Ukrainian Root Cellar Photography Series

during the ten years i’ve worked processing and printing black and white photography, first in America then in Sicilia, I sought high quality equipment and a darkroom well suited for printing ‘professional level’ photographs. when, five years ago, I abandoned my comfortable American life to follow my dream of living abroad, my point of view began to change. this transition was a process of asking myself, ‘What can I do without?’ I began enjoying a sense of ‘lightness’ in being freed of many possessions. after making the move to Sicilia the question became, ‘How might I maximize the use of a thing rather than buying a new one?’ by example, I made the trip from Siracusa to Софіївка (Sofìevka), Ukraine on a vintage ‘70’s bicycle salvaged from the trash and I constructed travel bags from a piece of luggage given to me by my mother in 1969 together with two suitcases destined for the trash. I find this practice expresses my creativity and results in more self-satisfaction than does going to the mall to buy new stuff.

following this philosophy, I printed the photographs for my recent Ukrainian exhibit on photography paper which expired in the ‘80’s, with a poorly equipped, discarded enlarger, in a damp root cellar where dust and pieces of dirt fall continually – all a nightmare for a photographer. instead of concerning myself with the problems I embraced the limitations with a ‘lets see what happens’ attitude. the result wasn’t a big surprise – prints with little contrast, irregular consistency and filled with dust spots. rather than lamenting the ‘non-professional quality’ of the prints, I find pleasure in having done an unique work (copies of the prints with the same imperfections would not be possible), using obsolete equipment and materials (thus considered useless), in an environment poorly suited as a darkroom. these photographs look as though they might have been stored for fifty years (behind the beets and potatoes), in that same Ukrainian root cellar. however, there’s a certain fascination within these imperfections and through the imperfections one discerns the true spirit of each image. might we learn to view not only our material surroundings from this vantage point but even ourselves and one another? consumerism and the advertising industry insist that we cut out the blemishes and throw away the old, yet in doing so we loose characteristics that hold individuality and charm in our lives. 

these unique ‘Ukrainian Root Cellar’ prints are now on sale and 100% of the purchase price will go to the continuation of our bicycle voyage – first to Ясная Поляна / Yasnaya Polyana, the home of Lev Tolstoy near Tula, Russian, followed by the big jump to North America where we plan to offer a series of workshops and presentations of our philosophy put to practice.

available are sixteen prints (see numbers 1 - 16), in 20cm X 30cm format on fiber base silver gelatin paper (which was made in Ukraine in 1984). each print is signed and titled on the reverse side. they are priced at 75 euros each plus shipping. also available are thirty-eight prints (numbers 17 - 54), in 16cm X 24cm format. they are printed on a light-weight Ukrainian resin coated paper and priced at 30 euros each plus shipping.

to place an order please email me (sonoliam@yahoo.it) indicating  the desired print/s, your name, mailing address and skype contact (if available). I will return an email confirming the total charge with shipping and the procedure for transfer of funds.

Valentina and I are very grateful for the spiritual and financial support you’ve given us during the months on the road and your continued support as we pause for the Ukrainian winter in preparation for another phase of the voyage.

in peace,

Liam and Valentina

p.s. my second grandchild, ‘Ben’ Decker is to be born in February. yet another motivation for bringing the show to America as soon as possible!

19.10.10 – happy birthday clara!

we’re in our eleventh week in Софіївка / Sofievka. it seems like so many years.
I’ve passed the time, for the most part, trapped in the fear of my early
childhood – my fear of anger and conflict. during my forth decade I worked to
liberate myself from this fear – a work I consider one the most important of my
life, but I obviously missed something. perhaps this is my reason for being here
– to finish the work, to put to rest my fear of anger and conflict.


the week we arrived, 9.8.10, they arrived also the sister of Valentina’s father
with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild. during most of that week there
were also Valentina’s sister, Татяпа/ Tatyana, with her husband and daughter.
the tension grew between Valentina (and me by proximity) on one side and all the
rest on the other. it reached a peak at the end of the second week when
Valentina and I were on our way to plant a tree by her father’s grave. Татяпаwas
here that day. she and her mother were adamantly against us planting the tree.
they began yelling and screaming that we must abandon the idea. I had been calm
and quiet to that point but finally lost my temper and asked if Valentina’s
father, Victor was undeserving of a real tree but only plastic flowers? (I’m
known for my quiet, gentle nature but when a situation becomes volatile I’m
capable of saying very hurtful words. perhaps the contrast makes the pain even
more dramatic.) Valentina translated and for that she received the slap in the
face meant for me. we left to plant the walnut tree and returned to hear that we
had a week to pack our things and leave. I was ready to leave and willing to
sleep the winter in a ditch only to be free of the tension, anger, contempt and
bitter arguing.




the next day I looked at the situation outside the light of my own fear and
discomfort and decided to make an attempt at peace for the sake of us parting on
somewhat decent terms. I asked Valentina’s mother to allow me a few words
(translated of course by Valentina). I first apologized for my cruel words. I
then went on to acknowledge the hard work she does here day after day and the
loneliness she must feel since her husband’s death almost two years ago. I told
her that our intention for coming here had been to help her with her work and to
do what we could to make her home more functional and comfortable. I told her
the story of the troubled relationship I had with my father, the ten years I
worked to resolve that relationship, the resulting healthy report we had in the
final years of his life and the value this has in my life. I finished by saying
that when a pattern of interaction is established, in their case for almost
forty years, it becomes extremely difficult to change. it necessitates a strong
willingness from both sides. having set a tone of harmony and trust, I left the
two of them to talk.




being the middle child of five I often assume the role of mediator and often
this role is chosen not by me but by a pair of people in conflict over their
opposing points of view. I feel pressure from each of them to choose alliance
and prove the other at fault. this is not the case in my mediation between
Valentina and her mother. my function is clearly that of an objective third
party outside the realm of their history of disaccord.


after they had talked for an hour or two Valentina told me that her mother
wanted us to stay and offered a wardrobe for our clothes and a space for us to
sleep (to this point, by choice, we had been sleeping outside). that moment for
me was great victory. the work I’ve done for ‘peace’; anti-war protests, letters
and visits to senators and congressmen, all pales aside this first big step
toward the peace between a mother and daughter. I was elated and inspired to
actively purse this work in the future.


as one may predict, the peace was short-lived. as we began to organize our
belongings in the space allotted, the change was too much for Любовь/ Lubov. she
became furious saying that it no longer seeded like her home. again she said
we’d have to leave.
after a few hours of cool-down I asked her what things bothered her the most.
she responded, our photographs and the fact that we chose to sleep on the floor
like ‘gypsies’. I removed the fotos and bedding from the floor and she consented
to give it another try.


several unhealthy weeks passed with attempts, at times successful at times not,
to dodge Lubov’s irascibility. I reverted to the emotional state of an
eight-year-old. trying to make myself invisible I looked for work in protected
spaces - the well, attics, roof tops, root cellar. the well was my favorite.
it’s not actually a well but an underground storage tank for water - a home-made
concrete cylinder two and a half meters deep and a meter and a half in diameter.
the entrance is a standard manhole. it first had to be cleaned (Valentina
insisted taking that job), the cracks patched, then entirely coated with a thin
layer of cement applied with a brush. the acoustic is particular and, using my
voice and the cement bucket, I enjoyed finding the resonant frequencies and
playing with them. it was the ultimate protection from the negativity permeating
the above ground environment thus allowing me a few hours to ‘ground’ myself a
bit.


it was during this tense period that Lubov appeared in a dream. the setting was
a small gathering of people in the kitchen (the ‘house’ functions by way of two
separate buildings – the larger one consists of three bedrooms around a small
living space with a coal stove, the other includes the kitchen, a former stable
now storage shed and a chicken coop). there was music playing and Lubov asked me
to dance. I felt awkward and said I wanted to dance instead with Valentina.
Lubov was offended and became angry.




15 October was the opening of our photography show at the Каховка/ Kahovka
museum. there are sixteen 20cm X 30cm framed prints and forty-nine 18cm X 24cm
prints attached with clothes-pins to two pieces of hemp twine stretched
diagonally on one wall. following the philosophy of making the trip from
Siracusa, Sicilia to Софіївка, Ukraine on a vintage ‘70’s bicycle salvaged from
the trash with travel bags constructed from a canvas bag given to me by my
mother in 1969 together with two trashed suitcases, I printed the photographs
for this exhibit on paper expired in the ‘80’s, with a poorly equipped enlarger
in a damp root cellar where dust and pieces of dirt fall continually – all a
nightmare for a photographer. instead of concerning myself with the problems I
embraced the limitations with an attitude of curiosity – ‘lets see what
happens’. the result wasn’t a big surprise – prints with little contrast,
irregular consistency and filled with dust spots. rather than being embarrassed
for the ‘non-professional quality’ of the prints, I find pleasure in having done
an unique work (it’s not possible to print copies with the same imperfections)
using obsolete equipment and materials (thus considered useless), in an
environment poorly suited as a darkroom. the prints look like photographs that
were stored in a corner of that same root cellar for fifty years. there’s a
certain fascination within these imperfections and through the imperfections you
discern the true spirit of each image.


in addition to prints, the opening was to consist of a slide show and discussion
of our trip. the curator had agreed to ‘light-proof’ the room and hang a screen
for the projections, however, she did neither. we came to know this on the day
of the opening without the time or materials to remedy the problems ourselves.
fortunately the curator had read the newspaper article and prepare an
introduction and some good questions for our presentation. not having done any
publicity for the event i expected three or four people to arrive -instead there
were thirty or forty. it was a different presentation than we had planned but it
went very well the same.




two days later Valentina’a mother, Lubov invited a couple of her friends for
lunch - one accompanied by her brother the ‘designated driver’. with the high
vodka consumption here i didn’t think the DD concept existed but the man said
his son is a highway patrol officer so he has to be on his best behavior. at the
lunch, in addition to Lubov and her three friends, there were Valentina’s
sister, Tatyana with her daughter, Veronika, the neighbor, Katerina (whom I
wrote about last time – she’s the mother of Valentina’s friend Roman, she sings
and plays accordion) and the other neighbor, Shura who is well into her 70’s and
a widow for over 30 years. Valentina does not tolerate well a party of vodka
drinkers so she didn’t want to participate in the lunch party. with difficulty i
convinced her to join the table for the sake of cultivating the peace between
she and her mother. a lot of vodka did in fact go down that afternoon. excluding
of Valentina, me and the DD who drank only tea, the group consumed five liters –
almost a liter per person. they asked me to sing and play guitar which i did.
then Katerina and i played the piece i wrote during the trip and she continued
to play and sing traditional Ukrainian songs with others joining in from time to
time. at a certain point Lubov stood up, said, ‘Liam!’, raised her right hand
with the other on her hip poised for a dance. unlike my dream i did not refuse
her. being an ungifted dancer i did what i could to follow along for a turn or
two in the kitchen. she later said that it was her first time to dance since her
husband’s death and shed some tears.




the days following our presentation at the museum and the five liter vodka lunch
have been lighter – less tension, less conflict. the three of us have begun to
eat lunch together almost every day. Lubov has begun to converse with Valentina
in a calm, respectable manner. she recounts to us stories of the past – when her
husband Victor was alive, when the children were small. there occasionally
arises criticism, conflict, anger but it seems less intense and finds resolution
more quickly. she doesn’t understand why we read, write, make photographs,
travel by bicycle, decorate the house, follow a vegetarian diet, don’t drink
vodka, sleep on the floor. it all seem to her useless, strange and sometime
exasperating. yet little by little she seems to tolerate our odd behavior.
little by little i let go of the eight-year old boy hiding from his father’s
irascibility. we have yet to endure the long and bitter Ukrainian winter.




with love and peace, Liam and Valentina

28.8.10 Saturday, Софиевка / Sofievka

- the following is a letter I sent to my American friend, Erin Grace. I include it here as an update of our life in Ukraine and as an open appeal for help in bringing our project to North America.

querida erin grace,

I guess you’ve heard or read that we arrived at our Ukrainian destination – the home of Valentina’s mother, Любовь /Lubov (her name means ‘love’). As planned, we’ll be here through spring, however, there’s still the sense that the trip is in progress. In certain ways this stretch of the trip is the most difficult - coping with the infirmed psychology left behind by the oppressive soviet regime.. This task is further complicated by the widespread abuse of vodka – a few shots with breakfast, lunch and diner. Meeting new people and sharing a limited time of international brotherhood is much easier than delving into the painful patterns of a long established illness.. While working for world peace may be a noble endeavor, searching for peace in a troubled relationship is the work of saints. 

Софиевка / Sofievka is what’s left of a small town most of which is now under water. In 1951 the river was flooded by a hydroelectric dam 35km down stream from here. Now there are only a couple of hundred houses on dirt streets. The houses with habitants each have three dogs on chains (who bark continuously the whole night through) and many of these have cows and goats as well.

In January 2009 Valentina was here for her father’s funeral. Due to the circumstance she left Sicilia without renewing her expired permesso di soggiorno which meant there was a big question regarding her return. I was prepared to join her here, however, she later told me that she was prepared to prevent me from coming because she thought I wouldn’t be able to survive the oppressive mentality. When we decided to do the bike trip I guess she thought that if I were strong enough to make it here on bicycle I might be strong enough (at least for a limited time) to handle the negativity. During our first two weeks here I had strong doubts and was ready to hit the road again (in whatever direction) and see how far we might get before the bad weather hit. Now I seem to have found a way to cope with the situation without letting it drain all my energy. I’m blessed to have a relationship in which we help each other through difficulties and don’t let the stress come between us. We’ve never verbalized our sentiments for one another with the words ‘I love you, ti amo, я тебя люблю’. Instead we say ‘thank you, grazie, спасибо’, for all we do for one another, for the joy, the pleasure, the challenges and difficulties we share, for the interesting, ever changing life we’ve created together.   

It also helps having work to do and there’s a never ending string of ‘little projects’ for me – fixing broken windows, furniture, roofs, electric switches/plugs/fixtures/wires, dismantling and salvaging wood of a barn (I just heard a big crash and the scream of Valentina. I ran outside in panic and saw that what remained of the barn had collapsed - a wall, the roof and columns. She was exiting the outhouse only two meters from the point of impact - scream justified. A few minutes before, we had moved the adjacent doghouse and dog a safe distance away.) and, when necessary, I work in the huge vegetable garden. As always I like varied activities.

It would be unfair of me not to mention the amenities we have here in Софиевка / Sofievka – very nice neighbors, an abundance of fresh organic produce (we have strawberries and seven varieties of grapes in season now), delicious water from 30 meters underground, and the tranquility of the countryside (A few years ago I would have also listed as an amenity the wild cannabis, which grows profusely here, but now the strange reality of my ordinary daily life is much more interesting than a drug-induced state).

Our article in the Каховка / Kahovka (the small city 20km from Софиевка) newspaper was published today (26.8.10). It’s a great article in that it expresses well our philosophy, lifestyle and motivation for the trip. The only glaring error is that in my list of professions and hobbies they included ‘plumber’. I said it as a joke and thought I had made that clear that it was only a joke. By now I might have learned that one mustn’t joke with journalists or custom agents. The newspaper will sponsor (logistically rather than financially) a show for us next month to coincide with the city’s birthday festival. They will also ask permission for me to use the darkroom facility at the local police station to print some black and white images. During the trip I shot twenty rolls of color slide film and only six rolls of black and white. I sent the slide film to Kiev for processing. I asked that they not mount them as slides but leave the film in one continues strip. I have in mind to use a filmstrip projector from the ’50 and buy a negative scanner to convert to digital, both the color and black and white images, for printing and Internet use. Rather than it being just a photography exhibit, our show will be a type of workshop to recount the trip from three points of view: the kindness and generosity of the people along the way, the simplicity of our environmental-friendly life style (including food preparation), with small steps one can cover a great distance.

When the spring weather again permits bicycle travel we plan to continue to Tula, Russia (by way of Kiev), to the home of Lev Tolstoy. From there we hope to find an important link with North America, namely the Духоборцы(Duhabortsie). In the late 19^th century this religious group of pacifists was severely persecuted by the czarist government for their refusal of military service. In 1897, when Lev Tolstoy was nominated the Nobel Peace Prize he appealed to the Stockholm committee to award the prize instead to the Духоборцы. They followed his wish and the prize money permitted the emigration (exile) of 10,000 members of the group to Canada. We want to go to Canada to find the descendants and document, in some manner, their life there. For this and a subsequent workshop tour in America (to schools, peace/ecology organizations, whomever) we need funding. Now here’s the important question: Where and how do we begin this process of obtaining sponsorship for the trip to Canada and the American workshop tour? I pose this question to you, Your Grace, because in addition to you being a very dear friend, you’ve had experience and success obtaining grants/funding for your education and projects. Thank you in advance for any and all help you may be in realizing our project and bringing Valentina to America to meet my dear family and friends and experience the abundant beauty of nature there.

with much affection,

 liam del mar

Аскания нова nature park

Ukrainian cows

8.8.10 tuesday – cофиевка, Ukraine

Istanbul the first time – sunday 24.7.10
when on 9.7.10 we arrived in Istanbul for the first time it was with a victorious sentiment. we thought we had most likely accomplished the most difficult half of the trip. it was amazing to have traveled 2,000km by our own power to, for us, an exotic new world. our host, Deniz and her fiancÈ, Bora showered us with warmth, kindness and generosity – introducing us to family and friends, escorting us to parties and the hamam (Turkish bath), providing free dental care and opening their hearts to us in friendship. we left in tears as Deniz ‘poured water’ after us as a traditional wish for a safe journey and an eventual return. we headed to the Bulgarian border at Derekoy with our plan to arrive in Ukraine via Bulgaria and Romania. however, the Bulgarian border police said that it would be necessary for Valentina to apply for a special visa in either Istanbul, 250km behind us, or Edirne, 100km to the west. we chose to go the 100km to Edirne but when we arrived at the Bulgarian embassy there we were told that the visa could only be obtained from the embassy in Istanbul and might take a week or more and could end up being expensive. it was the low point of the trip and robed us of much energy (it took it’s toll on the tricycle as well – in that 500km segment the universal joint failed and then the drive shaft). fortunately we were uplifted by the wonderful encounter in the little village on the outskirts of Babaeski with the farm workers, their children and elderly, their animals, their warmth, acceptance, trust, generosity and smiles.

Istanbul the second time and the princessa elena – giovedÏ 29.7.10
we returned to Istanbul with the sole purpose of finding passage on a ship to Cremea, Ukraine. a peninsula reaching into the black sea, it’s the southern extreme of Ukraine and so, the closest point to Istanbul. there was only one ship going anywhere in Ukraine that week – the Princessa Elena, a small cargo/passenger ship built in China in 1991. my guess was that it had to have been built in the 1920’s and I still have my doubts but the captain insisted that 1991 was the actual year of its birth. the accommodations were extremely modest on the 36 hour voyage but this is as close as we’ll ever get to a Black Sea cruise. there was an actual dining room serving breakfast, lunch and dinner (included in the ticket price of $180US per person). however, the upper deck inflatable ‘swimming pool’ was filled twice a day.

Cевастополь – 31.7.10
Princessa Elena’s only stop was Cевастополь. we had hoped to go instead to Ялта, where the mountains meet the sea. we seriously considered biking there - 100km east of —евастополь. in the end we decided to not press our luck with the tricycle in the mountains again and headed north. having been prepared for the impoverished and out-dated Ukraine I was surprised by the modern cosmopolitan look of —Севастополь. historically speaking it's like our Siracusa in that it's a Greek city founded in the fifth century BC.
Аскания-нова, nature park – friday 6.8.10
our one detour in the final stretch of the trip was to visit the nature park atАскания-нова. it was founded in the 1800's by a german man and hosts many endangered species.
the last night of the trip - friday 6.8.10
it was almost dark when we stopped to sleep in the little village ofАрхангельская слобода. while searching for a place to put the tent we met a woman named Нина walking with her child. she suggested that we sleep near the stadium where she works. there was a spot between the birch trees and a field of wild flowers. Нина brought us drinking water and hot water for the thermos for breakfast the next morning. she even returned in the morning at 6am to make sure that all went well on the last night of our trip. we woke saturday morning 7.8.10 before the dawn to eat and prepare the bikes. before leaving, Valentina picked a bouquet of flowers (the common Ukrainian name for those flowers means ‘without death’ because they keep their color even after they dry.) she tied the bouquet on the basket of the tricycle and we left to do the final 25km of our trip to the home of Любовь, Valentina’s mother.
the road along the canal was quiet so we went along side-by-side talking. she told me that her father,Виктор worked for several years with the bulldozer digging the irrigation canal and she told me about the time when she was ten years old and went with him to work. ‘there was a happy atmosphere among the workers – perhaps more so that day due to the presence of Виктор’s little girl. in the van gathering the workers they let me sound the horn for each departure. there was a place covered with flowers were the workers gathered. a man came toward me to ask – ‘do you know who made this floral beauty here?’ he then responded with a wide smile – your father Виктор!’ I passed the entire day at work with my father – a rare and unforgettable experience for a ten year old girl.’
someone along the road said that we should cross the third bridge over the canal to reach the road to Cофиевка. from that point I followed Valentina and we continued in silence. I saw the sign for the small road to Cофиевка – 2km. we turned and continued in silence. after a kilometer she turned on to a small dirt road and I saw ahead a cemetery. she had told me earlier that the last kilometer was a dirt road and I thought that it just happen to pass the cemetery on the way to Любовь’s. instead we entered the gates of the cemetery and I realized that our first stop was to be Виктор’s grave. it was an emotional and sad moment. she took the bouquet of flowers from the tricycle basket and tied them next to Виктор’s photograph. after the emotions calmed she showed me the graves of other family members and friends.

we then returned to the road for Cофиевка, a small village on the big Днепр river. the asphalt soon came to an end and we proceeded by foot on the badly eroded dirt road to the home of Любовь arriving at 09,30 sabato 7.8.10. we rang our bicycle bells and waited for her to open the gate where we greeted one another with hugs and kisses. a few minutes later the neighbors arrived, Cергей and  атерина, the parents of Valentina’s musician friend, Pоман. they asked me to sing some American songs. I took the guitar from my bike but when I began to sing, all the emotions came out – the realization of finally being here at Любовь’s home after 67 days and 3,000km, all that we did along the way, all that we saw and all those we had met. I burst into tears and couldn’t sing any more. (at that point  атерина said - Valentina told me that the people accepted that I’m a sensitive, good man.) I gave the guitar to Cергей and he and  атерина sang some spirited Ukrainian songs in harmony.
soon Valentina’s sister“Tатьяана (with whom I had already had several skype visits and a sense of friendship) arrived with her husband, Виталий and daughter Вероника. we began straight away with work projects. we talked about the possibility of putting a sink with running water in the house. in the garden there’s already an electric pump and a 30 meter deep well with delicious water but no running water inside the house. also we’d like to build a wood burning bread oven in the kitchen. in the mean time we’re doing small restoration projects, exterior painting and there’s always lots work to do in the vegetable garden and kitchen.
last night (monday 9.8.10) Лидия, Valentina’s aunt arrived with her daughter Рита and Рита’s husband, Саша and their fourteen month old, Елена. they’ll all be here for a few days. unfortunately the baby is frightened by my beard and runs away every time she sees me. just after dawn Valentina and I, Любовь, Лидия e Шура (the kind elderly neighbor) went to the cemetery to clean the graves of relatives. after the work was done we ate breakfast there with the dead relatives.

now (wednesday 11.8.10) are in Каховка, 20km from Софиевка, to email this to Charles Ellis for the blog. I’d like to close with a memory of the trip that for me is a metaphor for all the kindness, generosity and acceptance we encountered throughout the 3,000km and four countries we traveled (we won’t mention our misadventure in Bulgaria). we were in Saray, Turkey for our lunch break resting under the trees near a middle school when we saw a woman coming towards up with a tray with a glass platter filled with slices of watermelon. there were forks and knives and napkins - all served in the most respectable manner. in that moment I remembered a excerpt from Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-ExupÈry. after 14 days lost in the Sahara desert without food or water he saw a man from a camel caravan coming towards him with a container of water. in that moment Saint Ex saw that man not as only one man but as all of humanity and he had a feeling not of being saved but of being forgiven and that there did not exist even one enemy in all the world.
alive and stronger to led a hand to others, Liam+Valentina

l’ultima notte del viaggio - venerdÏ 6.8.10

era quasi buio venerdÏ sera quando siamo fermati al paesino diАрхангельская слобода per dormire. mentre cercando un posto abbiamo incontrato una signora con il bambino. lei, si chiamaНина, ci ha consigliato di mettere la tenda vicino lo stadio dove lavora lei. c'era un bel posto tra le betulle e un campo di mille fiori. Нина ci ha portato l'acqua da bere ed anche l'acqua calda per la colazione ed e' tornata alle sei indomani per essere sicura che la nostra ultima notte del viaggio e' andata bene. ci siamo svegliati prima dell'alba per mangiare e sistemare le bici e prima di andarcene, Valentina ha raccolto un mazzo di fiori (il nome popolare ucraino per quei fiori significa ‘senza la morte’ perchÈ anche quando sono secchi non perdono il colore). l’ha collegato sul cesto del triciclo e ce ne siamo andati per fare gli ultimi 25 chilometri del nostro viaggio fino alla casa di Любовь, la mamma di Valentina.
la stradina lungo il canale era tranquilla cosÏ camminavamo a fianco parlando. ha detto che suo padre,Виктор ha fatto anni di lavoro con il bulldoser scavando il canale d'irrigazione e ha raccontato di una volta che quando aveva dieci anni lei Ë andata con lui per un giorno di lavoro. ‘tra gli operai c’era l’atmosfera allegra – forse ancora di pi_ per la presenza della bambina di Виктор. in furgone per raccogliere gli operai hanno lasciato a me la responsabilita' di suonare il clacson per ogni partenza. c’era un posto fiorito dove gli operai si univano. un uomo mi ha avvicinato per domandarmi - e ha risposto da solo con un sorriso ampio - Виктор!> ho passato tutto il giorno di lavoro con mio padre – un'occasione rara e indimenticabile per una bambina da dieci anni.’
qualcuno per la strada ci ha detto che per prendere la strada per Софиевка avremmo dovuto attraversare il canale al terzo ponte. da quello punto ho seguita Valentina e siamo proseguito in silenzio. ho visto il cartello per la stradina per Софиевка – due chilometri. l’abbiamo presa e sempre in silenzio l’ho seguita. dopo un chilometro lei ha girato a sinistra su una stradina di polvere. ho saputo prima che l’ultima chilometro per la casa di Любовь Ë una di polvere. dopo centro metri ho visto il cimitero e pensavo che fosse stato per caso accanto quella stradina. invece siamo entrati nel cimitero e ho reso conto che sarebbe arrivati davanti la tomba di Виктор. era proprio cosÏ e era addirittura un momento emotivo e triste. lei ha preso il mazzo di fiori e l'ha collegato accanto la foto del padre. dopo essere stata ripresa mi ha fatto vedere le tombe degli altri parenti ed amici. quindi siamo tornati alla strada per Софиевка, un paesino accanto il gran fiume Днепр. tra un po’ l’asfaltata Ë finita e abbiamo fatto a piedi la stradina rovinata fino alla casa di Любовь la quale siamo arrivati alle 09,30 sabato 7.8.10. abbiamo suonato i nostri campanelli da bici aspettando fino a che non Ë uscita del cancello Любовь e ci siamo salutati con abbracci e baci. tra pochi minuti sono arrivati i vicini di casa, Сергей e  Катерина, i genitori dell'amico musicista di Valentina, Роман. mi hanno chiesto di suonare qualche canzone americane cosi' ho preso la chitarra. pero' quando ho cominciato di cantare tutta le emozioni sono uscite – per esserci finalmente a casa di Любовь dopo sessanta sette giorni e cerca tre mila chilometri in bici, tutto che abbiamo fatto, tutto che abbiamo visto, tutti che abbiamo incontrato. ho scoppiato in lacrime e non ho potuto cantare di piu. (a quel punto  атерина ha detto - Valentina mi hadetto che la gente ha accettato che io sono un uomo sensibile e buono.) ho ceduto la chitarra a Сергей e lui e  Катерина hanno cantato spiritosamente qualche canzone ucraine pure con la bella armonia.
quindi sono arrivati la sorella di Valentina, "Татьяана (con chi ho gia' parlato diverse volte sul skype cosÏ avevamo gi‡ il rapporto d’amicizia) con suo marito, Виталий e la figlia, Вероника. abbiamo cominciato subito coi progetti di lavoro. abbiamo parlato della possibilita' di mettere dentro la casa un lavandino con il tubo per l’acqua – nel giardino c’e' gia' la pompa elettrica e il pozzo di trenta metri di profondita' con l’acqua buonissima. anche vorremmo costruire in cucina il forno da legna per il pane. nel fra tempo facciamo un po’ del restauro e pittura fuori la casa e c’e' sempre da fare con l’orto e la cucina.

ieri sera (lunedÏ 9.8.10) sono arrivati Лидия, la zia di Valentina e sua figlia, Рита con il marito, Саша e loro bimba da quattordici mesi, Елена. tutti stanno qui per qualche giorni. purtroppo la bimba Ë spaventata dalla mia barba cosÏ corre via ogni volta che mi vede. stamattina prestissimo (martedÏ 10.8.10) siamo andati - io, Valentina, Любовь, Лидия e Шура (la vecchietta simpatica vicina di casa) – al cimitero per pulire le tombe dei parenti. dopo il lavoro abbiamo mangiato la prima colazione con i parenti morti.

domani abbiamo programma di andare in bici a  Каховка, 20km da qui, per spedire questo racconto a Charles Ellis per il blog. vorrei chiudere con un bel ricordo del viaggio che per me e' una metafora per tutta la gentilezza di cui siamo stati trattati tra i quattro paesi (non parliamo della nostra sventura in Bulgaria) e i 3,000km. eravamo a Saray, Turchia per la pausa di pranzo riposando sotto gli alberi vicino una scuola media quando abbiamo visto una signora che ci stava avvicinando con un vasoio con un piatto di vetro pieno delle fette di anguria. c'erano anche le forchette, i coltelli e i tovaglioli – ci ha servito con gli onori. in quel momento ho ricordato un brano del Terra degli uomini, da Antoine de Saint-ExupÈry. dopo quattordici giorni perduto nel deserto Sahara senza cibo nÈ acqua lui ha visto un uomo che lo stava avvicinando con un contenitore d'acqua. in quel momento Sante Ex ha visto quel uomo non come un uomo solo invece come tutta l'umanita'. e non ha provato il sentimento di essere salvato invece di essere perdonato e non esisteva nessun nemico nel mondo intero.

vivi e piu forti per dare la mano agli altri, Liam+Valentina

3.7.10 Tuesday - Evpatori, Ukraine

we are in Evpatori on the west coast of Cremea. it's a big change for me here. the people don't greet us or respond to our greetings as they did in Italy, Greece and Turkey. we are taking a direct route to Kahovka (Valentina's home town) because there's an important part on the tricycle that sounds like it's ready to break and we've already used up all the spare parts. we want to arrive in Kahovka by our own power. it's very hot and humid so our pace is slow. we hope to arrive home in five or six days.

hugs to all, liam+valentina