So Goes January

Hello my nestlings. The poetry translation is going -- I'm feeling a bit behind schedule at the moment (about 17 poems translated, want to have 25 by the end of February). This isn't bad, but I don't like feeling rushed.

We've been exploring the city more, during this freak warm-spell that Tbilisi's been having. As those of you in OH, VT and CT have been dealing with temps in the teens (or the pre-teens, in VT's case), we've had warm days up nearing the sixties. It's eerie. But we've taken advantage by touring through old turkish sections of the city, finding old out-of-the way bookstores and yarn shops, and a place that actually sells mops (!) and visiting the giant new church that stands out on the skyline. It's big. It smells like frankincense. Lovely.

Otherwise, I've been writing for Lost Writers, which, with their every-other-tuesday schedule, has been a nice change of pace. So far, I've got two articles up, one linked below, and one here. I like the formality of the writing, and also the idea of writing for a different audience.

Plus, my friend Holly writes awesome articles for them.

I'm a lost writer

I've got an article up at Lost Writers. I'll be writing for them every other tuesday, I think.

Livin' in the Ci-tay

Well, we're out in Sighnaghi for a while. We put off going b/c K. was applying to grad schools, and needed the reliable internet and heat/light that Tbilisi provides.

And good thing we did it like that: we arrived to frozen pipes and cold, cold cold. The pipes are frozen mostly because of the Miracle of Georgian Engineering, which basically involves tiny, tiny little pipes, and, for no apparent reason, periodically running them up, out of the ground, and across the yard, then back into the ground a little later on. I'm not sure why. In the spring, when the ground thaws, we'll have to have someone attach larger pipes (which won't freeze so easily), and actually bury them.

An unusually warm day yesterday thawed the pipes (oh, happy day!) so we took hot showers and K. started some laundry. We've got enough wood to last a little while, but this is definitely tougher living out here. Still.. fun and very worth it. The past few days have given us the clearest skies, and the crispest views of the lower caucasus range -- all dusted on top with snow -- that I've ever seen. I like mountains and all, but this is literally, literally breath-taking. I can't stop gasping whenever I see them. Wook up this morning, and everything was covered in snow. Maybe we'll lose water again, or maybe the snow will act as an insulation (around the insulation that we already packed over the pipes in late fall. Or maybe that's just a pipe-dream.

Stay warm, everyone.