Soviet Youth

My mom (left), with some friends, in the early '70s.

Knitting on the Beach

My mom was into knitting way before it became cool. Actually, making your own clothes was the only way to be reasonably stylish in the Soviet times.

A Day in the Country

In the Russian countryside, you can visit old churches... ...and then make shish kebabs for dinner.

My dad and his mother, sometime in the early 1970s.

Winter Fashion

My mom (to the right of the Jackie O look-alike in the middle) on a group trip to Lithuania in the late '70s.

Spring

My mom, middle, with college friends.

Class photo

My mom's eight grade class, I think. (There were only 10 grades under the Soviet school system.) Taken in the village of Serva in the Permskiy Kray region, 1971.

Ski Trip

My dad and a pal of his on a ski trip: Cooking over an open fire:

Military-Industrial Complex

My dad, in 1973, at an abandoned (?) military base not from from Arkhangelsk. The caption on the back of the photo reads, "Me with a grenade and a cannon."

Boyhood

My dad, ages 5, 8 and 20. With a plush-toy bear:
Getting ready for school:
Hiking in the Carpathians:

Concert

My mom sings with her college choir under the gaze of Lenin.

Costumes

In college, my mom sang in a choir. The singers occasionally performed wearing traditional costumes of all the Soviet republics.

Parade

My mom (second from left), as a college student, marching in a parade. Apparently, participation was mandatory. Note the Lenin posters.

Bike Trip

My mom, on a bike trip in Zelenogorsk (a suburb of St. Petersburg, not the Siberian city).

Kama River

My mom (left) and some girlfriends, on a bridge overlooking the Kama river.