Coming home after an absence of two weeks can make one feel very much out of it. I went to the grocery store yesterday and saw crowds of people drag away enormous quantities of boxed food supplies. I wondered if the whole town was experiencing a weird attack of consumerism. It looked like a bunch of Soviet people visiting an American supermarket for the first time and losing their minds amidst the abundance.

And today I found out that half of the town hasn’t had any electricity for two days because of the Saturday night storm. It’s good to know there’s no crazy buying epidemic going on and no Soviet people have moved in. 

Okroshka is one of the most typical Soviet dishes that is very popular in the summer. All that you need to do is chop quite finely the following:

• radishes
• cucumbers
• hard-boiled eggs
• parsley
• boiled potatoes
• green onions

You can just leave it at that for a meatless version, or you can add some chopped cooked skinless chicken breast. I actually use bologna because that’s what N prefers but it’s just as good meatless. You can also chop up some apple instead of the meat. I know it sounds like a weird way of substituting the meat but it totally works here. 

Russians pour kvass over the chopped vegetables but in Ukraine we mix water and kefir in equal proportions and add a bit of lemon juice. I don’t add any salt because there’s already bologna and kefir in there but most people do.  Then we pour the liquid over the chopped vegetables and put the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of hours.

It’s eaten cold, of course. 

With all due respect, people who were saying that spending 2 weeks by the beach and doing zero work is wrong and unproductive have no idea. After my vacation, I’m flying around the house, super energized and managing to do 4 times more than usual. 

Our goal is now to go on beach vacations twice a year. We don’t want to become so American that we’d feel bad for that. By the way, one of the reasons why I publish as much as I do is that I take a ton of time for rest, vacations, reading for fun, aimless staring at the ceiling, bubble baths with glossy magazines, etc. Of course, I’d still do all of it even if it got in the way of publishing because I don’t see the point of having a rich CV if I never get to indulge in the pleasure of lounging about aimlessly. 

Today is my first full day back home home, and I’ll dedicate it to household duties. Cleaning, unpacking, cooking (borscht for me, okroshka for N). Oh, the joy, the happiness! My DVR recorded 76 hours of Law & Order reruns, so housework is an excuse to watch. 

Does anybody want the okroshka recipe? It’s one of those cold soups that I detest but it’s a Soviet staple. 

*Back in Florida, we used to tell people that we are from St Louis and we go to Florida for the cold. People stared but it was the literal truth. The heat here broke the record from 1901 yesterday. It’s 25 degrees hotter than in Fort Myers. 

*It’s incredible how much Klara’s developed in just two weeks. We gave her a kid-size milk carton with a straw for the first time. She tried to drink from the carton but I told her to put the straw in and drink from it. (We’d already broken the foil). And she did. N almost fell off his chair. 

*Grocery shopping around here after a store in a tourist area is a very pleasant experience. The check comes out to a third of what I paid in Florida. 

*We managed not to get even the tiniest of sunburns on any of us. Of course, this meant that N and I had to swim swaddled in more clothes than burkini ladies. 

I’m getting on a plane but here, for your enjoyment, is a great drawing for an article in the New York Times. If only the reporting was half as good. 

Saw this on Facebook as an example of racism:

“She arched her black Ukrainian brows” or “he rubbed his shiny black African skin” – how do you feel about such expressions? Do you find them hateful? 

P. S. I’m trying to be controversial for a change.  

There is obviously a case for fraud here but where is sexual assault? This is not only consensual sex but an actual romantic relationship of a long-term nature. That both of the willing participants are weirdos of the first order is hardly a crime. 

In the meanwhile, real rape and torture of minors goes unprosecuted. 

An absolutely horrific story about a free clinic in Virginia, which is many people’s only chance at seeing a doctor. 

This is beyond shameful. This shit should be on every news channel 24-7 until it gets resolved. 

Good news! I’m not an Islamophobe. I used this checklist provided by the London police and I score zero on it. 

It’s a little deranged to compare Islam to “the West” given that the latter is not a religion but at least it’s a definition and not a vague accusation.