Чернігів : Searching the magic

After a slight adjustment, anticipating my return to Ukraine at the end of April, it got reset to the first week of June. I arrived to cool ,  rainy weather. Of course I want to continue my sketchy, near future narrative of Peace in Ukraine, add my 2 cents to the fantasy that seems fairly impossible for now.

Intensely dangerous and harrowing situations continue going on in the ATO, under reported in the Western Press. Men continue to come home either badly wounded or dead. Many prisoners not getting exchanged.  In the big city, and in the smaller towns, nobody truly lives under any  illusions about what is going on . Official state channels soft pedal the grim reality in place at the edges of the ATO (Anti- Terror Operation ) .  It's still a pretty serious and unresolved war revolving around an economic agreement , the right of self determination (Joining NATO or not )  :
Ukraine's not a colony, the last time I checked,  yet their aspirations are held in check by major geopolitical forces. I have no stake in the NATO membership for Ukraine matter, it is theirs to decide, in free elections, with their signature style of  robust, engaging, insightful  conversations/

They are a terribly smart people, Ukrainians , it is a huge part of my admiration for them

 At the end of the day, having chosen to  give up their Nuclear weapons, it  may  prove to  be the smartest option long term, like in the sense of the next 50 years,
 but for now, it's an intensely painful, unbelievable shock, that their brothers and sisters in the Leadership of the Russian Federation would exploit that, with a vindictive , violent, disruptive and unforgettable assault on a peaceful minded,  neighborly nation, what gives ?

Despite these had perceptions of the moment, that  particular style of magic, which is here ,  ineffable and irrefutable; it's magnetic. Built upon the long human history of this land. When I'm walking  amidst the vanished footprints of perhaps semi- supernatural individuals, who lived lives filled with magic, spiritualism, wisdom and pragmatism . The magic creeps up on you, unexpectedly, suddenly you realize "this is the  Ukraine Magic happening"

These people like their science, engineering, arts, literature, culture , and live by basic and advanced  economics >They eek out a life as best they can and constantly scout the best opportunity, either windfalls or advancements in career.

It was wonderful to arrive in Kiev ,  receive warm greetings and congratulations of many friends, have a terrific  party with nearly all my close people. It took some effort to escape my life in San Francisco, a harried couple days of work, small details, little sleep, not enough time to pack my bags, yet all went smoothly enough,  I had nice French People, a jolly and engaging older couple from Lille next to me on Air France. I thanked my Air France stewards for the work of their President Hollande to free Nadia Savchenko,  my well met  acquaintance from 2 years previously,  a person who'd grown quite dear to my heart in her difficult, intense period of confinement.
My Air France steward, he said that he was glad that President  Hollande,  did , at least one good thing, in his term of office (helping to free Nadia) In that sense, subtracting anything I know about the man, he is my President, France is the Nation of my Great Grandparents. And of course France is one of the Better Angels of the United States' Nature,  as a Free and Sovereign Nation.

Mister Hollande, perhaps ,  It is certain, that  he cannot continue on as President, after this more difficult time, yet in my heart, he , President Obama, Angela  Merkel : They are my Presidents, along with that cool newcomer, Justin Trudeau! ( my Prime minister ) Not every person can wake up one morning to realize that 5 World leaders got on the phone to pressure another World leader to get their friend out of Jail !
There are advantages for me in going it alone, without a team, exact objective, support system, or itinerary, just being myself, as I am, without pretext.  (I'm just another former professional dishwasher, looking for another impossibly messy pike of dishes to wash up and make ready for the next shift )  I like being owned by my close people in Ukraine as "Our American" and feel proud to represent the People of San Francisco, the state of California, and the US of A!
Essentially, despite being the largest Nation in Europe, Ukraine is just a big set of Villages, Kiev is the Hub of it all, with it's special Historical, religious significance.

I had bumped into Serhiy Vlasenko in the checkout line of the grocery store, and Nadia , we met late one night at some place, she was with some friends and we shared stories and drank a few shots of Vodka, she invited me to jump with her. I felt guilty that I never took up her offer to go parachuting together, lived with that guilt (that I had a chance to affect her fate) until she was released this year.

I popped about on the metro a bit on errands, noticing on one car load of people : everyone had their Poker face on. My interpretation being that unless one has a hole card in Ukraine these days, particularly in the Kiev, then you should not be in the Metro game : it's hard, expensive for them. I simply don't get how they (regular people ) manage, on such a  low salary base. To buy an apartment under typical Ukraine finance terms here, you'd pay three times it's cash value over ten years : almost impossible to do.
After the usual cocktail party on a Thursday night, meeting up with some of the socialites , elites and raconteurs... and getting a late night burger before sleeping soundly. Friday early I woke up, went for a quick run in the park, then back to the room, to pack up and get ready to evacuate this place, most people say isn't the real Ukraine (though Kiev is getting more real )

Business looked slow at the farmer's market, no tourists to be seen, just locals, mostly.
Once at the Bus stop, ominous clouds led to thunder showers and a serious downpour, flooding the streets with muddy torrents

Traffic was heavy getting out of town, but eventually the open road yielded to easy chatting with my seat mate.


for about 4$, I paid for the bus trip to Чернігів from Kiev
dozing off came naturally, I was still fighting back the 11 hour jet lag. Chernihiv didn't seem much different from before, except that this was summer and that was winter. More   guys from this town of 209,000 souls got added to the memorial of  50-60 killed local soldiers in the central square , one of the last names added to the list had been killed on 4/4/2016, he was born in 1992, about the same time my nephew was born, and they actually didn't paste his photo up straight and level: I thought about that .
I thought about how I'd feel if my nephew's life was lost defending California from terrorists, war tourists, mercenaries, if that sacrifice  was pasted up in the town square not quite straightly. I'm sure that in time, there will be a permanent memorial in the central square of Чернігів. They played some noble, deeply moving music on Sunday, attended by less than a dozen people , lit some candles, said their prayers for the lost sons of Чернігів. These people bear their wounds with stoicism.  Seeing, hearing that, I lapsed into a sense of sadness. The war won't be forgotten for many generations, yet you wouldn't know it from the disposition of the people otherwise. They trend upbeat and positive, forward thinking. I did noticed how mono-racial the town was. Maybe I was the only tourist in town, the entire weekend?

It was also a bit overcast :

you have to  get into the old town by Dragon Boat, the bridge is closed for maintenance.
(just kidding )                           But for the adventuresome tourists,
they will mock up a drama for you, in the dragon boats of Чернігів

one wrong perception  I had about this place, was that I thought they spoke primarily Ukrainian, but sandwiched between Russia and Belarus, they speak a blend, more towards the Russian language, yet they are greatly Patriotic for Ukraine , as opposed to Kiev, when they default much of the time to Basic Russian, until they know your preference, it appears at least an equally divided region, with the youth more fluent in English and Ukrainian, yet knowing Russian through their parents and family. It took me 3 visits to Chernihiv to realize that, (my bad )

          A pleasant resort, nice ) Golden Beach.                                                                       

the beaches on the river were being prepared for the summer season (I thought it was here )

plenty of tasty food to be found at the restaurants :  musicians going out to make a music

bike trekkers :

church visits and a boat cruise

some activity at the central square a gathering having to do with sports teams or something

                                                                                                 c               

to be fair about the sparse turnout : it had rained buckets just 20 minutes before , 

plus they cordoned off the people for some reasons unclear, 

there were more camera people and officials than spectators .

Russia released / exchanged 2 more prisoners today, but what about the librarian ? '

was she being too strict about the late return fees ?

I finished the weekend , forced myself to watch Ukraine play against Germany, so I wouldn't have to lie ,  if people asked if I watched the game, Soccer is not interesting for me via TV, and I can't even say I engage with much enthusiasm for the music monopoly of Okean ELzy, though I totally give them props for a lot of great songs, and a good live concert performance, and they probably do a lot of cool stuff promoting other bands on the music scene that I'm not aware of : I'm just not a crowd follower, I like the counter currents of culture and perspective. 

Ukraine , like it's big river cutting through it's middle, 

has many eddies, counter currents, regional perspectives.

At least this is now a place where the official government position is offset by independent perspectives, and it appears the Kremlin has now gotten it's propaganda mechanism here shifted into third gear, but USA has it's own propaganda mechanisms operating in their territory and Ukraine, while we profess transparency in our motives, altruism, Corporate Machines based, originating  in USA are a mixed bag with a fair slice of ulterior motives in the cookie dough.

I am really kind of hoping the techie Billionaire business wizards will take a more aggressive stance in in puting their own style of open society in foreign policy. People in San Francisco put them down as messing with our city, making things too expensive or something. I don't go for that , I like them out of sheer respect for their personal demeanor and tactical brilliance in business : it's a contact high and I'm lucky to get a whiff of it from time to time. They don't force people on or off their platforms, and they really promote efficiency , and efficiency generates a shared benefit.

whatever grand Magician is stirring the pot here in Ukraine, he or she, they aren't totally screwing it up, the magic is here, living in hidden and more obvious places, it will prevail.

maybe I'm not up to date, is The librarian, 

is she,  the most powerful Neuromancer in this panoply of personas ?

maybe she is home in the Dacha, making chicken feet soup and writing her memoir ? Or is she still waiting in a solitary prison cell, with 24 hour video surveillance ? I have not done my research on her situation, can anybody help me out here ?