2 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 5 days

 That's how long the Siege of Leningrad (now known as Saint Petersburg), lasted.

I've read about and seen movies describing the unbelievable conditions that local inhabitants endured, but NOTHING underscored the realness more than this one little, black & white picture I saw, stuck in a dusty corner of Saint Isaac's Cathedral yesterday. Those are cabbages growing on every square foot of the church's land.

I can't NOT remind everyone that nearly 4,000 people died of starvation on Christmas Day, 1941 -- and that more than 600,000 perished.

Sorry. Just needed to pay tribute.

Geri