In May 2021, Diana Stevan released her novel Lilacs in the Dust Bowl, which follows her grandmother’s story immigrating to Canada from Ukraine.
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The Google rabbit hole is one of my favourite places.
A few months back, I was looking for information about the lizhnyk, a traditional wool blanket from the Hutsulshchyna region of Ukraine. In January 2018, I was in Yavoriv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and visited the home of a craftswoman who makes these blankets, and though I took some notes, I still wanted more info (and also was probably procrastinating doing something).
So I searched around online a bit, and I came across an article with video and photos on a website called Ukraïner. After learning more about the lizhnyk, I dove deeper into Ukrainer’s site—I was hooked. And you will be too.
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I take inspiration from anywhere I find it.
This can be from travel, from dance, from books and documentaries, from random things I come across during my day, and of course from people.
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I have a few friends who said their babas warned them to never whistle indoors, and as kids, they thought it was just because their grandmothers thought they were annoying.
But lo and behold, there’s more to it.
There’s a belief among Ukrainians (and other cultures) that if you whistle while indoors, you’ll bring upon yourself bad luck and lack of wealth.
That’s why you’ll see me stop myself mid-pucker if I hear a catchy tune indoors, instead resorting to singing or humming. It’s also why I may glare at you (or perhaps look away to pretend it’s not happening) when you whistle near me and we are clearly inside.
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