Nikolay Cherepkov

“It’s warm at home” — a thought that carries the lumberjack as he cuts firewood in the winter taiga. He sees himself back with his wife and four children: first the stove, warmth for his own household, then the rounds selling wood to other houses, putting a little money by for the family. He is afraid that before long he will have to leave them. The taiga itself seems to help him. But the taiga is a force beyond human command: it can warm, and it can burn, taking what is dear.