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That will allow us to see a new possibility, a new opening that most probably was always there, dismissed as unsuitable, as "not good enough"... That small opening is an entryway for a breath of fresh air - a new inspiration. No need to look for a small opening if the inspiration arrives as a powerful waterfall, whirlpool, tornado with the unstoppable if somewhat destructive flow of energy which opens any blocked gates on its way. At twilight, because there is never enough time during short winter days for a night creature who goes to bed when most of the world starts their busy life.

There was a lot of chaos, grief and sorrow in the world this year, and like you I'm feeling completely overwhelmed at times. We must remember that home is where we are, both in the most literal and the broader sense, remember that if we are not happy with ourselves, we won't be happy anywhere. I'm thankful for my family here in America and my family back in Russia, for being able to have our home, for the old friends, their number is small, who are loyal and choose to remain close even though there are thousands of miles and oceans between us. I'm thankful for the beautiful vintage piano which was a huge surprise just a couple days before Christmas, and for my fingers that remember music after almost 40 years of not even touching the instrument.

There were already delays with documents because of government reorganizations back then, and when I finally got a letter from them, apparently due to a large number of applicants, instead of having our interview here in Seattle, we had to go to either Yakima, a city 140 miles southeast of Seattle, or to Portland, Oregon - a city in a neighboring state, 170 miles south of Seattle. When the officer asked me whether I was involved with any crime, I playfully asked, "Do I look like a criminal?" to which he playfully replied, "Yes" and approved my Green card. Everything that I planned, all the dates were so close to one another that I worried how it all would play, but at the end everything lined up and worked out without a hitch - без сучка, без задоринки as we say in my native language, or, as one popular Soviet comedy character would say, "без шума и пыли" (without noise and dust). The oath ceremony is an official event during which you as a citizen-to-be make a promise to love and respect your country, and in exchange for your loyalty the country basically adopts you as a family would adopt a child, by giving you a certificate of naturalization.

The exotic side of this place for me, a girl who grew up in Siberia, was first of all the fjord called Puget Sound, neatly tucked away in tall mountains, and secondly the abundantly blooming colorful trees - rhododendrons that burst into flowering every single Spring (the time of year we arrived here), hidden between tall firs, making this area look rather like a gorgeous resort than a regular city. We loved living by the sea for all these years, seeing it from our windows, and for a few years even literally feeling the waves knocking at the walls of our beach house and hearing nothing but ships, seagulls and bald eagles outside of our tiny home. My short but sweet trip down memory lane (which this raincoat always manages to accomplish) is over, and I find myself back in America, at my other homeland, the one I love no less because here I gave a birth to my beautiful daughter and met my one true love which is another miracle. I was born and raised in a beautiful place to begin with, and ended up in a place that reminds me of home, only with a milder, friendlier climate and lovely sea breeze.