Harvey

 

I wrote a poem this morning inspired by Hurricane Harvey. Here's the question: why does my Muse only seem to whisper inspiration during times of natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey or during man-made disasters like the Trump election? Disasters of either kind make for rather grim poetry~

Hanging Art

You never know what the day will bring here in my corner of France. Yesterday it brought a convivial evening with friends helping Laury and trusty art hanging friend, Patrick hang art in Laury's cave for next weekend's vernissage. Patrick has a real knack for getting it all to fit and look good at the same time.

There were new artists to meet

 and new pieces to admire.

And of course, wine, nibbles and conversation to enjoy after the work was done.

There will be more photos to come and stories to tell after the party next weekend!

In the Early Morning Rain

My normal summer routine is up around 6 AM, open shutters and windows wide, pull on clothes and walk before the heat of the day sets in. Coffee, breakfast, a shower...everything else waits until Lucie and I greet the day with some outside time. Raining this morning, so no walk for us. The early morning rain has its compensations, though...a dramatic sunrise over Saujac! Guess this means I'll have to put off cutting the grass, too.

"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!"

'There's a bright golden haze on the meadow.'

'There's a bright golden haze on the meadow.'

'The corn is as high as an elephant's eye...'

'and it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky.'

'Oh, what a beautiful morning!'

How lucky Lucie and I are to walk along the river surrounded by sunflowers and ripening corn.

Birds in the Bedroom

I'm  almost embarrassed to admit where I found this little bird's nest with its two unhatched eggs.

It was here on top of the drapes/curtain pole in my back bedroom!

I keep these French doors that lead onto a tiny Juliet balcony open pretty much all summer. I get the occasional bat, but they don't bother me. They do bother Lucie, tho, and I can always tell when one flies in. She refuses to go into the room and sits by my feet staring at me intently until I take care of the problem. Evidently birds don't  frighten her.

I did close these doors a couple of times early on this summer during some cool, rainy days and nights. It's true I saw a bird flying around upstairs once, but I didn't think much of it. It flew out and I shut the doors. When the same thing happened a few days later,  I became suspicious. That's when I saw the nest. I left it thinking that maybe Mama Bird would continue to sit and the eggs would hatch.

Alas...no. I must have shut her out of the room too long for the eggs to remain viable. She finally gave up and left for good. Today I removed her nest.

Birds in the bedroom no more. A sad, but true tale.

How I Spent the 4th

Calvignac

No surprise....the 4th of July is a non-starter here in France. The only thing special about Tuesday...it was the Tuesday of the last week of school for French children. No fireworks, no parades, no waving American flags. So how did I spend my 4th? Here in Calvignac.

My friend, Elizabeth lives here. Among other things, she's a massage therapist and I had an afternoon appointment. Couldn't have been a prettier day. The views are lovely from the village. A pastoral valley in one direction...

And from the other side of the village...

What the heck is that?

It's an art installation; a scanner code which is part of the annual art-along-the-Lot project put on by the Center of Contemporary Art (Georges Pompidou) in Cajarc. This year's exposition is called "Co-mutations" and seeks to marry technology with nature.

There were three installations on the edge of the village. Entitled "Ciel-Nuages-Terre" (Sky-Clouds-Earth) the pieces of an old farm plow draped with cloud-like cotton atop a huge flat rock shimmered against the brilliant blue sky. Not something I'd put in my garden, but interesting.

Thru the ancient arch into the village to Elizabeth's house where I spent a delightful afternoon being pampered, sipping a verveine tisane and enjoying a nice chat in French.

Fireworks will have to wait until Quatorze Juillet, the French national holiday on 14 July.

Together Again!

Parisot Writing Group

Together...all 10 of us....again! While Anita's been busy working on her MA in writing at Bath Spa, our writing group has soldiered on without our leader. We've met periodically, done some critiquing in small groups, read each other's work and explored some writing topics on our own. But it just hasn't been the same without Anita! We were absolutely thrilled to gather yesterday at the Schoolhouse in Mazerolles for a lovely morning on Anita's preau discussing writing projects and topics, books, and generally catching up. A couple of us even got a little teary-eyed that we were all able to make it and welcome Anita back home to France. We're fired up and ready to write!