whetstone

I have heard that Saint Petersburg is beautiful in the cold of winter, its palaces and bloody history, clean ice and long dark nights. I want to visit a friend of my mother’s, a Russian who lives there and works as a guide during the tourist season. She says that I can stay with her, and borrow her furs.

I’m vegetarian, but in the winter in Russia, I will wear fur.

i went out in the inside passage in a kayak, at night. the water is full of phosphorescence, so your hands leave little swirls of light when you trail them in the water. we paddled out to some kelp, where we could sit and not drift. underneath the water we could see the passing fish leave streams of light in their wake.

i copied this blog entry into a post here, but if you don’t find it:

http://emilywhetstone.blogspot.com/2005/09/homesickness.html