Monday, September 17, 2012

Ukraine - Summer house

It has been a long time since I wrote about my trip to the Ukraine. I have loads of beautiful photos, but for some reason get cough in things and fail to put them here. So the wonderful memories just lay there, in the back of my mind, waiting to be poured into words and images. But mostly images.
Today is the day I let them flow!
I haven't visited my grandma's summer house for at least four years. The place where I spent every summer of my life, running in the forest with my brother and two cousins, eating berries, fruits, and vegetables straight from the tree/vine/bush, making fires, building little boats to put bugs in them and make them float, play hide and seek. What is a place with no boundaries for a child - an infinite possibility of discovery, a heaven for imagination.
I often think about this now... would my children be able to run free with no fear of getting hurt? Would they be able to discover, explore, and love the nature as freely as we did? I feel like this little house, these dirt roads, these puddles, these fields, these dirty clothes and shoes that are too big - all of it shaped me, taught me how to love, think freely, and imagine unimaginable, dream without boundaries, and never doubt my own ability to make something happen.
I very often miss this place of ours. So when I visited the Ukraine this Summer, the trip to the summer house was very anticipated! And I was not disappointed! Everything is just as green and alive, with love that my grandparents poured into every living thing around their little house, as I remember from years ago.

(just want to note that all images are unedited - this is as green, rich, and beautiful as I saw it!)

The Nature
Sometimes I fear that I will not be able to sustain my inner piece without the richness and fullness of the surrounding nature. Living most of my life in four seasons, depending on the tricks of nature, knowing what to wait for in every season makes me very aware of my surroundings now. I know that Vegas is alive and rich in its' own desert-like way, I guess I am just not a desert person... I really miss my greens and these photos make my heart swell...


The People 
My grandma is a little warrior. I got her feisty nature, her spunk. It gets me in trouble all the time, but also gets me through life. My grandpa is full of humor and wisdom, how else could he survive my grandma? And survive he did - the day we visited the summer house, was their fifty-something anniversary!

The House
 This little brick house is as old as I am, and is a designer's eye sore. But its' fire place kept us warm and cozy, its' beds gave us rest to continue our adventures, and its' walls housed hours and hours of play.
There is a story that when the house was under construction, they brought me in on site and I was about a year old. They let me run around a bit, turned around and I was nowhere to be found. They looked everywhere, until grandma herd cheerful humming above her head. She looked up and about had a heart attack - with a cheerful song, I was exploring the unfinished second floor.  I don't know how true this story is, but I choose to think it really did happen!

 The Forest
 "Please take me to the forest!" was my first request. It is absolutely magical to be in a real forest! I was shamefully suffocating from the purity of the air. Everything around is alive and is not ashamed to show it! The trees breathe with age and strength, the leaves cushion every step and hide mushrooms that smell like rain. The forest is full of surprises. As soon as you walk in, it is like you enter a new dimension. You can walk between dense trees just to stumble upon a meadow of beautiful yellow flowers surrounded by ferns. This always makes me wonder if anybody else have seen this, or is it a secret gathering spot for animals or some kind of magical creatures. I am convinced that fairy tales would not exist without forests - there is just something mystical and magical about it! To think that this place was ours to explore and play in for all those years. Oh how I wish to live by the forest like that one again!

 I am sorry for every time I refused to go to our summer house as a teenager. I would give a whole lot to give my children an opportunity to experience what I have experienced in this little place that is huge in my heart.

2 comments:

  1. Makes me so home sick... Beautiful pictures, thank you for nice fillings they create...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! It made me super home sick too! We should move somewhere more green! :)

      Delete