Rostov-on-Don Honored by Russian President

In one of his last acts as leader of Russia, President Vladimir Putin declared Rostov-on-Don a Heroic City for its role in World War II. Cities such as St Petersburg, Volgograd, Moscow and Kiev have long been Heroic Cities. And President Putin expanded that list to include Rostov among others.





Below is Rostov at its best. You'll see several sights around Theatre Square, an area heavily bombed during the war.

The tall obelisk, Stella, commemorates the end of Nazi occupation during World War 2 and overlooks the Don River and vast steppe which stretches out to the south. The white and boxy building featured early in the video is Gorky Theatre, named in honor of Maxim Gorky, the great Russian writer. The theatre is built in the shape of a tractor, of all things, but to honor the importance of agriculture in the Rostov area.


Of course during the war, things were quite different. Thanks to YouTube, we can see German newsreels from WW2.

Here is close combat in Rostov, July 1942. It's sad to see what was done to the beautiful city, albeit 60-plus years ago.


Back to happier times, the photos below courtesy of A.A. Dolgyshev.

Rostov from the air. Notice the Don River flowing along, 35 miles west to the Sea of Azov and then into the Black Sea.


Theatre Square, downtown Rostov. On the left is Gorky Theatre, in the foreground is the fountain. Both were damaged by bombs and have been repaired.

May 9th: Russia's Day of Victory

Across Russia today, were morning parades and evening fireworks to celebrate the end of World War II, which ended 60-some years ago this week. The Soviet Union paid the highest price of any country for that war. Estimates vary, but twenty-three million - or as high as 30 million - were killed and every family was affected. Nearly 14% of the population perished, including civilian and military deaths.


Here was the view this morning from Red Square, a vast area the size of 12 football fields.

Care to join me for a look at parade photos? These are from the Victory Day parade several years ago in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

At the start of the parade, several veterans were in cars. Maybe they're VIP veterans of some sort. . .

These veterans went off to war in the early 1940s, when they were but kids.


A young lady darts into the parade to present lilacs to a veteran.


This highly decorated veteran is confined to a wheelchair.


The veteran attended the parade together with his grandson.


Three military officers kindly posed for a photograph. Now, regarding the officer on the left, although arms and appear to be growing from his skull, he really is not suffering from any bizarre physical deformity. It happens that behind him is a poster of Mother Russia Calls, a magnificant statue in Volgograd. At 56 yards high, that monument rather dwarfs the Statue of Liberty which is 49 yards high, excluding pedestal and foundation.

Congratulations to Russia on surviving World War II. Here's wishing all the best for the veterans. May their senior years be comfortable and peaceful. And here's wishing all the best for good people of that vast land.

Impulsivity versus Sponaneity: Sometimes You Just Gotta Jump In

I resisted the urge recently to push dear nephew Graham into a hotel swimming pool as he was standing at the edge. But I remembered having the same urge several decades ago when my brother David, Graham's dad, was standing on a boat dock one October, looking out over Turkeyfoot Lake. In a dark and evil moment, my sister and I pushed him in, fully clothed. That was in another millennium, of course and by now I have more control over dark impulses, most of them anyway.

So Graham went running and jumping in of his own accord.


And I photographed. And reported on the size of the splash. Yes, it came over and hit me and my book. Yes, this was higher than the last one. Yes, you are one awesome run-and-jumper.


Graham going under. Confident that he'll emerge. Hoping, hoping. . .


There are bubbles down there. Bubbles are a sign of life. He will emerge, quite confident of that, quite confident.

On the second day of this running and jumping in the pool, after I figured that another 30 minutes of this dilly-dallying would be quite enough, Graham was interested in learning to glide from one side of the pool to the other, then adding a flutter kick, then adding an arm stroke. And it dawned on me that this little swimming instruction would be lots easier if I were in the water. Except that my swimming suit was in another time zone, far, far away. Not to worry though.

He won't be 12 forever, I told myself. Here he is, right on the cusp of that adolescent growth spurt. It was time to make a splash and make a memory.

Hey Graham, I think I'm going to jump in there and swim with you.

After all, we had the pool to ourselves that Sunday afternoon.

And so I did, clothes and all. The look on his face was priceless - sheer delight mixed with absolute disbelief.

So we we had a few swimming lessons crammed into one, diving for quarters being his favorite. Thirty minutes came and went. At least an hour later, we were ready to drag ourselves back to the hotel room.

Later I was thinking about all that and how atypical that was of me, to just jump into something that hadn't been on the agenda. So what was that - impulsivity or spontaneity? At this stage, I'm not quite sure and it probably doesn't matter. We got wet, had so much fun and made memories. Best of all, there was no one there to take photographs.

Today in History: Nazi Forces Surrender

On this day in history, May 7, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to Allied Forces, just a week after Adolf Hitler took his own life.



The end of the war set off jubilant celebrations across Europe as well as in the US, of course. It happened that U.S. President Harry Truman was celebrating his 61st birthday. He dedicated the victory to his predecessor, President Roosevelt who had died weeks earlier on April 12th.

Giant Chess Game: Fun with Favorite Kids

Chess is like yoga for the mind. It helps the brain stretch and develop. If there's one thing those dear Russian folk have taught me, it's that. And so on a recent weekend with a beloved niece and nephews, I challenged them to a big game of chess. Have you ever seen giant chess?

Heather and Drew ponder their opening moves.


Move those pieces around. I was coaching from the side. I figure it's best to let them do it while I offer advise. And record the event for posterity.


Drew won the match! Congratulations Drew! Next time I'll show him how to tweak his game a bit.

Well, actually I don't know how to play chess. So I just made up some of that. However, let the record show that over the years, I have played some vigorous games of UNO with these kids and I do recall some nearly vicious matches of Go Fish! But all that was in a previous century. A previous millennium, in fact.

Another giant chess game took place recently in Cuba. Russian chess champion, Antatoly Karpov, was there and he no doubt offered some tips to the 8,000 who participated in the 4,000 simultaneous matches.

Well, back to the good old USA and the North Carolina Botanical Gardens where this chess game is located. The day after the chess game above, Graham wanted to play. And he challenged me to a game. As fate would have it, someone else was on site and needing an opponent. (Whew!)

Graham, right, and his mid-game moves.

Thinking, thinking about those mid-game moves. I did continue to offer advise from the sides. Would you please hold still so I can get this shot? Or turn around so your face isn't in the shadow. That sort of thing. Not that it helped much. . .

In the end Graham trounced the guy. Looked like a stalemate to me. And then Graham said Checkmate, which reduced his opponent to tears. Not really of course, but they did have a good game. Congratulations Graham!

So where did you learn to play chess? I asked.

I learned from the best. I learned from my dad.

His dad, my brother plays chess? That's news to me!

But it's not news that his dad, my brother David can ride unicycle.

Kuddos to dads who play games with their kids. Can't help but wonder though what unicycling might do for the mind.