Belarus

We had a nice lazy morning at home.  Slept till about 830, and then got a reminder from a project manager at work that I promised to test one of our news systems.

Tested the system, and made some coffee. 

Sue and Luke head to church and I make a couple of those fresh eggs over easy.  The eggs were very good, the yolks noticeably more flavorful that store bought.  Queens backyard free ranging chicken eggs.

Made a batch of pancakes for Kyle who was getting ready for work as a Soccer Assistant Referee

Sue gets back just in time to take Kyle to his game.

Second batch of pancakes and bacon for Luke.  They looked so good I had a few pieces of bacon and a pancake. Sue missed out on breakfast.


Decide to clean the microwave as the bacon grease dripped and splattered as has the microwave popcorn.
Kyle and Sue back home and easting some McDonalds.  I passed on the offer.


This day in history “Less than three weeks after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk formally brought an end to Russia's participation in the First World War, the former Russian province of Belarus declares itself an independent, democratic republic on this day in 1918.
Modern-day Belarus—also known as Belorussia—was formerly part of Poland, its neighbor to the west, until a series of wars in the late 18th century ended with the partition of Poland and with Belarus in Russian hands. In 1917, Belarus capitalized on Russian weakness and disorder resulting from its participation in World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution of that year and proclaimed its independence, after more than a century of occupation by the czarist empire. At the time, Belarus was occupied by the German army, according to the terms formalized at Brest-Litovsk on March 3.
The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, and Belarus became one of the founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an association of 12 former republics of the USSR formed to help regulate foreign affairs, as well as military and economic policy among the member states. On March 25, 1993, the anniversary of the proclamation of Belarusian independence was openly celebrated for the first time in Minsk and other cities in the republic.”

“Belarus” translated as “White Russia”?

While ‘Bela’ does mean white, ‘Rus’ is a different geographical and political term than Russia. Rus refers to the Eastern Slavic lands that nowadays belong mostly to Belarus and Ukraine. In the modern Belarusian language there is a clear distinction between ruski (refering to Ruthenia) and rasiejski (referring to Russia). The word Rus appeared in Eastern Europe with advance of Scandinavians to the south, and in the 10th century it was used to describe Scandinavian newcomers in contrast with the Slavs.

A couple of years ago, I learned from my uncle Steve that the family lineage was really Belarus and not Polish as originally thought.  And all this time I wondered why I liked, and could drink vodka straight from a bottle left in the freezer.  You have to be careful though not to freeze your lip when you take a sip.

Luke and I cook shrimp scampi and spaghetti.  Have not had that for a while, and it was a nice change of pace.

Sue is still itchy from her reaction to an antibiotic, but the rash is getting better.

Gavin and I chatted (txt message) earlier today as he is on his way to North Carolina for spring break.  Not the spring break most people envision a college student going on, but a week away volunteering for habitat for humanity.  We are so proud of him, and all the volunteering he has been doing.  We can’t wait to visit him.

I still want some chickens.  If anyone has any comments on the topic of raising backyard chickens, leave a comment.

Photo of the day ”Belarus”

P.S. I wonder if great grandpa had any interest in fishing in the river running thru and around Minsk ?