A Final Day in Kiev Enjoying the Fall Weather

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014--Kiev

Each day has gotten a bit cooler.  The highs were in the upper 70s (low 20s celsius) last week.  Now they are in the mid- to upper-60s (upper teens celsius).  People have quit wearing shorts.  And many wear sweaters or light jackets.  Few people sit in the shad.  Almost all sit in the sunshine with their faces upturned to the sun.

For my final outing in Kiev, I headed to the University Botanical Gardens.  They are behind the university buildings not far from my apartment, and I hadn't visited them yet.  They are in a hilly area  with sharp drop-offs, so it wouldn't have been a good area for buildings.  I found a seat on a bench and read.  When the shade hit me and I got cool, I headed to the park in front of the university and sat on a wall in the sunshine and continued to read. 

I finished reading Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips.  It's a book that is difficult to follow at first, but everything starts becoming clear around page 100 if one pushes that far.  It's a story told from different perspectives--two sisters in West Virginia, the husband of one of the sisters who is in the military and involved in the beginnings of the Korean Conflict, and the two children of one of the sisters who are being raised by the other sister--a girl who is 17-years-old and her 9-year-old half-brother who is handicapped from having fluid on his brain when he was born.  It's a fascinating story and was a finalist for the National Book Award.  I gave the book 3 out of 4 stars.

Now it's time to pack, prepare sandwiches for tomorrow, and organize everything else.  Tomorrow I fly to Batumi in Georgia.

During the next 3 days, I am uncertain when I will either have Internet service or will be able to use it if I do.  I will be travelling every day.  No one should be alarmed if I don't make regular posts.  If I have a chance and enough time, I'll try to write at least a paragraph.  (See yesterday's post for details of the travel itinerary.)