Photos of the Day for June 23, 2018

The harmony of thatched roofs and storks’ nests. Гармонія чаротавых стрэхаў і кублоў (бусьлянак).     Tsjerablichy 2018. Цераблічы 2018 г.         Azdamichy 2018. It is a shame that the owner of this barn can no longer maintain its thatched roof. Аздамічы 2018 г. Шкада, што ўладальнік ужо ня можа клапаціцца па… Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 23, 2018

Photos of the Day for June 21, 2018

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… Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 21, 2018

Photos of the Day for June 19, 2018

Cycle of the year:  Radaunitsa (commemoration of forebears).  Azdamichy 2018. Radaunitsa, which falls on the ninth day after Orthodox Easter, is the main (among many) annual rite of commemoration of forebears in the Belarusian Orthodox liturgical calendar.  The priest, here Father Aljaksandr of the parish of the Holy Trinity, thrice reads through parishioners lists of… Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 19, 2018

Photo of the Day for June 18, 2018

Cycle of the year:  carrying a traditional wooden cultivator for spring planting.  Azdamichy 2018. Кола года.  Палеская вясна: традыцыйны маркер.  Аздамічы 2018 г.      

Photos of the Day for June 14, 2018

Cycle of the year:  plowing the potato patch.  Varsyn’ 2018. The potato is central to the Belarusian diet and, with periods of war, deprivation and destruction seared into the nation’s memory, to maintaining village household reserves of food.  Many household plots and plots arbitrarily allocated by the local collective farm are too small to make… Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 14, 2018

Photos of the Day for June 13, 2018

Cycle of the year:  transplanting cucumber seedlings.  Azdamichy 2018. By mid-April the first batch of forced seedlings is ready for transplanting to the main hothouse.  Transplanting requires close coordination among extended-family members, whose seemingly effortless movements belie the back-breaking nature of the work in the breathless air of the hothouse. Кола года: высадка расады агуркоў. … Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 13, 2018

Photos of the Day for June 12, 2018

Cycle of the year:  readying hothouses to grow cucumbers. Eastern Stolin District in central Polesia has become Belarus’ cucumber capital.  Much of the crop is exported to Russia.  The area is covered in hothouses, ranging from agribusiness-size facilities in Al’shany, which has a statue in honor of the cucumber, to small constructions in many village… Continue reading Photos of the Day for June 12, 2018

Photo of the Day for June 9, 2018

Cycle of the year:  spring cleaning.  Azdamichy 2018. With the onset of spring, Belarusian villages — which in any event are not idle even in the depths of winter — pick up their pace with spring cleaning in anticipation of Eastertide, planting, and the release of cows to pasture.  Кола года: веснавая прыборка двара.  Аздамічы… Continue reading Photo of the Day for June 9, 2018