It's all about People

With warmer days the people are coming out.  We awake to the sound of children in the playground below our windows.  Coming home we walk past the swings and merry-go-round crowded with children big and little enjoying the afternoon sun.

 It is very interesting to observe that when we see strollers on the sidewalks, children walking with adults or at the playground it is nearly always a grand-parent aged adult supervising.


Overnight it seems that the litter is gone, the mud and grime have been swept away and the ground has been turned or raked.  Here in Ukraine, our friend Olya tells us, employees of businesses are required to come back on Saturdays to clean, sweep and rake the public areas around each business as part of a national committment to the people.  The service is unpaid, but Olya says that it is not voluntary.  This traditional public service is a holdover from Soviet times. 

At our meetinghouse members of both branches who use the building worked hard cleaning both inside and out, then joined together in an outdoor cookout.

They grilled chicken breasts over the fire above left.  Always  there are hunks of crusty bread.  Fingerfoods usually include cut veggies or fruits.