Fire

At long last, Eddie got his wish fulfilled and we made a fire on the beach. With the temperature down to -20 degrees, I remember going swimming at the same spot, thinking that life here really follows the seasons.

While the boys play Monopoly on the kitchen floor, I am back to grading theses and following the news from Kazakhstan. Having long been a relative stable country in an otherwise turbulent region, its descent into violence is another reminder of the inherent fragility of authoritarian regimes. Yet, in light of the Russia-supported crackdown, democracy is clearly not around the corner either.