Flowers and Berries

The flowers in the country are so very pretty. You wouldn't imagine how big the Queen Anne's lace is. You know, the white puffy stuff that looks like cauliflower on top of a green stalk? In the country, Queen Anne's lace is so tall, it's the size of me and taller. And the big flower part is about a foot across, and the stalks were almost an inch across. The short wildflowers are so pretty, they are a girls favorite colors: red, purple, and pink. They are beautiful - like little cups. I would love it if you could smell them. If you were there, it would take five minutes to finish your "ooos" and "aaaahs."

There are also wild berries that taste really good. Some friends of mine showed them to me. They are GREAT. I wish I could send some to all of you. If you pick them fresh here, they taste better than any in America. They have red currants which are mouth-watering.

The reason I know all this is from visiting new friends in the country. They have a cute house that is still being built. To get to the second floor, for example, you have to climb a ladder. Take a load of this: the girls have wallpaper with writing in English. And we're in Russia! My dad says it is kind of hip to write in English here.

Soon after arriving, we went outside -- just us girls. The eldest is Rada, a very pretty name. She is 11. The second eldest is 8 - Anita, a very pretty name I think, too. The youngest is three. They took me to their backyard; it is so big. At the very back, they showed us a little trail through some raspberry bushes. Then we ate the raspberries. They are juicy, delicious, anything you can imagine. Then they took me back into the woods, and they showed me a big clump of blueberries, which I also really enjoyed. When lunchtime came, I was so hungry I thought I heard someone calling us to lunch. It was just the wind; we had run all the way back to the house for nothing. I loved to the time there and was sad when we had to leave.