Impressions From a Spring Drive

What a great day for a drive yesterday!

Went out to work at my usual research haunt right now: the Central Library of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Sounds quite impressive, but in fact it occupies just a small part of the Geology Institute building, and the reading room is a cute little space where rarely more than one or two other people are working when I am there. I've settled into a nice rhythm, going there 1-2 times a week, and the ladies who work there (and one man, in the reference section) know me now and are very friendly.

Drove the one route out of town (for some reason Vlad is laid out in an awkward way in a lot of places, with only one route between points A and B, or a route that makes drivers do some strange maneuver, which easily causes bottlenecks on the road*), "Vladivostok's Hundred-Year Anniversary Boulevard." Used the informal, semi-legal "diplo-" and "VIP-lane" when the traffic got messy -- this is how the left shoulder gets used when there are back-ups. (Yes, I probably shouldn't participate in this assertion of grey-area privilege, but I only do it every once in a while.)

Out beyond "Spark" shopping center, I passed those grass dividers that have gotten covered in fuzzy yellow dandelion heads in the last week or so. Was disappointed to see the hard-working road and landscaping crews cutting the grass and clearing away the carpet of yellow. At least the recently planted tulips are still there, still adding a surprising and somewhat incongruous decorative touch to a few of the main thoroughfares in town.

Found myself very easily anticipating specific potholes that I've come to know with some precision. Some of them by now are repaired (poorly, for the most part), which tends to puncture that feeling of satisfaction you get when you maneuver just right to avoid the phantom rough patch.

Lowered the windows and turned up the Shins and sang along.

Raised the windows and switched the air to "recycle" as I passed a truck spewing terrible exhaust my way.

Made the scary lefthand turn into the Academy of Sciences campus off of "Anniversary" Boulevard once it turns into more of a highway (but without the comfy exit structure), where you have to just hope that the people approaching you from the rear are looking ahead of themselves and can merge in toward the right in order to pass you as you hang out waiting for a break in oncoming traffic. Almost thought I'd made a wrong turn when I didn't recognize the road right away, with the explosion of new growth on the trees, a combination of leaves and blossoms. The fuller boughs hung over the little descending road toward the library and made that short drive feel very different.

Did my hour and a half of reading, especially enjoying a new document I had ordered on the 1930s investigations into tick-borne encephalitis, which at that time was a mystifying new disease (I know, fascinating!).

Left and made my my return trip along "Anniversary" -- even though you make a right turn this time to enter, you still kind of have to find your inner tough-guy to peel out into the quick-moving traffic and then avoid the slow-moving bus on your right, etc. Cruised into the outer limits of the older part of town, after crossing the gully where the First River flows, and sped toward the mini cloverleaf where Gogol Street begins, Red Banner Prospect rises above on stilts, and a crazy patchwork of pedestrian stairs and overpasses crisscrosses all the streets. Felt the exhilaration of making a smooth left turn and corkscrew entry upward onto Red Banner, and successfully navigating of one of those merges into ongoing traffic where the drivers doesn't appear to notice you or slow down at all to help.

Made a brief stop at the grocery store on the way home, and pulled up to the "shlagbaum" (lifting gate) that controls access to the diplo-townhouses with a few minutes to spare for putting away the food and grabbing myself some lunch before Marina's nanny shift ended. Whew! What a good morning -- I guess not all of that description means much if you haven't seen the city, but hopefully soon some of you will be able to imagine what I am talking about here...

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* Not to mention the lack of traffic signals in this town! That really is a topic deserving of a whole 'nother post, as they say.