Happy Birthday, Valentin Rasputin!
Valentin Rasputin was born March 15, 1937.
from “Siberia, Siberia”:
“The normal concept of beauty fits Baikal least of all. What we take for beauty is an impression of a different type, like something that hangs above the horizon of our sensitivity, No matter how often you’ve been to Baikal, no matter how well you know it, each new encounter is unexpected and requires effort on your part. Each time you seemingly have to raise yourself to a certain height again and again in order to be on the same plane, in order to see and hear it.
Not everything, as we know, has a name. It’s impossible to give a name to the regeneration that occurs in people when they’re near Baikal. There’s no need to remind anyone that for this to take place a person must have a soul. And here stands and looks around, is filled with something and carried off somewhere, and can’t understand what’s happening to him. Like a fetus in it’s mother’s womb, he passes through all the evolutionary stages of human development and, spellbound by the ancient, mighty unfolding of this miracle, he experiences the timeless tidal feeling of the powers that created humankind. ….”
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago at 9:34 pm. Add a comment
Spotlight On: Tahoe-Baikal Institute Summer Exchange Program–DEADLINE 13 FEBRUARY 2009!
Tahoe Baikal Institute is still accepting applications for its 10 week exchange program to both Lake Baikal and Lake Tahoe. Explore here
Get your application in–and good luck!
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 7:56 pm. Add a comment
I am focusing on Baikal Environmental Wave because their work is vital to the protection of Lake Baikal. I have been following their work from afar for oh so many years and have long admired all the folks at Baikal Wave for their dedication and passion and action for Lake Baikal. They are focusing especially on action to close the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill permanently and the uranium enrichment plant in Angarsk.
Learn a little about Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill from Pacific Environment here
Take a look around the Baikal Wave site and learn more about all that they do!
learn more about the uranium enrichment center in Angarsk from Baikal Wave’s website here
Marina Rikhvanova (my hero, though she doesn’t know) has earned a Goldman Prize for her work for Lake Baikal.
Watch the video:
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 5:46 pm. Add a comment
The Great Baikal Trail is a great non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting sustainable development around Lake Baikal. This is achieved through trail building “work-cations” about two weeks in length that focus on building a comprehensive system of accessible trails completely around the magnificent Lake Baikal. The projects bring together people from many different countries with an emphasis on environmental education for all ages, respect for indigenous populations, sustainable business, development and tourism, respect and appreciation of nature, and so much more.
In Spring and Summer 2008, GBT had over 23 projects with over 400 Russian and international volunteers. What a wonderful way to discover or re-discover Lake Baikal. There are no age restrictions and even some camps geared toward families with young children! There is so much more to discover about this wonderful organization, I strongly encourage you to visit their website to learn all about the important work they are doing over there!
This site is intended to reflect my love for Lake Baikal.
You can find out more about why i even feel this way about Lake Baikal when I update my “about me” page. For now, there will be about 3 main categories of posts:
–Baikal Posts
as the name suggests, these are posts that have something to do with Lake Baikal.
–Russia News
the posts here are posts that i have found of news coming out of Russia. This category might also contain original articles about current events in Russia.
–Spotlight on:
this category will contain- at least weekly but quite possibly daily- features about something interesting or important that I think you, awesome reader, should know about.
All of these categories would warmly welcome comments!
There are lots of other little side(bar) trips you can take along the way on your journey to and through Lake Baikal. So, please stay tuned ….and welcome!
