Miracle!

It happened in July of 1956.

After graduation from the Moscow Textile Institute my best friend Yuri and I bought a very cheap two weeks tour from TEBERDA to SUKHUMI.

When we arrived in Teberda we understood why the tour was so cheap. It was arranged by a students sport society for brave people who wanted to get really hard experience of hiking in the mountains.

It was our first time in the Caucasus Mountains. When all members of the group arrived we were told that each of us would have 40 kg in a backpack.

“I wonder if we die the very first day”, said Yuri.

“You are an optimist! I wonder who will eat our first lunches”.

Three days passed and miraculously we were alive and had ravenous appetites.

On the fourth day our group stopped earlier than usually at a wonderful spot that had a crystal clear spring. We put up our tents, placed our heavy backpacks in them, gathered wood for fire and helped people responsible for cooking that day to start preparing dinner.

Then I suggested Yuri to go up the mountain and to enjoy sights from the top but he was more interested in staying near a girl who was busy cooking.

I went up alone.

It was a gorgeous summer day. The air was fresh and sweet. Trees, bushes and grass were in their best green dresses. As I went higher and higher I saw some flowers.

Gradually ascent became more difficult and instead of walking I had to crawl.

It became clear that the top of the mountain was still far away. So I decided to move to my right to see our camp below. There were trees and bushes on my right and I used them as my support to move closer to the side of the mountain.

Finally I reached a point with a perfect view. It was terrific!

I saw a circle of our five white tents in the rays of the Sun and the spring near it. The dinner was ready and the fire was dying. Everybody was preparing for dinner. I saw Yuri sitting with the girl on the blanket near our tent.

“Yuri, look up!”, shouted I. “Can you see me?”

Nobody moved. Apparently, nobody heard me. It was time to go back and to have dinner.

All of a sudden I realized that I was in a very difficult position. I was clinging to the steep slope. Two small bushes on my left were gone. There was nothing I could use as support to move in any direction.

Fear paralyzed me! I did not know what to do. It seemed to me that any my movement will bring a fall and fast death.

On the other hand, i could not stay long in this place. What for? Nobody was coming to help me anyway. I needed to act fast! There was no time for fear!

I looked around very, very carefully.

There was something that looked as a flat outcrop on the level of my boots to my right. There was also a tree on the ground above it.

“Can I move my feet to that outcrop? Will it support me? Will I then be able to catch the tree with my hands? Will it support me? Is there a chance then to move to a flat place or not so steep slope of the mountain?”

It took a second or less for all these questions to run in my mind but no answers came.

I was not ready or willing to die but I had no choice. I had to take a risk!

I gathered everything I had and moved to the outcrop. Unfortunately, it was farther away than I thought. I could not reach it. It was my last step!

All of a sudden a strong gust of wind appeared from nowhere! It picked me up and brought on the outcrop. I caught the tree and the next moment another gust of wind brought me to the flat ground.

I dropped there. I was sweating and at the same time I felt very, very cold.

Some time passed. I started slowly and very carefully my descent to the camp.

In about an hour I heard voices. Somebody was calling my name.

I responded and in several minutes Yuri and nine other members of the group gathered around me.

“Do you want a drink?”, asked Yuri. Sure, I wanted it.

“Do you want hot soup?”, asked one girl. “I brought it and here are a cup and a spoon”.

Oh, how I wanted the soup! I wolfed it down.

“We were very worried!”, said Yuri. “What happened?”

“Miracle!”

PAINTING by JF

Connection after death (Wassily Kandinsky – David Paladin).

I decided to reblog this old post to introduce this extraordinary true story to new followers and guests.
I would be very happy if anyone suggested explanation of all events.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Yesterday I published a post about life and quotes of Wassily Kandinsky.

If you missed it please read it now HERE.

Then read an incredible but true story below.

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Wassily Kandinsky, the great Russian painter, died on December 13, 1944 in Neuilly sur-Seine. At the same time in a German concentration camp of hunger and torture was dying American soldier David Paladin, white-skinned son of a missionary and Navajo Indian …

David Paladin was born in 1926. He spent his early years on the Navajo reservation near Chinle, Arizona. From an early childhood the boy showed violent temper. He kept running away from his family and soon found himself in a penal colony in Oklahoma.

With great difficulty he learned cartography. In this specialty he was drafted into the army. In Europe he was wounded and ended up in a German concentration camp, where experienced all the horrors of imprisonment.

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“I will not be young again…”?

Below is one of my favorite poems by Sergei Yesenin. He wrote it when he was 25 years old.

I am 80 years old now and I feel that I am still young. My views changed drastically since I read this poem first time and now I doubt that “I will not be young again”.

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I do not regret, and I do not shed tears,

All, like haze off apple-trees, must pass.

Turning gold, I’m fading, it appears,

I will not be young again, alas.

*

Having got to know the touch of coolness

I will not feel, as before, so good.

And the land of birch trees, – oh my goodness!-

Cannot make me wander barefoot.

*

Vagrant’s spirit! You do not so often

Stir the fire of my lips these days.

Oh my freshness, that begins to soften!

Oh my lost emotions, vehement gaze!

*

Presently I do not feel a yearning,

Oh, my life! Have I been sleeping fast?

Well, it feels like early in the morning

On a rosy horse I’ve galloped past.

*

We are all to perish, hoping for some favour,

Golden leaves flow down turning grey.

May you be redeemed and blessed for ever,

You who came to bloom and pass away…

Sergei Yesenin

*

My painting #13

“You don’t love me…”

Below is a poem of Sergei Yesenin written on December 4, 1925.

I read it many times when I was in school and college. There were several popular songs with this lyrics.

Only years later I understood the depth of this poem, the depth of his sufferings.

Sergei Yesenin died on December 28, 1925.

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You don’t love me and don’t feel compassion.

Don’t you think that now I look my best?

Though you look aside you’re thrilled with passion

As you put your arms upon my chest.

*

You are young, so sensitive and zealous,

I am neither bad nor very good to you.

Tell me, did you pet a lot of gentle fellows?

You remember many arms and lips. You do.

*

They are gone and haven’t touched you any,

Gone like shadows, leaving you aflame.

You have sat upon the laps of many,

You are sitting now on mine, without shame.

*

Though your eyes are closed, and you are rather

Thinking of some one you really trust,

After all, I do not love you either,

I am lost in thought about my dear past.

*

Don’t you call this zeal predestination?

Hasty tie is thoughtless and no good, –

Like I set up this unplanned connection,

I will smile when leaving you for good.

*

You will go the pathway of your own

Just to have your days unwisely spent,

Don’t approach the ones not fully grown,

Don’t entice the ones that never burnt.

*

When you walk with someone down the alley

Chatting merrily about love and all

Maybe, I’ll be out, walking round shyly,

And again, by chance, I’ll meet you, poor soul.

*

Squaring shoulders, ravishing and winning,

Bending forward, with an air kiss,

You will utter quietly: Good evening!

And I will reply: Good evening, miss.

*

Nothing will disturb my heart and spirit,

Nothing will perturb me giving pain,-

He who’s been in love will not retrieve it,

He who’s burnt will not be lit again.

*

December 4th, 1925

Funny quotes to remember.

I am sleepy today. Before the next burst of activity I decided to reblog this old post. It’s good to remember quotes below.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.

Albert Einstein

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

Elbert Hubbard

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

Jim Carrey

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

Mark Twain

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Some funny quotes

I finished the page “Tests, quizzes, puzzles”. It includes 10 posts. You can have fun dealing with them on Sunday.

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There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

Henry A. Kissinger

Money won’t buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.

Bill Vaughan

When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always.

Rita Rudner

A vegetarian is a person who won’t eat anything that can have children.

David Brenner

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

H. L. Mencken

If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.

George Burns

 

Battle (using Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writing fiction)!

We are already in Hollywood, Florida. Sun is shining , the Atlantic Ocean and the famous Hollywood’s boardwalk are in their usual places and we already enjoyed hours of walking along the ocean and meeting some of our old friends. There was not yet time for battles. Hopefully, they’ll start very soon. In the meantime you can read here what happened before.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Kurt Vonnegut

Eight rules for writing fiction:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as…

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Happiness is in present!

Years passing and each one brings ups and downs.
It’s your attitude that determines if you are happy! Happiness is in present!

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Eight years ago our younger granddaughter and our youngest grandson came to visit us in Hollywood (Florida) during school break. They loved warmth of the sun and the ocean, building sand castles, playing soccer and volleyball on the beach, playing ping-pong in a game room.

Once our granddaughter asked my wife: “Grandma, why don’t you buy an apartment here?”

My wife answered: “We’d like to do it! But we don’t have money for it.”

“Don’t worry, Grandma! After I finish school and college I’ll buy an apartment for you. ”

We were very happy! I did not even buy a lottery ticket after my wife told me about the promise.

Next day my wife asked our 4 years old grandson: “Dear, your sister promised to buy us an apartment here after she starts working. However, she is a girl. She can meet a nice guy and marry him. Then they…

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My painting #13.

Dear friends,

I’ll have to stop blogging for some time.

Today I show you my painting #13. I made it using paint program on PC.

You’ll have enough time to comment.

Best wishes!

So called funny quotes.

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

Henry A. Kissinger

Money won’t buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.

Bill Vaughan

When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always.

Rita Rudner

A vegetarian is a person who won’t eat anything that can have children.

David Brenner

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

H. L. Mencken

If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age.

George Burns

Funny quotes to remember.

When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.

Albert Einstein

Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

Elbert Hubbard

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

Jim Carrey

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

Mark Twain

Gustav Klimt.

Let’s start with a short excerpt from Wikipedia:

“In 2006, the 1907 portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, was purchased for the Neue Galerie New York by Ronald Lauder reportedly for US $135 million, surpassing Picasso‘s 1905 Boy With a Pipe (sold May 5, 2004 for $104 million), as the highest reported price ever paid for a painting.

On August 7, 2006, Christie’s auction house announced it was handling the sale of the remaining four works by Klimt that were recovered by Maria Altmann and her co-heirs after their long legal battle against Austria… The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was sold at auction in November 2006 for $88 million, the third-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time.^[24] The Apple Tree I (ca. 1912) sold for $33 million, Birch Forest (1903) sold for $40.3 million,^[25] and Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter (1916) sold for $31 million.”

I wanted to introduce to you Gustav Klimt several weeks ago but only today I found a website that I like very much. It tells about events when Klimt lived, about his life and allows you to look at his paintings (by clicking on each of them).

Please explore the website HERE.

Now, there were two portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Klimt. Who was she?

You can find an answer HERE.

 

Several quotes about treaties.

Charles De Gaulle – “Treaties are like roses and young girls — they last while they last.”  

---

Benjamin Franklin – “Mad kings and mad bulls are not to be held by treaties and packthread.”

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Thomas Hobbes – “Covenants without the sword are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.” 

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I am sure you know what I have in mind. Any comments?

Battle (using Kurt Vonnegut’s rules for writing fiction)!

Kurt Vonnegut

Eight rules for writing fiction:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.”

— Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1999), 9-10.

The rules above are from HERE.

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Now about the BATTLE (life and death).

It will start at 10.00 a.m. eastern time in Hollywood, Florida here.

Where exactly? In the shadow below the upper pool ( look straight north in the middle of the picture).

Combatants: YK (77) and JF (close to 80).

Weapons: chess and chess clocks.

Action: 3 blitz games (each opponent has 8 minutes in each game).

History: this season JF won majority of battles but yesterday he lost 0:3. He smiled and congratulated YK with great victory.

Both opponents will do everything possible to win today.

I hope you know what you need to do.

Hint: pray for me!

Only 65 minutes left!

WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!

This poem posted long time ago. I hope that new followers and guests after reading it will think about their relations with parents and grandparents, will think if they fully show their love and will try to make their parents and grandparents happier.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

In a happy family love must flow in all directions. Communications are easy and honest between all generations as it is very important to understand needs of every member of the family.

In February 2013 I wrote in Russian a poem expressing feelings of my wife and myself. The poem written  for our children and grandchildren. Later some of our friends told us that it is applicable to all children and grandchildren.

Below is the poem in English and in Russian. I ask your forgiveness for the loose translation from Russian into English. I hope that you will understand the meaning of the poem.

********************  WE NEED MORE LOVE TODAY!  **************************

We were waiting for you when we were

Single. Then when we married.

We were waiting for you for years,

Then daily and every hour.

*

We loved you before you were born

And love you very much today
Thank…

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