Friday

A lot of things have been happening here, but most I am not free to write about. My heart is still heavy, but in all honesty, with the happenings of the past few days I actually feel like a mountain has been lifted from my shoulders. I am reminded again that God is sovereign and He is holy. He will not tolerate sin in His people, in the ones He has chosen. Therefore, sooner or later, all will be made known by His light shining into dark places and revealing all.

Fall is here. All of the leaves on the trees outside the office window are still green and lush looking. Yet, the ground is covered in dead leaves. I think most of them have fallen from the tall poplar trees which never seem to turn yellow, just become bare-branched over a period of time in the fall. The kashtan trees (horse chestnut) have beautiful leaves right now – green centers surrounded by a thin line of gold and then edges in a beautiful rich burnt sienna. Every other tree is still green. I read somewhere that a poet once wrote about the soft colors of autumn in Europe and how beautiful they are as opposed to the brilliant colors of autumn in North America. Confession time: I much prefer fall to look like fall, not a slow dying time. I love a grand finale to the year! Bright yellow aspens, deep red and orange scrub oak, paler yellow willows and scarlet maples. I miss fall colors.

The air is crisp and cool now and I love it! I was sick earlier this week with a nasty cold virus that has been going around. I could sing bass really well but could barely squeak out normal words. Two days ago I took the trash out to the dumpsters (yes – plural! We still have two!) and met my neighbor, Nina, on the stairs. When I said hello, she heard my recovering voice and proceeded to chew me out royally for going outside without a hat and heavy coat. It was almost 70 degrees at that point and I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved denim shirt. I laughed and said, “No! If I put on a coat and then walk to the Post Office, I’ll get all wet (sweaty) and then I will get cold.” She was not convinced. I have to admit, at that point I was not in any mood for a babushka to tell me to put on more clothes or a heavy coat. This is my kind of weather now – cool, crisp, clean air. I thrive in these temperatures, ranging from 30’s to high 50’s. To put on a coat now … aaarrgh! I’m finally comfortable and not dying of the heat!!! Puleese – do NOT tell me to put on a coat and hat! I can’t even wear a hat during the winter, unless it’s well below zero. As I have been told – I’m a natural hot head. {smile}

A few weeks ago we had a cool rainy day and I was reminded once again that I am in Ukraine. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s the smell. When we first came to Ukraine to live here, we spent two months in Odessa, and that is where I first smelled it. Mel and I walked all over the city. It was November and already cold with some snow, but mostly light rain or mist. There is a certain lack of sunshine all day, every day, due to thick white-pale gray clouds. The air is humid, but cold – not something I was used to having grown up in Colorado, or from living in Alaska and Colorado as an adult. The smell of humidity, moldering leaves and diesel exhaust – Ukraine has a specific smell, unique in my experience to this country. Smelling it again a few weeks ago after the hot, hot summer, I realized that I actually like that smell. My nose tells me (sniff, sniff), “Hey! You are really back in Ukraine! Not some other city in the States or Western Europe. This is the smell of Ukraine!!” I smelled it again while bringing clothes in off the line on the balcony the other night. Ah – the smell of Ukraine. I don’t think it would do too well bottled up and sold in the store as an air freshener…but for every day life here outside, it’s not too bad (as long as the diesel and other pollution isn’t overwhelming).

There are two other smells that I love more. The smell of the air at 11,000 feet on the side of a mountain in the summer. Cold, crisp, clean, refreshing, full of pine and spruce scent, warm grasses and hot decomposing granite. Ahhhhh – just thinking about it makes me want to sit on a sheltered boulder and soak in some very intense sunlight. The other is the smell of rain on hot prairie sand and grass. There is no smell like it in the world. Ahhhhh – just thinking of that makes me want to search the skies for thunderheads, lightening flashes and hail. It also reminds me of my childhood and spending time on my grandparents ranch during the summers. Warm fuzzy feelings. Hear a happy sigh.

So, my day has been an interesting day, spent talking with a dear brother and my husband. The evening will end spent talking with my dear “Ukrainian daughter,” sharing a meal, maybe a movie, and spending some time praying together before she leaves. Hard things are happening to us and to the church, but all in all this has been a good day. A day filled with pain, fellowship, hope in our Lord and Savior, and the knowledge that nothing is too hard for Him. He gives us the seasons, fall follows summer and soon winter will arrive. He has promised us this. The sun shines on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. God will preserve His own.