Hard Times
Mark Rothko—born Marcus Yakovelevich Rothkowitz in 1903—was an American abstract painter of Latvian Jewish descent. His monumental, post-World War II modernist painting “Yellow and Blue” (1954) is thought to have been inspired by the luminous colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Fast forward sixty-eight years to February 2021, the month I arrived for the first time in Nevada City, CA intent on finding our next home. It was winter, COVID was raging, but it was time for a life change. I spent only 15 minutes inside the house Kit and I bought and moved into two months later, but I sensed the 1978 structure surrounded by tall pines and firs had good bones.
It was a leap of faith that has come with both promise and challenges. When we experienced a record-setting snow event after Christmas 2021, the gardens I planted over the prior summer were buried under over two feet of snow for several weeks. Then warm breezes arrived in late January bringing glorious light that spoke of spring. Flowers and trees blossomed around Nevada County and nearby Grass Valley. It was however, as locals knew well, a false spring come way too early.
Snow and three days of temperatures below freezing in early February brought a sudden seasonal reality check. And with it I was reminded of song writer Leonard Cohen’s powerful line, “There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets through.” Sometime before the false spring, a crack occurred in an elevated, unwrapped galvanized pipe we mistakenly thought was no longer functional. When a slow drip suddenly appeared after the return of winter, immediate action was called for before the arrival of the hard freeze that was imminent. ABT Plumbing Company responded to our call of alarm. They promptly sent master plumber Paul Howard who cut, drained, capped, and wrapped the damaged pipe while his assistant Rob wrapped two additional exposed pipes with lengths of 1-inch-thick K-Flex pipe insulation.
The plumbers left with two-half loaves of Kit’s delicious banana walnut bread and our grateful thanks. I then wrapped the fig and almond trees with bubble wrap, fleece blankets and plastic wrappings to keep the fleece dry and fig warm. Delicate plants not yet planted are hunkering down in the garage and the garden is once again under wraps. As the hard freeze drove us back inside, Russia invaded the Ukraine. Since that moment, the world has not been the same.
I was born in 1945 at the end of WWII and beginning of the Cold War. Putin’s ambitions to return Russia to its pre-1991 Soviet boundaries led to a war with Georgia in 2008 and an invasion of the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea in 2014. There were no significant consequences for Putin’s actions then. Now, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Europe’s back door, the world is finally paying attention. We will all pay some price for Putin’s blatant, pre-meditated aggression against the Ukrainian people and their democratically elected government. In this dark hour, NATO and G-7 nations are taking a united stand against rogue autocrats and Putin’s minions whose aims are to squelch democracies and silence brave souls who dare to speak out against oppression.
Source: CNN map from Ukrainian Defense Ministry (Feb. 24, 2022, 10:30 a.m.)
February 27, three days after onset of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said, “These three days have forever changed our country and the world. There will be trying times ahead. But now we are no longer the only ones to believe in our victory. “
The bravery of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and the resilience of the Ukrainian people have inspired international condemnation of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against their neighbor. Following his example, Ukrainians young and old have taken up arms to defend their democracy. As Russian tanks roll across their borders and rockets and missiles rain down on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities day and night, CNN has brought the war into living rooms around the world.
We have all become Ukrainians. NATO and G-7 liberal democracies have united in enacting powerful financial sanctions on Putin and Russia. For the first time in the European Union’s history, the bloc has agreed to finance the purchase of arms to aid a European country under attack.
Ukrainian flag illuminated on the Empire State Building in NYC (Courtesy of the Empire State Building).
NYC, home to the largest Ukrainian community in America, landmarks that include the Empire State Building and World Trade Center were lit this week in yellow and blue fields of light to show support for Ukraine. In Ohio (where over ten thousand Ukrainians live), as well as in New Hampshire, Virginia, and Wichita, Kansas, Russian Standard Vodka has been removed from some liquor store shelves as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine. These “tiny sanctions” speak volumes about how the world has come together to isolate the actions of Putin and Russia.
On February 27, the Wall Street Journal noted Mr. Zelensky had just announced the creation of a new International Legion of the Ukrainian army along the lines of the International Brigades that helped defend the Spanish republic in the 1930s civil war there. He has called on Ukrainians abroad and foreign volunteers to join in the fight. “It’s not just a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Zelensky said, “it’s the beginning of a war against Europe. Against the unity of Europe. Against basic human rights in Europe.”
It is hard times, indeed.