Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hard Times

Our "homeless" neighbour is gone, the man from Russia, with no documents, who moved into the cottage next door after Lucia's mother died in April. I think he got into the Vodka again in spite of wanting to quit. He apparently gathered all the (scrap or otherwise) metal in the yard and sold it so the owner turfed him. We had enough work for him all fall if he were still here. He was such a good worker. Last spring he cleared off the abandoned garden behind the cottage, spaded it black and planted a garden. The owner said he never harvested anything from it. It is so sad. He told Tanya once that he drank because he had no job and no hope of ever finding one, essentially no future.

Tanya was in the post office today when an old lady came in to collect her monthly pension. 600 hrivna or about $70 USD. She told Tanya she would pay her gas and electric bill but didn't know what she would do for money after that. Gardens were very poor in our area as we had no rain so there was not much yield and the villagers especially the older ones depend a great deal on their gardens. There was a young man in the Post Office who told Tanya he didn't know where he was going to find work, there was nothing. It will be a tough winter.

4 comments:

  1. The word that comes to my mind is "terrifying."

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  2. Any study of the history of this country would lead one to understand that hard times are the norm. Ukrainians are survivors. some will give up and some will die, the rest will just keep on keeping on as the saying goes.

    Women keep this country from perishing because they just buckle down and do what needs to be done. One of our neighbours is 90 years old and just finished spading her potato garden.

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