Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. December 27-31, 2022.

December 27, 2022. Day 307 of war.
We talk about differences between different artists and how Dad's personality matches his favorite Pieter Bruegel (Dad adds - the elder - the kids are always lesser artists!) and Mom (politely) says "he is great, his kids were great too - but Hieronymus Bosch is so much crazier!" Then they go into particular paintings and I frantically search online for images to follow the conversation :)

December 29, 2022. Day 309 of war.
Weather, health, and blood pressure were dominating our conversations on that day. But I entertained them with the description of my tire repair process (which I sketched). I tried to make it interesting but Dad knew about all the "really cool equipment" that I was drawing and whispered to Mom what I would be telling about next. 

December 30, 2022. Day 310 of war.
We are getting close to a New Year Ever, which means that we talk about the hard work of getting results of this year on paper and the impossibility of making plans. But also how, despite everything, we are doing both. Based on how much more paint I spent on Dad's portrait and how I drew his hand, I was trying to get some answers out of him without any results. But I did not write anything from that part of the conversation. The big thing is that my parents went for a walk again - after a few days of not feeling well enough - and it is a huge mood lift for all of us. Intentionally choosing a frame for whatever is happening is what I will practice more this year.

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. December 20-25, 2022.

December 20, 2022. Day 301 of war.
We talk about all the parts of family and friends in all the different parts of the world. Dad says that he thinks that biology is a spoiled Mineralogy and Mom says that she is not going to argue with him - it is just that biology is impressionism and Mineralogy is classicism and she prefers impressionism any day of the week. (Dad is a chemist and physicist and Mom is a biologist). They prepared a bunch of new words in Ukrainian to discuss with me. Dad says that I made Mom's face too dark in my drawing and I add color. When he sees the result his comment is "leave my portrait as it is". 

December 22, 2022. Day 303 of war.
My parents had a good long walk and tell me all about the new place, the new route, and the dogs that they met. We talk about some algebra (Fibonacci numbers and Binoms). Mom shows me some beautiful leaves she found and lists a bunch of plant names I don't know hoping that I will help identify these. 

December 25, 2022. Day 306 of war.
Dad reports that he found a new cat in the neighborhood. They went to another new place in the morning and are very excited about it. Found lots of new treasures and were showing them to me. We talk about whether being smarter makes you happier and about some new Ukrainian words. I tell them about our holiday plans. 

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. December 13-17, 2022.

December 13, 2022. Day 294 of war.
Some days are harder than others - because of weather, because of the war, time, and distance. They keep reading me poetry, this week Joseph Brodsky is cropping up a lot. They miss their home. 

December 15, 2022. Day 296 of war.
War brought many changes to our life. One of them is that my parents are suddenly aware of the results of the soccer world cup. They even have preferences and opinions about teams and players. I think this is as big an event as when my Mom told me something about a famous wrestler a few years back. We are talking about their medication regimen, and they tell me about new people they met on the street. About the new year and our hopes and plans. 

December 17, 2022. Day 298 of war.
My parents are collecting all sorts of treasures that they find on their walks: leaves, rocks, sea shells, etc. Mom shows me a teaspoon that Dad found on the street and gave to Mom as a present. I tell them about a wonderful evening I had - a life drawing party for a friend's birthday. I describe the place and people and tell them about all the greetings that were sent to them. They ask lots of questions. We talk about the nuclear fusion breakthrough and Dad tells us stories about his co-workers who were working with a particle accelerator. Dad tells me that he plays chess strategically. I ask him what this means and he tells me: "If I need a pick-me-up I play on my level. If I want to learn something I play above. The lessons are always waiting for me". Mom says "I am so grateful we are warm"- one day before the whole city of Kharkiv lost power, water, and heating. I am so grateful that my parents are warm. 

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. December 3-11, 2022.

December 7, 2022. Day 288 of war.
My parents prepared me with a fresh batch of Ukrainian words to learn. I am not sure how much I will use the one for the special headgear for a married woman but Dad thinks that word for thighs is very important - otherwise, how will I explain which part of the chicken to give me at the store? We talk about some famous tennis players and how their sport was connected to the theatrical performance on the court. They had a great day with a long walk and made it to a cathedral - which is much further than they'd been before. They celebrate the win and tell me that will take it easy the next day. 

December 10, 2022. Day 290 of war.
We talk about people in Odessa without power and heating. Then about people in Kyiv, then Kharkiv, then all the small and large cities that we could remember. Talking about all the parts of Ukraine brings memories of all kinds of people that my parents knew and were friends with - and this is how they start smiling and telling me stories. Then there is a short break in the story and Mom says out of the blue: I am no longer afraid of the airplane sound. But thunder still scares me. Then we are back to their youth and Dad tells me how he was copying some forbidden literature by hand. 

December 11, 2022. Day 291 of war.
I messed up my drawing several times and was able to fix some things - but Dad's eye got a patch treatment. Somehow it made Mom laugh a lot. I will do it more often now :)
We talk about a famous artist Vasily Vereshchagin who did a lot of travel and war-related paintings. Mom comments that her favorite part is the sky in all his works. And was is horrible any way you look at it. Dad is whistling a part of Siébel from the opera Faust. I am not familiar with how it should be performed but this does not sound bad.

Drawn reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. November 30-December 3, 2022.

November 30, 2022. Day 280 of war.
My parents went for a tiny walk which ended up as a 2.5 hr stroll (record!). The weather was very nice, they met a lot of friendly people and some dogs to play with. Found good places to rest. My parents told me about Ukrainian singer whom they found on youtube. Dad told me about some adventures of traveling without tickets. Mom has reached a part of her memoirs where I can contribute a bit so we are trying to recall some events together these days. We discussed power banks and options for warming up for friends and family in Kharkiv.

December 3, 2022. Day 283 of the war.
We talk about new Ukrainian words that my parents prepared for me, and some physics effects of yogurt and acrylic markers (that I was shaking during the call). Dad told me a story about making money by sitting exams for someone else and Mom told me about her excursion to get the trash out. We talk about the war and all the people connected to it, the conversation is punctuated by listing all the things that we are grateful for.