So the building I live in is U shaped. The courtyard in the middle is quite nice. Lots of nice tall trees. The kind that produce all the pukh we expats cant stop talking about.
It swirls and blows in circles. The air is thick with it. I think it is called pukh because that is the sound you make when it flies up your nose or gets stuck in your throat. (ok, really it means fluff, but whatever)
Even the nanny (who, as you know take babies out in minus 0F weather) suggested we keep Natasha inside. And you KNOW when a Russian nanny suggests going inside as opposed to staying outside, it is a problem.
It gets trapped in our courtyard so it gathers in great snow-drift piles along the curbs and edges of the courtyard and playground.
What is a maintenance guy/groundskeeper to do?
Why, whip out your lighter and set it on fire, of course!
Now, I appreciate getting rid of it - and I must admit it is pretty cool to watch it burst into flame and spread faster than you can imagine then smolder out as quick as it started. It burns faster than hair. Have you ever seen hair burn? Imagine a packed to the gills church, midnight easter service, and kids holding candles for hours. Yeah, I have seen hair burn.
It is just he does it while I am out with Natasha. (which to be fair I am out with her a lot)
She is as fascinated as I am.
and she is getting fast.
almost faster than me!
I mentioned it to Leo and he says that you could sit in a huge pile of it, set it on fire and you wouldnt burn because it burns too fast.
yeah, I am not going to test that theory. - where are the myth busters when you need them? (I love those guys!)
Just adds one more fun element to keeping Tushi out of trouble on the playground.
And a distraction for me while she is playing.
There is a Russian saying that is something along the lines of:
There are 3 things a person can never tire of watching - water flowing, fire burning and other people working.
I agree!
I entered this site by chance, but I found very interesting. A greeting to all the people who visit this page.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has never mentioned maintenance people burning it but that sure is a way to get rid of it. I can imagine huge vacuums around the city sucking it up too.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any being burnt yet... looks like I'm going to have to experiment with it myself :)
ReplyDeletepetros is absolutely fascinated by fire. which is a bit scary b/c we go camping so much. we were camping a couple of weeks ago and he feels that it is his "duty" to throw twigs and grass into the campfire. ugh.
ReplyDeletei like that russian saying... it is true!
I was waiting for my son yesterday in a park and saw someone burning pukh for the first time. It was fascinating! I would not stop watching it. So, I know what you mean.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, our Russian nanny said "no" to going outside yesterday too. She said the summer snow was really bad and not good for little lungs. I about fell over when she said "no going outside". She took my daughter out this winter when it was -25 C.