Fall in the Air

In America, it is Labor Day and summer weather is still upon you.  Here it is the beginning of Fall.  The past 2 days have been nothing but windy and rainy with cooler temps.  The Russians say there will be a "Baba Leta", like our Indian summer.  One of Scott's fellow coworkers says that this is the season for Russians to be depressed as they think about the winter encroaching.  He also called it "Jarring season" as all the Russians busily take the harvest from their summer dacha and can their vegetables so they will have food for winter.  It is in many ways a very agrarian society still.  Even though many or most people live in the cities now, they still depend heavily on their dachas to provide their produce.  It is hard to find good fresh produce in the supermarkets here.   Even at the market, I hear ladies telling the sellers that they don't need the parsley, carrots, cucumbers, whatever, because they have enough at their dacha.  We have been fortunate in that several folks have shared their abundance with us.  Also there is a man who has been coming weekly to Scott's office to bring fresh produce from his dacha for sale.  I have never seen such large zucchini and squash before coming here.  Scott says it is because of the long sunlight hours during the short summers. 

All the zucchini are this large. 

C3 lining up all the tomatoes.

 September 1, also known as the Day of Knowledge, in Russia is a large celebration for all Russian schoolchildren as it is the first day of school.  1st grade or 1st class as they call it here begins at age 7.  Students graduate after the 11th class and either go to work, the army, trade school, or university. In addition to the usual school supply frenzy and new clothes shopping that accompanies this season in America, the Russian kids take this up to the next level in dressing up in suits for boys and fancy shirts and skirts for girls sometimes with large white bows.  They are expected to bring flowers to their teacher.  The first day of school is a big photographic opportunity for parents along with balloon releases, speeches, and general celebrations.  We were planning to walk across the street to view the festivities but because of the rain we watched from our window.  Our American friends, who are missionaries here, allowed me to post a couple of their kids' first day of school pictures so you could see what it looks like.