Cycle of the year: grazing of privately-owned cows.
Кола года: трыманьне кароў.
St. George’s Day (Jur’je — Юр’е — celebrated on May 6 in the Orthodox Christian calendar, equivalent to April 23 in the old style) was the traditional start date for letting cows out to pasture; see photos of the day for May 6, 2011 and May 4-7, 2012. Warmer days now occur sooner, and under the lingering impact of Soviet-era collectivization and abhorrence of pre-Christian/Christian rites, cows are now let out to pasture earlier in spring and without celebration.
At the same time, with the passing of the current generation of grandparents and the widespread migration of younger generations to cities, the number of privately-owned cows has fallen steadily over the past 15 years. Thus the morning and evening movement of cows, monitored in cooperative fashion by cow-owning households, is becoming sparser.
Taking the cows to pasture, Tsjerablichy 2018.
На пашу, Цераблічы 2018 г.
When the cows come home. Tsjerablichy 2018…
Каровы дадому. Цераблічы 2018 г….
…and Azdamichy 2018.
…ды Аздамічы 2018 г.
