In The Middle Of A Heatwave

The sea yesterday was the calmest I've known it since we moved down here- "glassy" would be a good word for it- so calm it was simply lapping against the stones and only breaking into foam where the swell bumped into the groins. This is a windy spot but there's been no wind to speak of for days- and we're in the middle of a heatwave.

We have a new boiler being fitted. Our engineers are called Sergei and Tatiana. We hired them partly on the strength of their names. One of my principles is refusing to think the way the US government wants me to think- and so right now I'm being especially nice to Russians...

Continuing The Previous Post

Sergei and Tatiana are from Belarus. "Russia, Belarus, Ukraine- all one area," says Sergei. Sergei has relatives in all three countries. The war between Russia and Ukraine is like a war between England and Scotland- with Wales standing in for Belarus.

All those Britishers flying the Ukrainian flag have very little idea what is really going on. They don't know the country. They don't know the history. They only know what their governments and the mainstream media tell them (which is mostly misinformation when it's not downright lies.)

Tatiana and Sergei speak a mixture of Russian and English. It's nice to hear Russian being spoken (though of course I don't have any idea what's being said.)