Wishing all of you a Happy New Year! I hope it will be wonderful for us all. I hope it will be full of good health, love, peace and prosperity for all. Blessings from France, Lisa
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A Morning in France
I took a walk this morning through the countryside where we
are staying with friends. After almost 2 weeks in France without working out in
my usual fashion I was in dire need of some real movement, real exercise. Have
you ever started doing something for one reason and then half way through found
yourself doing it for another?
I couldn’t take my eyes off the first ruined farmhouse I passed.
I wished I had access to it just to see the inside and imagine the lives of the
people who had lived there when it was new and lived in and perhaps even loved.
I passed over a railroad on a little old bridge only big enough for one car to
pass over at a time. I looked closely at the railroad ties because the rails looked
different. Sure enough, here they use rectangle blocks of cement that create a “zipper”
look. They don’t use full tarred ties like we do in the states (saves majorly
on trees). Zipper tracks. On my right three
sheep in the field stopped grazing and stared at me as I passed down the other
side. I felt as if they were the neighborhood gossips and wondered what this
strange woman was doing in their part of the world.
On my left was a garden, obviously well-loved at one point and now only barely maintained. The big trees that had once lined the cement path cutting down the middle of the garden were gone, only their stumps left to show they had existed. It was a sad garden. It seemed to miss its original caretaker.
The Little Bridge |
On my left was a garden, obviously well-loved at one point and now only barely maintained. The big trees that had once lined the cement path cutting down the middle of the garden were gone, only their stumps left to show they had existed. It was a sad garden. It seemed to miss its original caretaker.
I walked down a little paved road which turned into a
limestone track with a line of verdure down the middle. I followed it through a
forest colored brown and black with winter and dead leaves. Only a touch of evergreen ivy climbing over ground and trees alike alleviates the gray. Though quiet and bare I still heard birds
twittering away. The forest may be on hold but the life in it is still strong
and happy. As soon as I saw buildings I turned around and saw a touch of leftover autumn color before I retraced my steps
back to the “main” road. This time I remembered I was exercising and pushed my
feet faster. By now I was hot and peeled off layers tying them around my waist.
The sky was gray with clouds, but refreshing, energizing, and maybe it wasn’t
just because I am in France. I guess life is the same everywhere; the comings
and goings of people and their work.
Gardens still need tending, roofs still need mending and the mysteries
of the ones who live behind the shutters of that really beautiful house over
there are still mysterious no matter what country I come from. So I walked
fast, took in the gentle country around me and breathed deep, happy to be alive
and exploring. Obviously I needed to touch the earth. What I hadn’t counted on was the chance to remember
that there are those who have walked here before me, and not just for the exercise.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Airports and Service Men
(Orignally written Dec. 9th, 2011) We’ve just finished eating lunch in Atlanta’s Hartsfield
airport food court at Concourse E. We’re waiting for our flight which won’t be
available until after four. It’s almost two thirty. There are servicemen mixed
liberally into the crowds of folks streaming by, flying to different
destinations all over the world but all dressed like they’re going to the
Middle East. Military uniforms always tell you what war, what époque they are
from. The ones worn right now don’t look like the ones in the Gulf War.
Listening to all the different sounds surrounding me; overhead
announcements, an automatic piano playing the Carpenters “Close To You” right
now, voices murmuring high and low, laughter, and now and then above it all the
easy chatter/banter of three servicemen sitting here with me on their own
laptops, checking out whatever they are checking out while waiting to fly to
Kuwait. What a way to spend Christmas. Their names are Thompson, Whetstone and Hughes. They all look fit and ready as if well
rested. I wonder how they’ll look coming back. They range in age from I’d say
early thirties to young twenties. They said they feel lucky to not be going to
Afghanistan, unlike the soldier we passed in the hall on the way here. When I
thanked that soldier for his service and wished him a Merry Christmas he said
he wasn’t sure what kind of Christmas he would have in Afghanistan. I felt for
him and his family. He was very young. I hope he comes home safe and sound to the
ones he loves and who love him.
On the other hand, I have to be happy I’m going to France
for Christmas. My first French Christmas ever, my husband’s first one since he
married me (28 years ago!). I wonder how it will be? In laws, seeing my
daughter and all the wonderful friends we have there, that part I know I will
love, but I’ve never had a Christmas in another country before. I’m looking
forward to experiencing the ‘local’ customs, like, I’ve been told, oysters and
champagne on Christmas Eve. I’ll skip the oysters but enjoy the champagne, and
I’ll be sure to raise a toast to all these servicemen around me wherever they
will be on that day. Big thank you's to Thompson, Whetstone and Hughes for letting me take their photo and permission to post it on my blog! I wish all three of you (and the other one too!) the best of the season and thank you again for your service to our country. Come home safely!
Monday, December 05, 2011
Welcome to My World: Writing and Blogging
Whenever I can’t seem to work on my current “Work In Progress,”
I come here to this blog to write something that, even though it might be
smaller in word count, fills the need to cuddle/play/experiment with words and
express myself. Having said that, last week was one of the best work weeks I’ve
had in quite awhile. By work I mean positive movement forward on my current WIP.
One of the things I love the most about writing is how fast the time goes when
the work is going well (and they say we haven’t invented transporters yet). Can’t
say I love it when I hit a wall but when that wall comes down and crashes at my
feet, what a feeling of completion, even if the work isn’t completed. I feel I’ve
accomplished something important and that helps, so says my husband, my overall
view of life. He loves it when I have good work days.
Today I checked on the progress of my third giveaway on my
blog and found that in asking the question “Do you like this blog?” I have four
“no’s” out of 20 responses. Luckily all the others said yes. I would like to
ask the bloggers - who did sign up for the giveaway even though they don’t like
my blog - what about my blog do they not like? Please feel free to answer if you
ever come back to check on the giveaway. Your response got me to thinking. The
last post I made was a rant, and I was in full swing I will admit. Maybe you
didn’t agree with my rant. I mean, who likes being called a liar? I did call
myself one as well to be fair. But I waited a full week before I posted that
rant because I don’t usually publicize my opinions when I’m concerned about
offending someone. I did decide to post it because I felt it was important in
the scheme of life to be as honest as one can be about the things one feels
strongly about.
Now maybe you that don’t like my blog didn’t even read that
post and could care less. You just didn’t like the blog. The old saying, “can’t
please everyone all the time” comes to mind and I’ve always had an uneasy time
with that (lack of self confidence blah blah). So, I’m sorry to you who
answered “no” on liking my blog. I’m sure you will find many other blogs out
there that you will/do like and so I wish you only the best.
I want to thank all of you who answered yes! Certainly don’t
want you to feel left out of the conversation. I appreciate that you do like
the blog and hope you will come back soon and/or follow/subscribe. I have a few
blogs I subscribe to (wish I had time to follow more), and one of them really
knows how to draw a follower in; he has a great sense of humor. I love reading
Brown Road Chronicles. I’m trying to learn from him but I don’t have his style
so it’s hard to see how to apply what he does to my own. But that’s what I love
about blogs. They are as different as the folks who write them and I appreciate
that diversity. So thank you again for liking my blog. I do my best to write
things of interest to me and hopefully you, and not just of writing. Because if
I get started writing about writing, I’ll become very linear and perhaps bore even
you right out of reading this blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)