Grand Chess and Great Flops in Ukraine
Materialists and madmen never have doubts
G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
If you wonder how the above birds could fit into the heading of this piece and I told you it’s because of Global Strategies as I understand them, you might even go so far and lift an eyebrow in consternation. Thus permit me to commence with the fowl and move on from there.
The birds are healthy and happy geese who, among other denizens, populatedJoyful, a small village somewhere in the vast expanses of Eastern Ukraine. I know this because I have lived there myself for two healthy and happy years, together with my lovely young wife, our daughter and our dog. The village is mostly a long road bordered by small farmsteads with an adjacent acre or so of arable land. Many families own a cow, and the entire crowd of docile and contented beasts is lead every morning at sunrise, weather permitting, into the nearby meadows for grazing and ruminating. Milk, cheese and butter are cheap and untainted, just like the eggs or an occasional hen for Sunday supper.
We were growing our own vegetables and received twice a month organic foodstuff from a retailer in Kiev. Our garden had a few fruit trees, among them a mighty chestnut and an even larger apricot, and both produced more bounty than we could handle. The village is peaceful and on the whole very safe, with troves of kids playing unguarded next to the road or in the court yards, and poultry scratches and cackles everywhere. Transport happens by way of an ancient bus, old and very old automobiles, antediluvian motorbikes with sassy sidecars, or horse-drawn carts. Many villagers are blond and blue-eyed, and I felt as if transported half a century back into the serene little hamlet where I grew up myself. The nearest city is about twenty miles away, to be reached by a road with formidable potholes that become sometimes impassable, particularly after a heavy rain. City traffic is relaxed, drivers behave civilly, and it happens rarely that someone bangs the horn or swears at you. Road controls are frequent, but the cops let you off for a few bucks if you had a bottle of wine or were driving too fast. . . .
Posts
