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Heat and Fog
August to Early November 2024 in Kyiv
This is an excerpt from Book Three (due to be published late 2025) of our series Accidental Ukrainians. Book One was published on October 31, 2024 by Helion and Company Ltd (United Kingdom)
This chapter covers events from August to November 2024.
Cool nights and mornings in the Carpathians, sounds of birds singing in the trees, a trickle of a small spring fed stream and clean air were all behind us. We came back to the heat and concrete, heavy smoke of exhaust, stench of garbage and the always bustling urban dwellers of Kyiv. In other words, we were not happy to be home…at all. Neither of us are city people or apartment dwellers. We prefer a house with a decent size yard. Natasha’s job demands she live in the city. This is where the salaries are that make a difference for the standard of living that we have come to enjoy. Sacrifice is part of life. We have given up our love of nature and quiet for this metropolis. It’s a love-hate relationship. There’s plenty to love about Kyiv, just not in summer.
Heat is something we both abhor after seven years in Florida. How I long for the grey skies of autumn. Natasha has always loved the grey and rainy days. So much so that her boss in New Jersey nicknamed her “Morticia” (Addams Family) when we lived there. I have had skin cancer twice when living in Florida, so I…
