Lipetsk saw me in

with abundant greenery, heavy heat and gloomy faces. From time to time it is less and less like the town I knew and grew up in.

Every time I come there I feel like the place got more crowded and stuffy. People in the streets in mid-Summer heat: pressed down. Humid, sticky heat. Heavy air.  Few teens and kids: are they all in summer camps? Are they not let out in the heat?

 More cars on the road, more trafic jams,  but few parking spaces. The first floors of houses are made into grocery and clothes stores, hair salons, notaries, watch and shoe repair... Shops are everywhere. You'd think everyone's in retail and sales.

Ads painted right on the pavement - "Eat Sushi at Home" and - a phone number. Men and women handing around in parks at night. Beer in bottle. Laughter, music, kids, dogs. The contrast between women 35 and under and over 35 - is too obvious, but I could not describe or explain it if I had to. Maybe it's all about self-perception and expectations and perspecives for the remainder of your life based on achievements and social status? And looks?..

It's amazing how many clothes stores are now in Lipetsk. Good style, good quality, higher prices - that I got used to in...   the past years.

In my Maternal Granmother's courtyard the pavement is ruined, big wholes in the asphalt and no benches to sit on. Iron entrance doors with codes. The Chestnut tree outside Granny's window grew huge; a shield against summer sun.

Sokol - looks and feels like Costa-Rica: incredibly green, hot and casual. The park became jungles... Houses are well painter from front sides with paint cracking and chipping off at the back side.
Paternal Ganny and Grandpa's courtyard is filled with cats and pigeons. Holes in pavement and slabs are crushing. Granny and Grandpa's birch grew tall and... branchy. Older women occupy the benches outside and just like 1.5 decade ago look at me with curiosity. Granny never had time to sit outside with them, neither does she have time now. Grandpa has not been outside in months.

"Stolpovskiy is a goat" read garages nearby. Ha! Someone got angry with Uncle but is feeling powerless ? Politics :)  He is starting up a new project - Sokol district got a new, clean, well equipped and professionally staffed medical center. With the remaining space around building wisely made into parking spaces :)

What does it mean when you meet people you have not seen in years, some for just a couple years, and some - in about 7 years - and they do not ask you questions, and do not tell you anything about their lives? And behave so naturally as if you just left yesterday?

Doctors and clinics - make me feel like a cripple who won't live past 40. Because:  *fill in with a long list of symptoms * . Oh, this long-forgotten feeling.

Dogs barking at night. I am so knocked out by day's marathons in the heat I sleep right through.

The river is monopolized by motorboats. Loud and stinky. You have to pick the swimming area just right - so you are far enough from the shore with silt, shells and roots of the water plants and not too close to the middle of the river where a drunk or careless driver of a motorboat can run you over.

Did not make it to Rechnoe garden. Maybe it's best to keep it in my memory as it used to be?

Dad's worried and offering help. He and Angelina never slow down. They have a whole garden with greenhouses. Fresh tomatoes and cucumbers for breakfast every day. Some special cheesecake bars from Voronezh :)

Prices kill me. Economical natural selection in action...

The shelves in the office in Dad;s house are full of books. And foreign language study books and tapes. Dad is hooked up on cosy, good feel comedies. I feel him.

Watermelons are sold right from big trucks parked along the freeways. Friends are giggling: "Only on August 2 you can't buy a watermelon. No, you just try to explain to somebody from abroad why on August 2nd you can't buy a watermelon anywhere in Russia! Who can figure that out?!"
A somewhat  sadistic joke. Hmm.

Never made it to the forest. I wonder what it looks like now. Will preserve this for my next trip and conserve this piece of the past together with my other souvenirs...