Sweetness

My husband came home from the market today with a kilo of cherries, strawberries, ripe peaches and apples. We had strawberry milkshakes for dessert and tomorrow I am contemplating making a cherry pie. If only to sing "can she make a cherry pie Billy boy, Billy boy?" while I pit the cherries and roll the dough.

I also have plans to make lemon bread to thank our neighbors who took Bee the other night when I had to make an unscheduled trip to the doctor. No questions asked, they took Bee in, fed her dinner, and put her to bed with their own daughter (who is Bee's best playground friend) until we were able to come back and bring her home.

But we shall see, because I am supposed to be taking it easy. I am not a good patient. I do not like being sick. I feel nothing but guilty when I cannot run and play with my daughter and my poor husband is forced to managed all the cooking, cleaning, dog-walking, and child care. He already does so much. Despite his weekend of drudgery, my hubby made our favorite Friday night pizzas and the aforementioned strawberry milkshakes for dessert. Bee drank hers with three straws.

In every bitter hand we are dealt, there is some undeniable sweetness to discover.

If

"If" is such a little word full of unpleasant possibilities. "If" casts a looming shadow over any conversation: If I weren't so tired I would be blogging more, vacuuming the house on a regular basis, reading more than 5 pages per night, writing letters, knitting, putting together crafts for Bee to do with her nanny.

If only I didn't have to work and could stay home for a just a while attending to my family and my home. If only it were possible to have it both ways--career and a fulfilling home life. Sometimes I think I have the balance right and it is possible to do both. Other times I feel pushed from one extreme to the other. Home eats work; work eats home. The result: girl on the couch in a stupor watching YouTube.

The thing about the word "if" is that is usually leads nowhere productive. "If" usually starts a whine "if only . . ." a complaint "if you hadn't. . ." or bribery "if you eat all your vegetables, then you can have dessert." It's a dead end word.

So instead of "if" I am going to choose "now." At least for right now. So right now, I am going to take the dog for a nice quiet evening walk and enjoy the warm summer night.

Monastery windmill

Celestial

Inside Saon Monastery's main church (Romanian Orthodox). The entirety of the lovingly maintained church is painted in colorful frescoes. I remembered to bring a head covering, as that is still the tradition.

Fixer upper

Two weekends ago, we took a trip to the Danube Delta, which comprises the vast wetlands where the Danube river meets the Black Sea. We had planned a weekend of boating and birdwatching, but unfortunately unseasonably cold temperatures and intermittent rain called for a change of plans.

Instead of going out into the nature preserve, we drove and visited some of the monasteries in the region. We happened by the above church on our way from one monastery to the other and I had to stop and take a picture; It looked like something from a horror movie. The windows were boarded up, the towers disintegrating into crumbled masonry, the walls supported by ancient scaffolding--I have never seen a church in such disrepair.

Ancient villas, mouldering mansions, and vine covered manor houses still manage to have a sense of dignity. An abandoned church, however, is a complete tragedy.

What I love about May:

Besides the mild weather, later sunsets, blooming flowers, and return of the honeybees, May is all about two important holidays--Mother's Day AND my birthday. Two very important holidays!

My husband has my birthday covered this year, though. Instead of presents, he is taking Miss Bee and I to London over Memorial day weekend. Once there, in glorious Western Europe, we plan to shop at Fortnum and Mason, visit half a dozen English language bookstores, and, best of all, we have a reservation for tea at the Ritz. Just Bee, hubby, and me, all dressed up and (hopefully) on our very best behavior.

Now, all I have to do is get through a stressful language test this Friday and it's smooth sailing to the end of the month. With that, I am off to study Romanian.

Stray dogs in my neighborhood:

Bucharest is plagued by stray dogs, a problem that only worsens as the weather becomes warmer.


This little guy has a tag in his ear. It means that he has been picked up by the city authorities and then released. I heard that sometimes they spay/neuter the dogs before casting them back out onto the streets. Sometimes not. There are no real animal rescue facilities. Euthanasia is not permitted. The dog that bit my husband last year had been tagged and released.


This pup is living across the street from my apartment. He looks like a miniature German Shepherd, and finds a nice nest of grass to sleep in each night.


This is my "dirty puppy" having a snooze. She lives right outside my office. She was the cutest, fuzziest little puppy and very affectionate. The problem with puppies is that they grow up into big, not so cute, dogs. She still has a few months before food from pitying passers-by grows few and far between. I really wanted to adopt her, but David, rightly so, forbade it.


This pup lives right across from the entrance to the metro. He is always in almost the exact same spot, morning or night. I suspect that someone dumped him there and then left via metro. He is waiting, in vain, for his owner to come back.


Here is a pack of three dogs having a frolic right next to the playground. You would think that people would be more concerned about the potential risk to the children, but on the contrary. . . Bee's favorite park has its own group of three stray dogs that have taken up permanent residence next to the swings.

The problem of stray dogs will not go away until people stop feeding them and the city starts euthanizing ones that cannot be adopted. Unfortunately, I don't see either option happening any time soon.