Update on my Parents - Refugees from Ukraine - August, 2024. The war is still going on.

An update on my parents - who are refugees from Kharkiv, Ukraine, and have been living in California for over 6 months now. 

My parents counted the number of humans they interact with in person here in California and the number of dogs and decided that the ratio is 1 to 18. I have some plans to change it a little :) Being away from their home is very hard. Still, they are living a life without constant russian bombing on their city and away from the everyday problems of war (like getting food, medicine, and general support) and that is what we all are very grateful for. Of course, we all dream about the time when the war will be over.

The big event this month was the painting of a little mural for them. The story of the project is very typical for my Dad - there was a part of the patio border that was falling apart and when he decided to fix it, it fell with dramatic results. So after a few foraging expeditions on the streets where stuff with the "free" signs could be obtained Dad fixed the fence somehow. However, the new part was white and looked odd and boring. And a request was placed to paint something on it. When we showed up with paints my parents art-directed the whole thing - Dad was explaining the concept and Mom was encouraging us to stop early and "not overwork it". There request was for typical Ukrainian flowers: Mallows and Sunflowers, a rainbow over Ukrainian flags and two owls. 

Here are some photos of the results of this family project: