Адвент. День пятый.

Сегодня получился лось и пол-снеговика. И книжка "Сказки северного сияния" . В книге две сказки - ненецкая и саамская. В отличном пересказе и с очень колоритными иллюстрациями Георгия Юдина. Метели и за окном, и в книге. Чумы, олени и унты - всё, как я люблю.

Озон

Лабиринт

Последние дни зимы, конец Марта

Кажется, можно вздохнуть с облегчением: зима позади. Мы пережили еще одну долгую, холодную темную зиму. Апрель, весна, +5, большие лужи, южный ветер. Пахнет степью. Яркко без конца говорит о велосипеде и самокате, и о даче с баней, и о лете. Очень его ждет.

Пока зима не сдавала свои позиции, мы старались развлечься посещением зоопарка, бора и городских парков. Каждые выходные куда-нибудь выбирались. Конец марта в Сибири:

1. Пленка

Canadian trapper vs. Siberian trapper.

I've recently seen two movies I feel like sharing about. Those were "The Last Trapper" and "Happy People: A Year In The Taiga".

The first one was produced by 5 countries: Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy in 2004. The second one is of German - Russian production and was released in 2010. Both movies can be discribed as documentaries while "The Last Trapper" has much more adventure in it and "Happy People" is purely true to life. I enjoed them a lot. Maybe it's all because I'm fond of pines, lakes and rivers, and boreal forest. Maybe because I admire those fearless men who still live in harmony with nature. These movies made me quiet and thoughtful for a while. I highly recommend them for everyone seeking peace and calmness and craving for good films. 

Norman Winther - le dernier trappeur - lives in the Rocky Mountains in a wooden house made by himself, with his Nahanni wife, Nebraska, and their dogs. Fishing, hunting and trapping provide them with food. Life is hard there, but well-balanced. 

People of the taiga spend summer in the village getting ready for the trapping season which lasts from November till April in Northern Siberia. They make canoes, skis, fishing nets, traps to take them to their winter cabins in taiga when the time comes. To get there they use snowmobiles, while the Canadian trapper prefers a dog sled. One of the main characters of "Happy People" says that he's still in trapping because it's fair to nature and animals. They know that he's a man and they don't expect any good from a man. The fastest and the smartest one wins. It's more humane than keeping cattle. 

Perhaps they are not the very last trappers. But this occupation is at the edge of extinction. I wish I could meet and talk to someone like them. They surely know something elusive, that we, people of the cities, have know idea about.

Thanks for reading. 

Naatee.

First Snow In The Woods

This day started like the best day ever. We woke up early in the morning and looked out of the window. Yay! It was snowing at night and the ground was covered with soft white virgin snow. I knew it wouldn't last long as the temperature was about -1 C, so I hurried to take my little one out to enjoy this beauty. "Let's go to the forest", - I said. "It's much more breathtaking there than in the town". And off we went.
We took along our bear Bjorn and a camera, so in the end of the walk we had many cute pics for our family album. Unfortunately, that long walk in the woods didn't encourage my son to take a nap in the afternoon and the evening was short and full of tantrums. He has decided no more naps but still really needs them. I do my best to wear him out, but sometimes even those long distances don't work. Anyway, morning was fantastic. Here is our "Gruffalo's Child Story". Enjoy!

Thanks for reading. 

Naatee.

Our Boreal Forest in Fall

We live near the taiga - the boreal forest of Siberia. It takes us usually not more than 10 minutes to get there on foot. This place is one of our favourite spots to walk, breathe air and play.

Today my son and I went there for a photoset. Not so many pictures were taken, but we enjoyed ourselves greatly and picked some leaves for our crafts. Son admired the young sportsmen training for their upcoming competitions (there is a ski club near the forest). Later he found two cow skulls (I wonder how they could get there), but paid no attention to them. It made me believe that there are still wild animals such as wolves and bears in that forest. They surely live farther to the North, but nobody has seen either of them here for ages. No farms with cows are situated nearby either. That's a good question, and I'll try to investigate it. Maybe I'll ask my dad or someone who's been living here for a long time and seen all kinds of things.

These woods were inhabited by Native peoples of Siberia until white men came in 18th century. Some toponyms originate from their languages. For instance, the name of the river Barzas comes from the Ket language and means "wolf river". 

I'm going to post more articles about this land and publish some pics, for this is a really beautiful place and it's barely covered by bloggers. It has its spirit. The spirit that I have never come along in any other places.