A café table by a window in a Siberian city on a summer Friday — two tea glasses, an afternoon light through the window, a small notebook on the table, city street visible outside as soft shapes. The atmosphere is a conversation that does not need to be about anything specific. No text, no signs, no writing visible anywhere. Photorealistic, cinematic, warm afternoon light, documentary photography style, shallow depth of field, muted warm palette.

Friday. June 26. Novosibirsk.

Train arrived at Novosibirsk-Glavny at 09:44. Platform 7.

Platform 7

She was there. Near the center clock, not watching the track. She was looking at the arrivals board. When the train stopped she turned and looked at the track.

It had been forty days since May 17 — the last email in which she said she knew somewhere for dinner. It had been less time since we last spoke, but forty days since something shifted in register.

The platform was not the right place to stand still, so we walked.

Mikhail

He met us at noon at a café near the station — his choice, which meant it had good coffee and uncomfortable chairs. He had a napkin with two questions about the dataset and one observation he had worked out on the walk over. He left at 12:32.

At the door he looked at me and said: “Good.”

He may have been addressing both of us. I think he was.

The Day

I will not document this the way I document measurements. I will document what I can.

We walked. Novosibirsk in June is different from Novosibirsk in March: the trees are full, the river is down from spring melt, the light stays late. We went to the left bank in the afternoon. I did not note the name of every place we stopped. This is unusual for me and I noticed it later.

She asked about Viktor Morozov — whether I had written to Valentina since the June 17 post. I said I had written to her after June 9, when Morev was named. I had told her: Viktor’s data is in a paper, the paper is in review, the privatization is documented and published.

Natalya said: “I think she knew something was wrong with the funding. For eleven years. She brought him tea and didn’t ask.”

I was writing in my notebook. I noted the time: 17:03.

The Evening

We had dinner at a place near the river. She was already there when I arrived at 19:30. She is always there when I arrive. This is the fifth occasion on which I have noted this pattern.

She asked whether I was going to keep measuring after this — the Tuesday Anomaly, the way it was before June, before Cyprus. I said the Tuesday Anomaly is what all of this is. The privatization did not change what the signal is. I am going to measure it on June 30 when I am back in Almaty, and on every Tuesday after that.

She said: “I know. I have been reading since December. I knew you were not going to stop.”

The train back departs tomorrow evening at 21:40. I have until then.

Current status:

  • Novosibirsk; arrived 09:44; Platform 7
  • Mikhail: noon, 32 minutes, café; napkin with dataset questions; “Good.”
  • Natalya: “She brought him tea and didn’t ask.”; she was there at 19:30; fifth noted occasion of arriving first
  • Return train: Novosibirsk → Almaty; June 27, 21:40; arrive Almaty June 29, ~09:40
  • Paper: day 74 in review
  • Barometer: not measured (The Ambassador is in Almaty; Novosibirsk weather service: 1015 hPa)
  • Emotional state: she always arrives first

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