone walks by) and mines that were left by the russian army.
This week our Ukrainian language conversations were based on me asking a bunch of questions about words that I found in literature and wanted to get a better understanding of small differences in meanings. My parents went for their walks and watched some interesting lectures that brought us conversations about viruses, time, and chronobiology.
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