Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Off to Grandmother's Хата We Go

Joshua and Maxime in his grandmother's village

Dominic, Joshua, and Maxime returned yesterday from Maxime's grandmother's house in the village of Mykhilivka (Михайлівка). Dominic did a great job of documenting all of their exploits in the village. The only real work they did was ridding the potato plants of little bugs that destroy the plant. They collected them in a jar and then disposed of it. How's that for organic. The rest of their time was spent watching over the chickens, ducks, and geese as well as pursuing every boy's dream of fishing like Huck Finn. With just a long stick, some fishing line, a hook, and a worm, they managed to catch enough fish to satisfy Maxime's grandmother's cats.

Dominic was able to capture the spirit of life in the village and I'm pretty impressed with the photos. Here are a few of them. Feel free to let Dominic know what you think of his new found talent.

Joshua Doing Some Laundry
Joshua doing some laundry

Breakfast on the Porch
Breakfast on the porch

Kittens in the Kitchen
Kittens in the kitchen

Digging for Worms
Digging for worms

Maxime with the Catch
Maxime with the catch

"Whadya mean there're leeches in here?"
"Whadya mean there're leeches in here?"

Joshua and Maxime out for a walk


When the Cows Come Home
When the cows come home

The boys all had a good time at Babusya Luda's khata (хата), or village home. No running water or toilets, no stores or conveniences, but lots of ducks, geese, chickens, and kittens running around, including in the house.

5 comments:

Cara Denney said...

Wow! Those photos are really good! Seriously! Dominic, I don't know what you want to be when you grow up (how old are you?) but if you wanted to, you are already on your way to being a great photo journalist! I am so lazy about my blog lately, but I may link to yours to show people just how different life in Kyiv is to life in the rest of Ukraine! Looks like fun...I'm jealous! :)

Anonymous said...

Dominic,

I'm a graphic designer in the States and I think your photos are excellent. You have a great eye for detail and composition.

I also live on a farm. It looks like you, Joshua and Maxime had a wonderful time! I know Maxime was very, very glad to have you back in Ukraine. I have been reading your blog because I love Ukraine and hope to live and serve there one day. Yours is one of the best I have found.

If your parents will allow it, keep practicing by taking lots of photos and I think you'll find out just how much you enjoy it (and you'll get better and better).

Grace to you,
Lisa

Conor and Koren said...

Dom You Rock! Your pics do say it all. Looks like it was a great time!
Conor

Greg and Edna Silva said...

Cara, Lisa, and Conor,
Thanks for all of the encouragement. I'm 14, by the way. I had fun in the village and want to take more pictures of animals in villages. I'm not sure what I want to do yet in life, though.

-Dom

Danny and Liese said...

Dom,
They really are great photos. I noticed it and clicked here to tell you but everyone else beat me to the punch. Keep it up.

L.