Konstantin Dyachkov
Series 
Veterans of war
Granny Katya
In the morning I got a call from the village council. “You wanted to get to Kolupalovo, right? Get ready, an old lady came here to pick up her mail, she will show you the way.”
It’s quite a long way, about five kilometers through the forest, path hardly seen. My back is loaded with a backpack of presents, my sleeping-bag and equipment, plus the lady’s package weighing at least five kilos. Ekaterina Vasilyevna is over eighty years old, she minces along very fast. Habit is a strong thing, for seventy years every day she has been going to work to the settlement and back. She says that it is a little scary after snow melts since wild animals are hungry, but she trusts God’s will. I understand I will have to go back without her and probably after it gets dark.
Granny Katya says: “Nowadays young people are fit for nothing. When we were young, we could unload logs, work in the field, and take care of cattle – all without getting tired. My dear helper, I will write to the newspaper and tell them that great people, reporters like you, still exist. Listen, I will tell you what Kolupalovo village was like before: a hundred of houses, cattle and fields. I have seen so much in my life, even built a house with my own hands, lifted logs, and scratched all my fingers while roofing the house. It may sound strange now, but in old times many houses were built, even though there was no enough food. My dear son, may God deliver you from such life. My first husband died, and I was left with two girls plus cattle to take care of. The government gave me 19 rubles a month for the three of us. This was far from being enough, so our garden and cow was all we had to live on. I have been lonely for over a year now – it is scary to live alone, especially when power is off. Wait a little, catch your breath, have some tea. Anyway, the Ivanov will not open the door without me. It is scary, since we are the only ones living in the forest. The village is practically empty.”
Granny Katya
village Kolupalovo, Novgorod district, Russia
16 march 2008
Foto ID: 0721
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