Babushki

God knows how many babushki standing behind the shutters of their cottages had seen her.

Private plots are to be allowed to flourish, and a great many babushki will be replaced by machinery and permitted to retire.

“So, two babushki are riding the electric train. One says, ‘Oi, there is so little rain this year the cucumbers are only this big.’ ” Alyosha holds up his palms, two inches apart. “ ‘Don’t worry, dear,’ the deaf babushka says, ‘the most important thing is that a man be good.’ ”

Three babushki with huge brooms approach distressed with my tears, “Stop crying. No one likes to see a woman cry, you must stop.[…]”

Two babushki huddle on a bench, tapestry bags between fat knees, and they shift to make room for him and Lena.

One day, after having been advised by two babushki on the metro that Aarno’s boots were on the wrong feet (this time, at least, they were not), Nicole and I joined our new friends, Irina and Vera, two children’s psychologists, with our cranky one-year-old.