![The End of Days](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/welton-street-school-150x150.jpg)
The End of Days
The month of April was a bit unsettled in Connecticut this year. First, we had the earthquake that no one…
![Things That Disappear](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/roller-skates-150x150.jpg)
Things That Disappear
The pale yellow “favorite blanket” that you had as a child. The hair dryer that covered your head like a…
![Do Not Ask Why the Sea Has Forsaken You](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ocean-Surface-150x120.jpg)
Do Not Ask Why the Sea Has Forsaken You
It was a rough five days on and under the seas last week. On June 14th, an overloaded fishing boat…
![Military Service? Impossible!](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/russian-recruits-150x150.jpg)
Military Service? Impossible!
When I taught English in Russia in the late 1990’s, my main place of employment was the Tolyatti Pedagogical Institute,…
![The Last of the Best](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Calverton-Yes-150x120.jpg)
The Last of the Best
Watch a video of this blob by going to my You Tube Channel. The text came when we were in…
![Letter from St. Croix](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/IMG_1939-150x150.jpg)
Letter from St. Croix
On the north shore of the Caribbean island of St. Croix, two miles before you reach Cane Bay, there lie…
![The Wall I Knew](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/berlin-wall-fall-25th-anniversary-150x150.jpg)
The Wall I Knew
Want to watch a video of me reading this blog? Go to my You Tube Channel. On a cold Sunday…
![Wallis, This One's for You](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Wallis-Simpson-150x150.jpg)
Wallis, This One’s for You
Finally, some good news for a change. Amidst the debacle of “tax reform” and what appears to be rampant sexual…
![Where We Come From](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/family-tree-150x150.jpg)
Where We Come From
A family history is a collection of stories, stories told and retold and made old not so much by the…
![Spread the Word](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/panda-150x150.jpg)
Spread the Word
Venice is a city of illusions: illusions of water and light, of time and space, of stillness and movement. Looking…
![Persistence](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/zipped-mouth-150x150.jpg)
Persistence
In our elementary school, we start teaching children about character traits in the third grade. We teach them to recognize…
![To The Barricade](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Trump-Barricade-150x150.jpg)
To The Barricade
I never marched in a demonstration before yesterday. I don’t like crowds much, or noise, or commotion. I’m a stay-at-home-with-a-book…
![2017: Brace For Impact](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/impact-150x150.jpg)
2017: Brace For Impact
At the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, there was a period of time, eight months and one…
![Where You Can Put Your Putin](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Vladimir-Putin-150x150.jpg)
Where You Can Put Your Putin
No one could love Russia more than I do. You have to love a country where the cabbie taking you home…
![A Little History](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/stick-figure-of-little-girl-150x150.jpg)
A Little History
They say if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it and this certainly seems to be what’s…
![Venice](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/venice-2-150x150.png)
Venice
Imagine a city where the taxi journey from the airport so satisfies your desire for adventure, your longing for beauty,…
![Lists](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/doomsday-book-150x150.jpg)
Lists
As another year draws to its close and the next one edges near, there seems to be in both the…
![The Bitter Pill](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ukraine.jpg)
The Bitter Pill
When I was a university student of Russian History in the mid 1980’s, the Iron Curtain was still drawn tightly…
![Sevastapol](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/sevastapol.jpg)
Sevastapol
I’ve always found that when I want to understand something that’s happening in Russia, it helps to hit the books….
![The Sochi Saga](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/sochi-150x150.jpg)
The Sochi Saga
You have to feel sorry for the Russian people. Or you don’t have to, not if you don’t want to,…
![The Devil is in the Details](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/thomas-more-150x150.jpg)
The Devil is in the Details
Well, there’s so much good news to choose from, I hardly know where to start. The Obamacare web site debacle?…
![Road trips](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/russian-countryside-150x150.jpg)
Road trips
Crumbling provincial towns, the Gypsy wedding of a fourteen year old, the dismal condition of the M10 which connects Petersburg…
![What's in a Name?](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tamerlane-148x150.jpg)
What’s in a Name?
When Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the alleged Boston bombers, said this last week that she was sorry the family…
![Gimme Shelter](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/fallout-shelter.jpg)
Gimme Shelter
The sign is still there on the side of the school. It has a piece missing from the bottom left…
![Remember Gorbachev?](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/gorbachev.jpg)
Remember Gorbachev?
I was reading an article about Gorbachev the other day. Gorbachev, remember him? I’m embarrassed to say that until I…
![Island Of the Clouds](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bequia-150x150.jpg)
Island Of the Clouds
Let me just get it over with and explain where it is we are. On an island called Bequia which…
![Shorefront Anyone?](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dunwich-150x150.jpg)
Shorefront Anyone?
When I was an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England, there was a lecturer there by…
![It's Not a Riot Any More](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Pussy-Riot-Jailed-3-150x150.jpg)
It’s Not a Riot Any More
The trial was over. The appeal had failed. The world’s press had gone home when last weekend, Maria Alyokina, age…
![Spanish Flames](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/marbella-in-flames-150x138.jpg)
Spanish Flames
As if they needed anything else to go wrong, the country of Spain has this last week been battling yet…
![Washington in Botswana](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Mannerheim-150x133.jpg)
Washington in Botswana
What do you think would happen if someone produced a film about George Washington filmed in Botswana with a local…
![The Russian Orthodox Church – It’s a Riot!](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Russian-babushka-150x150.jpg)
The Russian Orthodox Church – It’s a Riot!
Let me be very clear, I agree with Madonna, Paul McCartney and Stephen Fry that the three members of the…
![Carcassonne: Land of the Cathars](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/montsegur-150x150.jpg)
Carcassonne: Land of the Cathars
One summer when I was about ten years old, my mother went to the library to get some novels for…
![Aragonese Pyrenees: What Spanish Crisis?](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/pyrenees-150x150.jpg)
Aragonese Pyrenees: What Spanish Crisis?
There are fires to the east of us in Catalonia after one of the driest winters on record in the…
![Independence Days](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/independence-day-150x142.jpg)
Independence Days
Countries really don’t leave each other alone, do they? They are always bothering each other, invading, claiming sovereignty, imposing annoying…
![Russian Reformers Old and New](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/russian-reform-150x146.jpg)
Russian Reformers Old and New
The demands of the Russian reformers seemed reasonable enough to me. They wanted the Russian government to stop being so…
![Juneteenth](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/East-germany-1953-150x150.jpg)
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is an African-American holiday officially celebrated in 41 states of the United States. It commemorates the final abolition of…
![Don't Go to Gibraltar!](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/gibraltar-150x150.jpg)
Don’t Go to Gibraltar!
“Whatever you do, don’t go to Gibraltar.” This was what our friends and neighbors down on the Costa del Sol…
![Blame the Germans](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/angela-merkel-150x149.jpg)
Blame the Germans
They’ve been muttering about them in Greece, and in Spain, in Portugal and in Italy. All the countries of Europe…
![Putin Party Politics](http://www.lindastrange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/putin-150x148.jpg)
Putin Party Politics
Why did Putin win the Russian elections? He won due to election fraud. Well, yes, there was election fraud, buses…