Orthodox Christmas

The Merkulov family had two ducks, one black and one white. Unfortunately, their neighbors had a hungry dog, which got into the yard and killed the black one. The white duck, then, got all of the best grass and herbs, scraps of Belarusian bread, and other delicious delicacies. It grew up to be a fine big bird, which they brought over here to share as a Christmas gift. Today is Orthodox Christmas eve, and we celebrated with Merkulovy duck, American wild rice, and Sergey’s signature birch-juice sparkler.

Preparing for these festivities, I went off to the market to buy salad ingredients. Approaching, I heard a little choir singing to recorded background music, so I stopped to listen. This is one of the special pleasures of Belarusian life. People gather outside to listen to performers playing for free. Kids clapped rhythm, everybody smiled, and the performers did a great job.

Inside, I found a vendor with wonderful lettuce loaded with chlorophyll. Last year I was often frustrated by the hothouse lettuce, which generally looked anemic. This time, in addition to beautiful lettuce, I got green onions, parsley and dill. These green delicacies haven’t always been easy to find around here when they aren’t growing outdoors, and it really enhanced my holiday to find them. Matvey liked it too. He’s just as enthusiastic as Alla about Dill.

There are more pictures here.