April 22, 2018
Bayfield, ON

Greeting from the glorious shores of Lake Huron, where I’ve been holed up all week in dedicated artistic sequesterment. The little cabin where I’ve been staying has no internet so I drove down to Bayfield, cottage town of my youth, to lounge around the library and make use of the free wifi. As we speak, I’m downloading a new audiobook onto my iPad, Edward Rutherford’s “Russka.”

Russia has been on my mind these days, with all the political news of late. I’ve found myself very curious about how exactly it became the state that it is today. Perhaps in 960 pages I will find out! I admit to having a certain romantic ideal of its vast sprawling steppe, particularly as depicted in the 1965 film version of Dr. Zhivago. The scene that captivates me the most is when Yuri and Lara return to the abandoned Varykino estate only to find it completely covered, inside and out, in a thick layer if snow and ice. I call this the “Ice Palace” scene. Apparently the sequence was filmed entirely in Spain in the summertime, which I suppose adds to its magical mystery… It actually reminds me of the first time I visited my little cabin on the lake this January. I arrived in -18 degree weather after a big snowstorm only to find it was just as cold on the inside too! I nearly cried. Although it wasn’t quite as dramatic as the scene in the film, I felt as though I had just driven my horse carriage up to an old Russian palace…but there was no Omar Sheriff to keep me warm. Stay tuned for a tune in honour of this particular adventure.

Tselooiu i abnimaiu!

xox
Svetlana

The Ice Palace, 2018