mattersofthemoment

There was a time when I read a lot of Russian novels written by names like Lermentov, Sholokov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Gogol and Dostoevsky. I even remember meeting a guy in the 70s who always had a fat Russian novel in his back pocket! Bookstores carried half a dozen of these Russian authors on their front shelves. Not like that anymore. Recently I came across the following book written by Russian philosopher and writer Nikolai Chernyshevsky in 1863 while he was in jail for subversive ideas in Czarist Russia. I decided to give it a read, all 500 pages!

Ii is about a young man (Lopukhov) who rescues a beautiful young woman (Vera Pavlona) from her controlling mother who is trying to marry her off to a rich man she hates. She suffers immensely under her mother’s control and Lopukhov takes pity on her and falls in love. He helps her move out, find a job and eventually they get married.

However their relationship is somewhat stilted in that they agree to sleep in separate rooms and only get together in a neutral middle room. After a few years, she has a dream where she falls in love with her husband’s best friend (Kirsanov). After she tells her husband of this dream, he senses that it is true and that his best friend loves Vera too. He is so concerned for his wife’s (and friend’s) happiness that he decides to get out of their way by faking his own suicide. She is then free and indeed does marry her new paramour Kirsanov without feelings of guilt. They both are very happy.

But that is not the end. Lukanov comes back disguised as an American and marries the daughter of a formerly rich man in St. Petersburg. They get together with the Kirsanovs socially and become the best of friends. Both couples end up living next door to each other in harmony and friendship. A highly complicated and unlikely plot you say? I agree. How does someone ever think of this kind of story?

One of the themes in the book is how can a young woman properly discern the needs of a man she meets in order to decide if she should marry him, when she herself has little life experience? Another is the need for women and men to first develop their minds through reading, study and discipline in order to assume a productive life that will benefit society. While married to Lopukhov, Vera starts up a very successful seamstress business built on revolutionary cooperative principles where no one person owns the company and all employees share in the profits.

Then another character appears briefly who is sent by Lopukov without any prior instruction to speak to Vera before she decides to marry Kirsanov. His name is Rakhmetov and he becomes the moral compass of the novel. Born of rich parents, he renounces his wealth, educates himself and develops extreme self discipline. He sleeps on a bed of nails literally, abstains from romantic relationships and alcohol and lives in poverty by choice.

He’s a contrast to Lopukhov and Kirsanov, who are rational and kind but still live fairly ordinary lives with love and comfort. Rakhmetov is on a whole other level — the embodiment of absolute revolutionary purity. His character becomes the blueprint for the future “revolutionary” type in Russian literature and politics.

Xi Jinping, China’s Premier recently quoted Rakhmetov’s influence on him personally in an interesting article here….So this apparently unreadable book has long been an inspiration for current and previous Communist leaders/revolutionaries. Wow, what a tribute to this book.

This book is really about the search for social, economic and political reform in 19th century Russia. A great read in my view, 9 out of 10 stars since Cehernevsky does ramble on at times.

(In 1864, Chernyshevski was sentenced to seven years of hard labor, followed by exile in Siberia. He spent over two decades in harsh conditions, which severely affected his health. In 1883, he was allowed to return to European Russia, and died in Saratov at the age of 61 (per ChatGPT)

This detailed history of Open Options in Waterloo, ON mentions Tom Mitchell, CEO. I worked with him briefly at Imperial Oil back in the mid 70s. Article fails to mention Dr Gerry Sullivan, a cofounder of Open Options, who was in my engineering class at U of Waterloo. I would have really enjoyed working with these guys.

From the Globe and Mail: 16,777,236 – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/16777236/article1353357/

In 1957 or 58, I briefly attended Hilson Ave Public School in Ottawa’s west end near Island Park Drive. We were living on nearby Northwestern Ave while our new house on Georgina Dr further west was being completed. I was in grade 2 or 3.

After school I would walk home east along the sidewalk. I remember very clearly a tall stone wall that sheltered some kind of institution behind. You could not see anything at all – just the big wall. I remember wondering who is in there and what are they doing? It was a big mystery until recently.

The other day I drove by. The area has been developed now, the wall is gone and you can walk right up beside what I have since learned was the Monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary. It’s very interesting history is documented here.

Wow, a cloistered group of nuns – as many as 60 of them – spent their whole adult life in total silence, dedicated to the love of God. In today’s secular world, it is hard to believe that just a generation ago, religion was that strongly embedded in our culture and that many of these places existed and thrived.

I found an absolutely fascinating video where in 1981, local journalist Charlotte Gobeil visited the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood contemplative monastery also in Ottawa, to show to the outside world what these sisters’ life was like. A little long, and sometimes awkward due to the language issues, it is well worth the watch here.

All this makes me wonder how important religion still is to Canadians. Very much so it seems when it comes to baptisms, weddings and funerals. Less so in terms of regular church attendance. Religion is largely a private affair in Canada and nowhere as culturally embedded or as participatory as it is in Mexico where there are religious festivals, shrines and images everywhere.

The Sisters of the Visitation of Mary were a beautiful Order but largely gone now. But so too is that wall. Hopefully the site will be preserved.

I am posting this link to series of blogs in 2013 in France and Spain I wrote entitled The Path is Made in Walking: click here.

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e52bf5c769d52bebc64c0cc2b8f1793e9f1eacb45ce5a4c47490d98d9e88b63a/ZYRNRL5HAJDMVLI3YDDMABCCDM

We certainly agree with this article.

Well, I didn’t know this. Have to get some.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/food/mexico-modelo-especial-has-become-americas-favorite/

In honour of International Taco Day March 31.

Read about it here.

We were at Teotihuacan 2 weeks ago. It was magnificent. I agree with the ban on climbing the pyramids here and at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan.

Why can’t you climb the pyramids at Teotihuacán anymore? https://t.co/Ea62Io4MoA via @Mexico News Daily https://x.com/morgandw1/status/1905959740561076477?s=66&t=Gbbsz_2CYn_ArIs7lIDizA

In 1978 I visited Guatemala City briefly on my way home from Brazil. I remember researching places to stop at and for some reason, I chose here. It was a short interesting stay.

I remember being at a restaurant where some other tourists were loudly complaining that the Coca Cola was different here lol. I remember asking the hotel concierge where is a good bar to go for the evening. He directed me to a place that I went to where I was the only one there. I was probably too early as Latin Americans are notorious late nighters not eating dinner until 10 or later at night!

The third thing I remember was while walking around the city, a number of public buildings were damaged and under repair. When I looked into this, I found out there had been a major earthquake in Guatemala two years earlier.

Here is that tragic story:

I must admit it was an interesting place to visit but my whirlwind stop was too short to get to know the place and its people. The few photos I took are reproduced below. Enjoy

Read this article about CDMX air quality in 1978. I was there briefly then and can attest to the problem. I remember walking by the Palacio des Bellas Artes and literally choking. I was a smoker then and it was impossible to smoke because the air was so polluted. Lol but not really.

On our most recent visit, the air was not noticeably polluted however due to the elevation of 2240 m above sea level, the air is thinner. One can get winded pretty easily when climbing a hill or several sets of stairs.

Another peculiarity is that there are no visible bugs like flys, bees or mosquitoes in CDMX, at least when we were there in March. Why is this so? Well here is the answer.

We had our windows open with no screens and never a bug or fly did we see. Same in Nuevo Vallarta. We leave our screen free balcony door open 24/7 and only extremely rarely would a fly or bee be seen inside the condo.

So another nice thing about Mexico – no bugs for the most part. However there are no see ems on the beach that bite that Marie can attest to. Hasta luego.

Dave