I forgot to check with the groundhog this year. Did it see its shadow or not? To be honest, it would not make any difference. The winter never really came to England. Late fall lingered… and gradually morphed into early spring… I will be first to admit that for a…
The tree in front of our house is in bloom. Natasha says that it is either a cherry or an apple tree. The flowers are small and a frost may yet get them, but it is still quite amazing. It also produces a very strong scent, which I do not…
Next on the list – learning sign language. Natasha is definitely feeling better overall, but her regular malady befell her. She lost her voice, and even whispering hurts her vocal cords. She communicates primarily by gestures instead, which are not always easy to decipher. Conversations inevitably turn into drawn-out charades,…
And we are back! Another trip is in the books, not entirely a success, but still a largely positive getaway. As I might have mentioned, our choice of Brussels as the next destination was largely influenced by the fact that Eurostar – high-speed train that links London with the continent…
Days are really slowing down. Maybe it’s a function of the general decrease in our touristic activity or possibly routine is continuing to take a greater hold. It could be a function of waiting – I am in the middle of the fun period of knowing the size of my…
As was advertised, a beautiful snowy landscape has greeted us in the morning. And as expected, even though the morning driving was not any worse than on any other day, the public transportation was badly wounded. Half of the trains were cancelled, the other half delayed. It’s a good thing…
Cold weather finally reached our land, too. For a couple of days in a row the temperature hovers around 25°F. The air is dry and windy, which makes it rather unpleasant. At least they promise snow tomorrow. Extreme Weather Warning has been distributed at the office, cautioning of up to…
It seems as if every other weekend or so, there is no train service at Mottingham, “due to planned engineering work”. As inconvenient as that is, it is a common occurrence with London rail transport (subway included), and you can find out in advance which lines will be closed. Unfortunately,…
As I mentioned, our car needs repairs. So I went to look for a shop. In England, they are called garages. There is a ton of them around where we live, including a Vauxhall dealer one about ten minutes away. But I still have a lot of Brooklyn left in…
I am changing my football allegiance. If I were English, I would attract unending scorn from every fan in the nation, as I will be switching from Tottenham to their arch-rival, Arsenal. In hindsight, it was entirely foolish of me to declare which team was “mine” before I had a…
He woke up, got out of bed and moved his bowels. If I could find a daily narrative as gripping as that, I swear I would post daily as opposed to once in a few days. I am reading the fourth installment of George Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire.…
According to Natasha, Becky has not had this much fun at a figure skating practice in years. At the skating rink in Leyton, which is about 20 minutes away from us (barring traffic – those who read my posts regularly will not be surprised that the same trip can take…
The coldest day of the year so far did not fail to produce commuting problems. When I arrived at the Lewisham train station on my way home (where I change from Docklands Light Rail to Southeastern commuter rail), the station was enveloped in darkness. Power failure. The trains were passing…
A whole new religion is being born, and Natasha is its prophet. The cult’s mantra is Happiness is when you have beets! It all started when my parents were still here. Both Natasha and my mom are famous for their borsch, even though their recipes are different. My mom wanted…
Natasha found a gray hair in her head. Gevalt! Somebody’s getting old!!! I have exhausted my vocabulary looking for synonyms of “young” to use during a seemingly never-ending pep talk… Since my parents went back home, the house suddenly feels a bit empty. I am not exactly sure whether it…
I drove my parents to the airport in the morning, and we are all by ourselves again. Time to get back to work, school and otherwise routine existence. Time to resume our grand plan of Old World exploration, too. Upon returning from Switzerland, we did a few things with the…
Anglification of me – I have watched three full soccer games on TV over the last four days. The curious thing is that I also caught a glimpse of a match between two 4th-tier teams (so-called CocaCola League 2) – on the main sports channel, in primetime. I guess you…
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Famous England weather. It is not too cold, just cold enough to be unpleasant, and with wind, dark skies and intermittent rain, it is hard to will oneself to go outside… We still do, though. My parents arrived for their very first visit to England, and I am using my…