Black Cherry is Here!

I am happy to announce that the season for black cherry is officially open! It is sweet and lovely, and when it is served on vintage Uzbek pottery, I like it even more!

On Cherry Blossom and Lost Wanderers

I spent twenty minutes under the Japanese cherry tree today, marvelling at its ethereal beauty. We have only had these trees for ten years or so, I think; they are not native to Uzbekistan. The one I was admiring today grows near the Navoi Opera Theatre which was built by the Japanese prisoners after WWII, and I believe the tree has a symbolic meaning - was planted there for a reason.

I must admit that the topic of Japanese prisoners never was of a great interest to me - you see, our life in USSR was infused by the war, we were eating and drinking war - no, breathing it... every family would have veterans, or someone who was killed, or both; there were all those countless books, films, memorials - what does a handful of prisoners mean compared to this huge array of memories, evidence, emotions? However, when you stand under this tree, next to the theatre build by the prisoners from a faraway country, you have to think about them. I read that there were almost 24 thousands Japanese PoW in Uzbekistan, and that most of them survived - only 817 died and were buried here. Local people are kind, and even in the hungry time after the war they would share food with the foreigners. As one article said, "If civilians treated German prisoners like enemies, the Japanese were looked upon as tired wanderers far from home".

I hope that most of those lost wanderers finally made it home.

No Regrets About Cherry Blossoms

We do not have many sakura trees in Tashkent, but I am fortunate to have one close to my house. Today I spent half an hour under the tree, marvelling at these blooms. They look like vintage lace to me, frayed edges and imperfections making it even more precious. It is a pity that these blooms do not last, but I remember their fleeting beauty throughout the year.

There was a haiku by Issa:

when cherry blossoms
scatter...
no regrets

Quest for the Most Beautiful Rose of this Fall

In order to make our walks a bit more fun, we decided to embark on a quest for finding the most beautiful rose of this fall. That is, I suggested and Jager agreed, being a very agreeable dog and a good friend. So, all our morning walks now are focused on reaching some parks and gardens in search of roses - and, of course, we take a lot of photos.

Autumn roses are very special to me. I love roses altogether, but if you see a lovely rose in the summer, you know there will be many others. In the autumn, you never know if you will see many more roses, and for some reason this year there are not many at all. So I decided to loot at them and take photos and share. I love these flowers, love everything about them, even the first signs of fading - this imperfection makes them look more alive, vulnerable and dear to my heart. When you know something is going away soon, you treasure it all the more...

This is the rose that we found today, and it can well become my most beautiful rose this fall. However, there are two more photos in one of the previous posts, and there will be many more, I hope. We will continue our quest while there are still roses in the parks and gardens.

This is Jager posing next to this lovely rose.

And this is Jager just being silly!

...As you can probably guess by the format of the photos, they were cropped for Instagram. I opened an account several days ago and will be very happy to connect with you there! My address is https://instagram.com/mulberrywhisper 

Flowers Dreaming of the Sea

During our morning walk today, I paid close attention to the flowerbeds in the local park. Funnily, I have never thought before that these flowers look very much like sea plants. These silvery leaves covered with silky velvet - are not they just like corals?

And here we even have ray fish or manta. We cannot see them clearly as they float smoothly but fast and hide in the overgrowth.

I do not know what these would be called, either under the sea or here on the ground. But they are definitely very sea-like to me. I can see them swaying in the water, moving slowly with the tide.

This flower would be a precious creamy pearl, glowing softly and mysteriously.

And tagetes... the only flower I know here - shame on me... tagetes definitely looks like parrot fish to me. However, its astringent scent reminds me where I am. I know there are people who cannot stand the scent of tagetes, but I adore its autumnal bitterness. It is sobering and calming down; a very grounding scent. I touch the leaves briefly and tell Jager that it is time to move on.

Highlights of Our Morning Walk

Today, Jager and myself went to a large park situated quite far from our place. We walked past the empty streets - at 6 am there are no people around.

Here in Uzbekistan we have a lot of basil which is used both as an edible and a decorative plant. This one is part of a large flowerbed near a water supply enterprise office. I love the scent; it brings back so many childhood memories. To me, basil is closely associated with my land.

We came to the park and I was dismayed to see a lot of garbage around - plastic bottles, bags, various boxes... I do not understand how a person can come to a beautiful place - to enjoy the beauty - and then leave thrash after themselves. Eh well... I am not a fan of cleaning, especially after strangers, but I had had enough. Jager was thrilled, because I asked him to look for plastic bottles. This is just about one third of what we picked.

This is some unknown fruit falling from a tree,

Jager having rest after running up and down grassy slopes.

As we were going home, I spotted some roses, I love autumn roses in their mature beauty. The age marks which might seem imperfections to other people are somehow endearing to me, making the flowers look more real and vulnerable.

Roses and fat hen - the combination is unusual, but elegant. When I see fat hen, I always remember what my great grandmother told me: people ate it during the WWII in order not to starve to death. Now champions of healthy lifestyle say that fat hen is a very healthy food. Yes, I suppose so, especially when you are not confined to it only.

That was a nice walk, and lasted almost three hours. I am grateful to the dog for dragging me outside and making me move, breath fresh air and see things. Tomorrow we will choose another destination.

A Secret Park with Squirrels

We spent another month on improving our collective health; I went through an extensive anti-inflammation therapy which, as I already know, has been successful, and the dog was busy restoring his digestion. He has made progress, too, but I am yet unwilling to say that the battle is over. I still want to be sure before I start celebrating.

In the meantime, I have found a lovely little park in the very middle of our city, and it has squirrels! In order to understand my emotions, you should know that squirrels are very rare here. Moreover, these do not look like Central Asian squirrels to me; I strongly suspect that their ancestors were brought from Russia and then managed to escape and settle down here.

It took me about forty minutes to get closer to these cute creatures. I tried to be "calm as still water" and was moving ahead little by little. Finally, I guess they started seeing me as part of the landscape.

I like this very concentrated sniffing - just like a dog doing good quality nosework!

I have learned that squirrels eat grass, straw, dry leaves... their tastes are quite Spartan. I bring them some walnuts and just leave them under the trees; I hope they collect them later.

It is great fun to see wild animals in the city. I hope to see them again and to spend some enjoyable minutes in the atmosphere of almost-wild-nature, listening to the birds singing and breathing fresh air.

Uzbek Woman Baking Bread

This is a picture that my husband absolutely loves. It is on display in our Museum of Arts in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and each time we are visiting the museum, he stops to look at it. I guess it reminds him of his childhood in a rural house where they had a "tandyr" oven like this, and his grandmother and mother used to bake this round Uzbek bread called "non". The photo is a bit distorted, but I hope you still can see how cosy and homely that place is. Even if it looks so simple and old, it is full of warmth, and this bread is delicious.

It is typically not allowed to take photos in our museum (unless you pay a hefty sum), but my husband was on assignment there for two days, translating a lecture about Henry Moore, and the director allowed him to take several photos of whatever he wanted. It is a pity that he did not photograph the label with name of the artist; I will check it next time.

Portrait of a Girl with Suzani

V. Kovinin. Portrait of a Girl. 1971. State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan.

This is a beautiful portrait. I think the girl is not Uzbek, but Gypsy - they are called "luli" here.  She is rather dark, and the features are more typical of these Central Asian gypsies. Her coral dress perfectly suits her colors, and her headpiece is quite unusual. The girl's eyebrows are colored with the juice of arugula  or rugola sap which is the traditional treatment for eyebrows and eyelids in Uzbekistan.

...Note the gorgeous suzani in the background - I told you, they used to be everywhere. Not so much now, thought - they are being replaced by faceless acrylic rugs.

I love the picture, its rich colors and warm atmosphere. I hope that the girl has lived a happy life, and is still living somewhere with her family. I wonder if she knows about her portrait in the museum or has long forgotten about those sessions.

Our Walk in Botanical Gardens

We have had a wonderful walk in the Botanical Garden today. It is still almost bare, but beautiful nonetheless, with plenty of new fresh grass, violets and some trees in bloom. Those trees stand out against the dark brown and gray background and it is a lovely view.

Right after the entrance, we were greeted by the arrow-wood. I have never seen it in bloom before, because I do not go to the Garden that early in the spring. Next year I will. The arrow-wood has the most wonderful fragrance.

My daughter and sister skated around. Madina (daughter) is still getting used to these after the child's model she used before (with wheels in two rows) and falls from time to time. But overall she is doing well. Has not hurt herself, and enjoyed the ride.

I spent several minutes with the violets, still covered in raindrops after the night rain...



...and then ran to catch up with the others.



Then I was delayed by this lovely tree. I am not even sure what it is. Looks a bit like cherry tree...

This... I do not know what this is, either. The white ones are lady's purse, and what about the blue ones? We have a lot of these in the cemetery, they always seem gloomy to me, but here in the meadow they appeared more cheerful.

We played frisbee, and then I took a break to take a couple of photos.

Madina's emotions are priceless! She is 8 years old now.

Katherine is always cool, calm and collected. With her Black Belt in Taekwondo, she has stunning muscles. She was awarded the belt just recently. Katherine is 14 now.

...And after play the family decided to have a rest on the grass.





I think Madina does look quite like her Papa, especially with this grumpy look.

Why buy a pillow when the Papa is there?

...And then it was time to go home. These several hours were very well spent, and we agreed to visit the Gardens again in a couple of weeks to see new flowers that will be there by then.

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Our Sunday Morning in the Park

We have had a wonderful Sunday! In the morning, I went to the bazaar and bought some lovely vintage silk with ikat pattern, several beautiful vintage rugs to make pillows and two new old stock dresses from ikat silk. I am very happy with my finds! All of them and "the items thereof" will soon be listed in our Etsy shop, Mulberry Whisper.

Then we went to the park all together - my husband, Madina and myself. Madina tried the inline skates for the first time; before, she only used the four wheelers. She adapted fast, and soon was circling around us.

Madina and Jahongir are racing. Surprisingly, my husband can run quite fast and I was very impressed.

I envy her stamina, it is very hard to wear her down. She can play actively for hours.

After some playing at the ground, we played frisbee, and I have no photos because I was playing, too. It is a lot of fun! Two little boys ran over to join us, and they were hilarious to play and communicate with. The larger one (about 6 years' old) kept punching, pushing and beating the smaller one (probably about 5). The small one would yell and cry, and the larger one would then respond in a very business-like way: "Okay I am sorry". Then everything repeated again within a couple of minutes. It looked like a well established pattern and was very funny. I did try pacifying them but to no avail, and that is none of my business, anyway.

They also invented their own scoring system and kept proclaiming themselves the winning team called The Awful Ghost, which greatly appaled our daughter ("They can't throw well! They can't catch! What does it mean - "we are the winners"?).

Finally we thought that the three kids needed some drill to learn to handle frisbee better, and asked them to stand in line and catch the disc, and we would be keeping the score. The boys did not like the idea, as it seemed too difficult to them, and the smaller one said: "We do not intend to take part in this ridiculous activity!" (zic!). Without further discussion, they turned their backs at us simultaneously and retreated to the playgound. We just had to laugh again.

When leaving the park, I discovered a patch of violets and hung on there for a couple of minutes, enjoying their sweet fragrance mixed with the scents of moist warm earth, dead leaves, new grass... spring is in the air.