Riga in the snow

I was really nervous that when I came to Riga this year that it would just be another holiday of darkness and dreariness.  So far the snow has really made it very nice, bright, and just better.  

Yesterday I dropped the boys off to visit with the Dad for the next few weeks fully.  They will only come and stay with me for the 24th.  I am sure they will enjoy themselves, but I do miss them. :-( 

Today I took care of a lot of errands.  I had to take some things to the storage unit, but got stuck in the complex for close to two hours after the garage door would not open!  I sat and wrote for a while, took a nap, and all in all was forced to slow down.  Not a bad thing, but something that I was not expecting to have to do today.  

Once a worker came and let me out, I went to the airport and picked up my tickets for Tashkent - I will fly through Istanbul and have a seven hour layover.  It will be better than flying through Moscow with a 10 hour layover.  

Last night I went to a solstice concert by the Skandinieki in St. Peter's church.  It was amazing how the sound reverberated in the huge space.  Amazing to hear Latvian pagan songs in a church. :-) Afterwards I went to have a few drinks with some of my ex-colleagues.  The strange thing was that in each location we went to I met young girls whom I had taken care of at some point in their lives.  One of them was in the bar drinking, and the other was a bartender! I was rather surprised and a bit shocked that within in one day I had met two people who I had not expected to see at all.  Riga is small, and I just have to remember that the possibilities increase where ever I go, the more people I get to know....

Tonight I met with friends whom I had not seen in over a year and a half.  We had dinner at their house and went into the sauna.  It was a wonderful evening with sincere and heartfelt conversations.  Tomorrow I will go to the Solstice celebrations at the Open Air Museum. 

The other day visiting at ISR was fun and it was great to see everyone again!  I look forward to seeing more of them of the next few weeks.  :-)