Murder in Odessa

Volodya, Sonya's father, the police officer, was found dead in his apartment a few days ago. There was a woman in the apartment also, sitting on the couch, dead. The word we're getting is they were poisoned. Vlad talked to him only last weekend about seeing him next month when he and Alex travel to Odessa. It's so devastating. Such a punch in the stomach. Shocking. We have no idea why he was killed or who might have done it. You could assume that because he was a police officer, he came across something in his work that got him targeted. But it's hard to say. We'll probably never know.

Sonya is now technically an orphan. I mentioned her mother, Masha, at right in 1997, in an earlier post. Masha died a few months after we had been in Odessa last year. Masha succumbed to a long drug habit, after becoming sick with the illnesses that usually accompany long-term drug use. She was found crawling in the streets, taken to a hospital where doctors were surprised she could still be alive in her condition. She died like the next day. Tanya (her mother and Vlad's sister) visited her there, thank God, before she died.

One day during our 2006 trip, Sonya's entire family, sans Masha, got together at a restaurant to visit. Volodya had been trying to find her for months. To tell her we were coming and get her to say happy birthday to Sonya. He finally tracked her down this day we were all together. We were outside the restaurant, passing around the cell phone. I talked to her for a minute despite the language barrier. She was crying. Horrible sobs. She was very congested. She was so sad and despondent. I think she wished she could be with us. I think she knew she was going to die soon and she couldn't say anything. I told her we loved her and that we'd see her next time.

At some point after we left, a long freeze, presumably over Masha's lifestyle, between Tanya and Sonya's family began to thaw. We were so happy about that. Vlad and I like to think we had a small part in changing things for the better. Vlad and I invited Tanya to go with us when we visited Sonya, but she didn't go. But, oh, she begged to see the photos. And tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at them. You just knew her heart was not that hard. You knew she loved Sonya. I think probably Masha's death gave Tanya the courage to give in to her better self and reconnect.

And then this happens, just as this new relationship is finally blooming between the families.

The funeral is tomorrow.

Ginger surprise

As I opened the front door this evening to let Marquise the screaming cat outside, I found the monstrous ginger plant has bloomed. It's so beautiful.

Houston blooms about this time of the year. It's gorgeous. My begonias hanging on the front patio gate have come back with a vengeance, and the Boston fern has taken over the flower bed by the door.

It's beautiful for now. But once the Texas sun gets to baking next month, it'll be a struggle to keep it pretty. Houston's humidity helps.

Found this brave little lizard, left, hanging out on the wall behind the ginger. He changed his color from brick beige to ginger-leaf green just before I took this photograph. I guess he likes being spotted.

Bluebonnet time again

We went looking for bluebonnets on Sunday. I think it's a little early for the peak. We found quite a few, but passed some fields that had been full of wildflowers last year that had not yet bloomed.

We drove from Houston to Sealy, up to Bellville and over to New Ulm, where we moseyed through the farm roads up to Industry. This year, we found ourselves a livestock theme.

We went down to Cat Spring to eat at Carol's, but it wasn't as good as last year. Vlad had an amazing stuffed pork chop, but my shrimp were truly horrible.

Among the odd things we saw were a huge bird that appeared to be orange-ish red. It was flying over very quickly and disappeared behind the trees before we could identify it. It was pink like a spoonbill, but we were way too far inland for that. Could it have been a red-tail? No clue.

We also came across a barbed-wire fence lined with coyote carcasses, I assume to keep those still alive away from livestock. The smell was remarkable.

Anyway, here's a few photos: