Saiga's Notes

“Short hand!” a voice came from behind when the ball hit the rim. A granny passing by the court smiled with sarcastic triumph. Lots of folks cross this court in our yard, many tempted to comment on us (me and my son Archie) playing. Some praise (“It’s so amazing seeing you two working out every day!”), most banter. Jokes simple as rocks – one or another cliché regarding us missing shoots, typically. And I have always been buying it with a thought jumping in my head “Show me your shot”. I seen that granny a hundred times - a ball with a walking stick who had nothing common with whatever type of fitness or healthy living for the last fifty years or so. Yet, something’s changed today. It occurred to me that I really missed the shot. She was right, I was a short hand indeed. Ten minutes before, I was a sniper, shooting five straight baskets. I was both. In fact, every short hand has his/her noble reason to be it. And it had nothing to do with the question if she could shoot. That moment, I...

I was walking up the stairs in a kindergarten, watching a new collection of historic photos hanging on the wall, when this one nailed my stare. Beluga or great sturgeon, 1930s. Staggering is the fact that it was taken not somewhere in the Amazon River or other exotic places but in the middle of Europe, near the place on the link below, somewhen in 1920s or 1930s. This photo is a reminder that hydroelectricity may not be as sustainable as it's touted. "Migrating fish was suddenly meeting a concrete wall on its way and, gathering in this bag, was swarming on water surface," citing memoirs of Pavel Malenyov, a journalist and political activist, who was a teenager living in that region through the 1940s and 1950s and witnessed construction of the Gorky hydroelectric power station. According to Malenyov, three years after the dam was built, fish migration exhausted. Great sturgeons are critically endangered now and you definitely can't see them in Volga anymore. Convention...

Pets and children are small and don't have the power, an adult's privilege. Yet, both are skilled manipulators thanks to well-developed intuition. My cat Shakira uses the family members to get what she wants. The other day she was messing about with my ankles demanding her supper. But I was busy and didn't pay attention. Then, she sat right in the middle of the gateway leading to the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet. She was sitting there a few yards away from me quietly and patiently. It was brilliant. Soon, my wife stumbled upon her and immediately shared her surprise with me: "Watch the cat! Why is she sitting here?" Chalk up a point to the pet. But I was busy still. After waiting a little longer, the cat walked to the bathroom door and sat in front of it, her tail and back to the door. That was my son who called out: "Look, the cat’s a bathroom guardian!" Two points. I capitulated and fed the cat ahead of other work. Such ingenuity just has to be...