Kizhi morning. Photo from personal archive
Sometimes when I fall asleep in my bed, I want to Wake up in the morning and be back on the island Kizhi in the room ekskursovodov dorms. You look out the window and see a calm, smooth, white-pink lake, and low above the horizon Sun – 5 am. Everyone is asleep and the street was deserted. Need to not miss the moment – to meet promptly, to put on a swimsuit, grab a towel and run to the water, first to this day to disturb her quiet mirror. For me this ritual was something magical, like establish my connection with nature, which caused a sense of inner harmony. Something just like tuning a musical instrument around me the beauty and peace of the outside world, like a tuning fork, helping to tidy up the inner world.
However, day Island may begin in a different way. The weather here is changeable – sometimes the morning is cloudy, storms happen even when they can see only the raging sea, gray sky and wall of rain. In such circumstances, especially not pomeditirovat in the water, even from home do not want to go. But work is work. And I go, in rubber boots, all wrapped up in a cloak, carried by the wind, washed by the rain. Yes, and in such circumstances also excursions, of course, if the ships reach the island, and tourists want to walk. Well then return home (especially if you work on this day will be no more), pour yourself a Cup of hot tea or coffee, collect some treats and sit down at an interesting book, listening to the hum of the raging lake.
A view of the chapel of the Three Hierarchs with Narinol mountains. Photo from the personal archive.
And when the rain ends there is no greater joy than to go outside to breathe the humid, dust-Kizhi air and enjoy the clean, fresh Karelian nature. Especially good when the Sun comes out. Heavy puffy clouds still overhead, but it is already clear Golden glow makes the color get extraordinary saturation, and the subjects – the clarity, contrast.
Environment – clean air, near the lake – the motivation to care about their health.
On Kizhi I try to work out more, to harden. There is in this something special- climb to the mountain Narino and to do exercises. Turn in one direction of the Kizhi churches, the chapel of the Three Hierarchs. Isn’t it great? Importantly, to arrive just in time, while there are no tourists, so as not to embarrass himself or them. Then you can go for a run, breathing in the clear air, and enjoying the scenery, then go for a swim in lake Onega. The weather does not always allow a complete program, but where possible, I tried to follow it.
View of the Kizhi Pogost with Narinol mountains. Photo from personal archive
As mentioned in the previous section, the Island is not rich in the benefits of civilization, but there’s an unexpected advantage. Anyway, they seem to be advantages. There are only two small grocery store, are not particularly pleasing to a wide selection of goods. Often local residents and Museum staff simply carry your own groceries out of town or ask someone to bring it. But the food has come to an end, and with supplies on the island may be a problem. It is in these circumstances, Willy-nilly, to Dodge and to cook what to eat, coming up with sometimes unexpected, but delicious and healthy dishes from handy ingredients.
Start the day in the village of Fossa. Photo from personal archive
In addition, there get many orchards, growing organic vegetables =) No Central water supply and the need to run with buckets to the lake or the well, and back allow good to train the body and to visit once again in the fresh air (and, of course, forced to save water that is now important). Due to the lack of water we have no bath, nor a shower. But there is a bath! And about its benefits (especially if it is well heated) talk, think, too =) but most importantly, you are learning unpretentiousness and be able to do.
Falls on the island and own to entertain themselves. Periodically, of course, there are holidays organized by the Museum: the Kizhi regatta, a Day of Kizhi volost and others, but they are not so often, because people who are accustomed to an active social life here can be boring, here and invent, in his own way: picnics, discos. Well, the tour guides organizes the competition “Guide to the Universe”. In the presence of water transport (boats and boats there are many), you can arrange a trip to nearby Islands and other villages to visit Kizhi. And see there is that – all those old houses, some elegant, secluded chapels. And you can just go to some uninhabited little island and to be alone that nobody will disturb you.
Kizhi shore. Photo from the personal archive.
In fact the island of Kizhi is a wonderful place to relax from the hustle and continuous flow of information that captures our town. No, of course, you can connect to the Internet and to not lose touch with the outside world, but it seems to me that it is better to relax. The fact is that now we are surrounded by a rich informational background. Every day we receive a huge amount of knowledge, both important and unnecessary, including contradictory, we learn a lot of news, often frightening. This thread is almost continuous, so that the brain does not have time to process this data. We have no way to analyze all the information to put it in order. Add to this the stress and the fast pace of city life. All this is extremely bad for mental health: erased his inner self, he becomes unstable, prone to nervous breakdowns, easily suggestible and acquires a lot of other problems (maybe on this topic I will write a post later). Perhaps that is why it is now gaining popularity courses of Vipassana (10 days of silence). But few can afford to go on special courses, because you can go to a place with a less busy life (like Kizhi) and just enjoy a slower pace of life and closeness to nature, forgetting about the Internet and TV. You can, of course, and in the city to try to avoid news sources, but there is actually harder.
Rowan. Photo from the personal archive.
Here I always particularly much want to be better – work on yourself. I don’t think it was an accident. They find themselves in places like Kizhi, I’m beginning to feel keenly the perfection of nature in all respects – outer beauty, inner content, the ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions and thrive in them. Man, being a part of this nature, from birth has enormous potential for the acquisition of all these qualities and continue improving his body, the inner world and surrounding reality. Here, on the island of Kizhi, you can see examples of following this Path among the things created by the hands of Zaonezhie peasants. But those people could understand and feel the nature, because were closely associated with it. Their life and their life is strongly dependent on the environment. Our lives are to a much lesser extent due to natural conditions, but we must not forget that we are part of the natural world and retreating from it. This does not have again to live like the peasants, on the contrary, we need to continue technical progress, but in a natural way. Since then, humanity could go through many more steps towards understanding the surrounding reality, and its harmonic conversion. What do we have in reality? People have forgotten about it, they create themselves far from the ideals of natural beauty, work themselves into such conditions, in which their body becomes weaker, degraded internally and externally, destroy inherited wealth. It’s time to realize all the benefits that are given to us and direct them in a constructive direction. It is time to restore the harmony of human life. But we must remember that it is impossible to do in isolation from our natural environment.
Kizhi evening. Photo from personal archive
