THERE GOES THE SUN

I had a piece all ready to go, and here comes the sun. I send it anyway:

The wonderful, sunny days that welcomed me to Moscow when I arrived are just about gone. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

For the past two or three days, it has rained. And no question it is going to rain today.

I awoke after 6 o'clock this morning, so I must be getting back to normal. At the same time, I am physically and mentally ready to leave Moscow. I am no longer taking stairs two at a time, although I am still walking up and down escalators that take forever to get where you are going.

This morning I bought a pair of binoculars so I can zoom in on the faces at the Bolshoi tonight. "Bolshoy" means large, so I expect to see a huge place. I think the performance starts at 9 o'clock. Must check.

I only have Russian TV in my room and have been watching the tragedy in North Ossentia, which is near if not on the border with Georgia. I don't even want to start talking about that.

Tomorrow night, at about 10:15, my train should be pulling out for St. Petersburg.

This morning, I went to see if I could find a biography of Pushkin for a good price. I got turned about real badly, but finally reoriented myself and got back on track. I didn't find anything on Pushkin but bought Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, and J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

I will read The Catcher again because, like Billie Holiday, you must be in a good frame of mind for Heinrich Boll. He is so good, but he doesn't let you come up for air; he keeps punching you in the gut. An incredible writer and Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972. He packs a punch and I want to chuckle and smile a bit before I become a Muscovite.

I probably mentioned I got a room at $74 for three nights in St. Petersburg. The Hotel Neva is ner Nevsky Prospekt, which is probably wider than the Champs Elysees.

Time to check on the news.

Bye.

PBB