blustery day (edited)

Last Saturday I went shopping. I had four bags of necessary items to carry up to my third floor flat. Pursuing my constant goal to make as few trips as possible, I had the bags doubled up. I've been known to hang bags up my arms, the plastic handles cutting into my wrists, in order to avoid an extra trip. If an extra trip up the stairs is needed, at the very least I'll try to make only one trip from the car to my door.

Usually Saturday is a day on which it's easy to find a parking space. Last Saturday this was not true. The street was blocked off for some reason and parking spaces were scarce. I had to park quite a bit down the block and lug my groceries through the slush and muck. Of course, after trudging through the slush and muck I discovered an empty parking space--right in front of my front door.

On Sunday, I was supposed to meet Tricia and Michael, who were visiting St. P while waiting out their ten days. They missed me, I missed them, and then...

WIND! It was SO windy! It rushed through Palace Square and down my street. The building across the street is still being renovated and was covered in scaffolding. (I'll see if I have an old picture of this...) The scaffolding crashed to the ground, filling the block and damaging cars parked below. The lights on the entire street went out--and still have not be repaired. They're really dark, but here's what it looked like out my window and down on the street:

In this picture, the man is walking right where my car was parked. The scaffolding fell right where the car in FRONT of him is parked. I live (if you can see it...) where the steps are going up after the yellow sign. I was very glad I didn't move to the closer parking space!



eta: I did meet up with Rita's mommy and daddy yesterday and had a great dinner--conversation was better than the food. Tricia was a good blogger and brought her camera. Kate, did not. Bad blogger, Kate.

Today the scaffolding is going back up! My camera is at school. I'll post pix tomorrow...

And, for UN Mama--I don't live on Vasilevsky, although I'd *love* to live there. I'm just two blocks down from the Hermitage.