when i was a little girl my father was constantly traveling to russia.
he'd return with beautiful items from the one of the country's many outdoor markets. small wooden toys. intricately carved santas. hand-painted matryoshka dolls detailing native fairy-tales. and from these items i gleaned what i could from a country that felt a world away. a lifetime away, really.
i remember once dreaming that i was there, in russia, swinging on a swing set. i went to jump off (as children do at the peak of a swing when you're young and without fear) and off i flew. and off i fell--off the edge of the world--i disappeared from the image. as though the world was two-dimensional and i had died. (think old-school video games).
that was my impression of russia. that the world was flat and russia was the edge.
sometimes that's how i feel about my little corner of new york. aslant on the hill. just next to the river. quiet.
and at the edge of the earth.
as though at any moment i might simply fall from the screen.
14 comments:
So beautifully written!
Beautiful!
lovely picture and equally beauitful story.
I used to feel that way sometimes, when I lived in New York.
So dreamy! I married into a Russian family, so I'm constantly imagining what the world is like over there. There is beauty in all that cold. xoxo
I love this! you have a way with words!
i believe i fully understand that.
Not that I would know from experience, but I think that's what can happen if you live in a big city. I think I'd find it extremely overwhelming and lonely. Anywhere, really, it can be easy to feel that way. I feel it sometimes.
Such a gorgeous picture.
I was in Manhattan last week, and it occurred to me how easy it is to get lost in such a big city. So many people with so many stories and dreams, that sometimes it's hard not to feel lost and forgotten as you tend to become just another face. I think that's the beauty of NY, though. You learn what makes you unique and what makes you stand out in a city filled with thousands of seemingly similar people.
Beautiful blog post, as always!
~Ariel at http://adreamersdaze.blogspot.com/
I love the way you write. I always find myself lost in a world of self reflection after reading your blog. Although it's not always pretty, I feel that by some magical interaction of your life and words and my life and interpretations, I end up in a better place. Thanks. :)
i adore this, as always :) it reminds me of the book i'm reading right now, it's called "the russian dreambook of color and flight". i think you'd like it a lot, m'dear :)
wow... I was really caught up in this post. Beautifully written.
Russia sounds even more beautiful in your post, than Russia of my childhood - and Russia of my childhood is like a fairytale. Russia of that time was indeed a world away! What - amazing is, that New York - where I lived for several years just a few years ago feels like that too now - a whole world away. It's so strange how we perceive time and space sometimes. Please, keep writing - it's wonderful to read and you'll always treasure all this!
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