Summer in the city

There's something about summertime that just makes your heart burst with satisfaction.

Maybe it's seeing everyone outside in shorts and tank tops.

Maybe it's all the beer and ice cream vendors in the city parks.

Maybe it's the storm clouds that pile up in the afternoon or the carpets of flowers that were planted in May.

Shevchenko Park

Gorky Park

I've been marking the passage of summer by watching what's for sale in the market. First, buckets of plump cherries and firm red strawberries showed up everywhere. People hauled them into town from the villages, my friends were overwhelmed with phone calls from family instructing them to wait for a bus at such-and-such a time that would arrive with their share of the harvest.

Now we've moved into midsummer and gleaming ears of corn are piled high at the supermarkets. Green beans have reappeared, crisp enough to snap into two delicious pieces. The confusion between green beans and asparagus continues as well... while grocery shopping yesterday, I overheard this conversation:
Shopper: Excuse me, where's the asparagus?
Produce Clerk: [points at the green beans] Here it is.
Shopper: That's not asparagus.
Produce Clerk: Oh, huh, that's what is written here on the label.
Shopper: Well, they write lots of things on the labels and it doesn't mean that it's all true. [leaves]
I've had the same thing happen a couple of times at restaurants- ordering спаржа and getting green beans. Eh, close enough, I guess!

Lopan river in May

Something odd, by the way, has happened to the Lopan river. The rowboat rental stalls opened as usual in late spring, but then the river dropped dramatically and all the boats were pulled onto pavement and flipped over for storage. Does anyone know what happened? That means no romantic rowboat dates this year. (And by romantic I mean D sweats at the oars and I preen at the bow :p)

mirror stream fountain, Sumskaya street

A rainstorm rolled in while I was writing this entry and I've been dashing back and forth between the computer and the balcony, writing words and watching the cars steer through waterlogged streets... but as gray as the skies are now, I'm betting they'll clear up again in time for a beautiful summer sunset, another plus to this time of the year.

Here's to a very happy summer for all of us! : )