Sluggish August, it seems, was not going to be any different from July preceding it. And even worse, he strove to continue on a lazy September, on the first day of which the holy month for fasting and piety for all Muslims came - ramadan. However, when I was about to write a cheerful and optimistic opening remarks, two events occurred that did not leave anyone indifferent in the world - the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing and the war in South Ossetia. According to a fateful coincidence or someone’s previously thought-out plan, the beginning of the Games coincided with the bombing of the city of Tskhinvali. The Olympic Games ended with excellent results for Russian athletes who took third place in the world, as well as for athletes from Ukraine and Belarus, who received 11th and 16th places of this world championship in the team classification. And this is a great reason for joy and pride for the champions and the country that raised them.
The war in South Ossetia, by contrast, has become universal grief and pain, a time for the most sincere condolences to the families of those killed and injured by the hostilities. And to say that, thank God, it was too early ... Alas, people of our generation somehow very quickly forgot the lessons of World War II and other, more terrible, civil and interethnic clashes between former neighbors and good friends.
But, life, as it turned out, goes on as usual, and like a zebra, consists of black and white stripes. But optimists know for sure that everything will be fine, and therefore they want to believe. And now a completely different mood appears, and suddenly you realize that perhaps the best time of the year is golden autumn ... And all the people on the planet enjoy its precious gifts.
It is no coincidence that in this issue we talk so much about gold, both in the literal and figurative sense. About the gold that our Olympians won, and that that adorns the branches of trees in the northern latitudes, and a little about what can be purchased in hundreds of shops and shops of a group of Dubai gold traders, and about the golden sandy beaches on which the most discriminating tourists enjoy velvet season. Golden honeycombs and the aroma of fresh apples are the best reminders of the past summer. The sides of the long-nosed Arabian Dallah coffee pots gleam with dull gold, in which traditional tart and sweet coffee, spiced with cardamom in Ramadan tents, is brewed.
A golden trail leaves the setting sun on the tops of the dunes. Peace and quiet settle in the heart. And it doesn’t matter what nationality or religion you are. May joy be with you, and autumn will throw all your gold at your feet. And, when each person lets a piece of good into his heart, the guns shut down, and people finally can hear each other.
Sincerely yours,
Elena Olkhovskaya
Chief Editor
