Soar-Dream-France

Halloween Surprises!

Happy Halloween from our glowing Jack, who has turned out to also be a Jill or a screaming ghost on his back side quite by accident.  What a difference perspective can make! Jack and Jill have moved on up the road to adorn the on the road home of the Jekers...Raoul, Christelle and their three beautiful little girls.  The family, their 3 little girls plus 2, and Greg joined me for coffee and petits fours this morning.  Raoul and Christelle hadn't had a chance to come to the vernissage, so today gave us an excuse to celebrate Halloween and enjoy the work of our local artists once more.  My table looks a little lonesome without our big orange guy, but they're having fun up the street with a pack of little girls and life is good in the Lot! 

I've diverged from my trip down overalls memory lane to share a recent overalls shot taken earlier this year at the President by my friend Rob. Although not in my overalls, I love this still life with me in it looking my most French self! Happy Halloween!  

Lighting Magic

Just a little special lighting and anyone can look beautiful! Once I knew I was ready to begin carving this year's pumpkin, I had to give one more still life a try.  This last one turned out to be my favorite.  I often spend my mornings running around inside the Chatette with my camera in the dark.  I've found that even in the dark-some shots are magical without any flash at all.  Because I'm such an early bird, morning really is my best time of day.  I'll unveil our 2009 Jack-o-Lantern-or maybe a Jill in tomorrow's post.

I promise, after today no more shots of me in my overalls in the Grand Canyon...even I'm getting tired of it.  After checking in to the Bright Angel Lodge for a couple of nights, I decided to head over to the bar and have a beer before I went to bed for the evening.  I knew I'd sleep well with all that driving under my belt, and a beer would send me on my way.  While I was sitting at the bar a handsome, clean shaven, blue-eyed, man in jeans and a workshirt came in and sat beside me.  He was a log cabin builder in California. He looked loaded already, but once we got to talking I discovered that Rick had driven his BMW motorcycle from California to the Canyon that day.  A friend of his was meeting him in the Canyon the following night, so we decided it might be fun to do some hiking together the following day while he waited for his friend to arrive. This one wasn't falling in love, but once Steve arrived, the two of them had me laughing all the way.  Happy Friday!

Transformation Underway

I've decided that this year's pumpkin is so ugly he's cute.  It hasn't stopped me from shooting lots of shots around the Chatette, and putting him into a still life or two.  I've taken one more very incredible shot of him a few moments ago that I will share with you tomorrow.  Today, he is about to be transformed.  I'm hoping to take his best side and be very creative in capitalizing on his shape, best side, stem and even those things that look like teenage acne!  You'll just have to wait for Halloween to see his total transformation.

Today's overalls shot was another that was taken in the Grand Canyon, just ten years later in 1988.  It had been a rough year.  One of my best friends died from AIDS in the spring and the relationship with the man I had been seeing for six years had ended.  What better place to lick your wounds than on a  camping/road trip out west in your brand new red Honda CRX.  Of course, the Grand Canyon was on my list and I was actually able to get a room at the Bright Angel Lodge for a couple of nights on this trip.  I remember lots of tears, lots of Neville Brothers, and some incredible camping along my route west.  Just as I was beginning to head into the Canyon, Aaron Neville came up on my CD with his version of Ave Maria.  I don't think it gets much better than that.  I'm chuckling as I write that, because if I remember correctly, I've seen Aaron Neville in overalls more than once! What a voice!  What are you going to do to celebrate International Overalls Day?

Patience Please

I've tried to put these overalls shots in chronological order the best that I can, but there are some years in there where all I did was work, work, work, that I'm finding to just be a big blur.  There are so many phantom shots of places in New Orleans that are no more for a variety of reasons, not the least the levee breaks following Hurricane Katrina.  The Royal Cafe, here on the corner of St. Peter and Royal Street was not a casualty of the storm however.  Prior to making Croissant D'Or our regular breakfast place, I had a number of friends who would meet here every Sunday morning for breakfast and then head off to enjoy the rest of the morning in the Quarter.  The contingent of friends changed over the years as friendships evolved and some friends moved out of state.  Although the food was great at the Royal Cafe, the best part about it for me was our waiter, Jerome.  We got to know Jerome and looked forward to seeing him on Sunday mornings, just as much as we did friendship, breakfast, and the French Quarter. 

With so much swirling around out there in the world for me these days, I find myself channeling the fellow in the photo below.  I try to take a deep breath, practice patience, and just keep moving.  This guy is particularly beautiful.  I never noticed these beautifully colored snail shells until I came to France.  This swirling, pearl-essence peach number is much snazzier than that basic brown, white or grey! 

 Although he reminds me about patience, he also reminds me sometimes when we are patient...things happen just the way they are suppose to happen and even a little quicker when we let go.  I expected to see this guy making his way slowly across the terrace most of the morning.  I came back fifteen minutes or so later and he had disappeared.  Either he became some kind of a speed demon, found a hiding place, or he just wasn't as slow as he appeared!  The magic continues and don't forget International Overalls Day! 

Update on the Barn-La Grange Dentelle

Many of you have been very interested in the beautiful, ancient, somewhat falling down stone barn behind the Chatette.  From the moment I bought the Chatette, it felt like the barn really needed to be with us and already was in spirit.  None of it makes any rational sense, we are fine as we are, but the barn spoke to me from go.  I believed that if it was meant to be, it would manage to find its way to us. I've teased about divining the barn to come to us.  There have been many steps along the way. Most recently, I mentioned taking a framed photo up to the new owners to let them know how much I loved it and if they ever thought they wanted to sell it I'd like to talk to them about it.  I also put one of the same photos framed inside the barn.  During Evelyn's visit, the new owners offered me the barn for a very good price. 

I was shocked, and have asked to have until the end of the year to give them an answer.  They have agreed. Although separated by the traintracks, the Chatette, the barn, and the lavoir form a beautiful trio.  The lavoir and the land surrounding it and the barn, belong to the village. I'm not kidding myself, this would certainly be a long term project.  Then factor in financial constraints I'm operating under at the moment, and I would guess that most people would think I was totally out of my mind.  All that said, I'm still asking myself: "How can I NOT DO THIS?" So, as this tale continues to unfold I will keep you posted.  I am checking out many options, continuing the divining process with a little different focus from before, and visualizing what it might look like if the barn became a part of our "WE"...The Chatette, Dal, Sam, Msr. Winkelmann and I.  I will continue to keep you posted.

Moving on from the Grand Canyon shots to celebrate the upcoming International Overalls Day, today's shot was taken on a camping trip in Kisatchie National Forest near Alexandria, Louisiana.  Chris Donovan and I worked together at the Coalition for Action in New Orleans and began dating toward the end of '78.  We went camping over the Thanksgiving weekend there, with my friends from graduate school Barbara Gasdaglis and Frank Hughes. It was a great trip, with beautiful fall colors, that gave me a chance to try out the Pentax 35mm that I was using at the office.  Chris was a community organizer, and my new MSW and I had this incredible title: "Government/Press Liaison Specialist". We all worked hard for very little money, but believed in social justice and working towards change and quality life for everyone.  Others would call these my: "bleeding heart" liberal days, but days I've always been proud of.  Our offices were in the middle of the 6th Police District-where you could have found me walking on Baronne Street between one office on Martin Luther King and the other on Terpsichore in my overalls and bare feet. You wouldn't find me walking the same walk today, but this heart will always bleed the blood of a liberal...just a liberal with a little more experience.

Paulette, Popeye and Going Gold

My long-awaited wood delivery arrived on Friday, along with warm rains that lasted up until yesterday afternoon.  It gave me time to ponder what I wanted to do with my wood, and bring my winter alter-ego "Paulette Bunyan" back to life.  I wish I could take credit for "Paulette", but that goes to my friend Vann.  During one of our winter telephone conversations, I told him I felt like Paul Bunyan, and he said: "You mean Paulette!" So, Paulette is back and looking forward to her Popeye muscles and disappearing sagging underarms and hips.  Take a look at those meter long logs and those ten stone steps and you'll understand why.  My plan of the moment is to bring it up under the covered terrace a little bit at a time. I'm shooting for anywhere from a half to a whole cubic meter a day, but it sometimes just ends up being what I feel like doing and the weather permits.  Dal sits and watches and Sam usually hangs out on the open window ledge. Yesterday I noticed that the whole place is going gold.  This is our first truly golden fall here.  Last year was more copper in color. I still can't quite figure out which weather conditions bring what colors, but every fall has held a surprise.

In closing, here's my overalls shot for today-me in my overalls sitting on my parents' steps to the attic, showing off an Easter bouquet from my Philadelphia friend, and a little lace and pumpkin and gold.

  

The Grand Canyon, Overalls and Falling in Love

Looking back on that '78 Grand Canyon trip, the piece that I still carry in my heart today is falling in love with Ed Simons. It's a great story, another fairy tale that didn't come true. But at my age, I tend to believe the words to that old Garth Brooks song and "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers". It hasn't stopped me from trying to find Ed over the years. When you hear my story, I think you'll understand why:

The gang and I arrived at the Bright Angel Lodge and immediately went to the desk, where we were told we could get a van ride to the Kaibab Trail.  Barbara and I stood to wait our turn, beside a very handsome guy in a flannel shirt and baseball cap.  He reserved the van for himself and his friends and then offered for us to join them, so we did.  Ed and his friends were traveling across country by car, and they were planning to hike to the bottom of the canyon.  They had all their gear, and we all loaded into the van...just a little cozy with gear and the 7 of us.  We ended up hiking together and Ed and I visited all along the way.  We talked about our plans for the rest of our trips, and they were heading further west too.  By the time we got to the point where we had to turn around and they were going on, Ed and I had decided we wanted to get to know each other better.  They planned to be in LA by the weekend and so did I, so Ed and I made an appointment to meet at 6pm the following Saturday at the Greyhound Bus Station in LA.  Las Vegas and LA were not quite as kind to me as the Grand Canyon (maybe it was because I wasn't wearing my overalls), so by the time I got to the Greyhound Bus Station I really needed to see a friendly face and hoped that Ed would make it.  I sat in a seat facing the bottom of the escalators and read my book.  6pm came and went and I needed to decide how much longer I would wait.  Fifteen to twenty minutes later, here came Ed flying down the escalator into my arms, swung me around, with one of my best and happiest hugs of my life!  We spent a little time together in LA-walked the walk of stars-went to some Polynesian restaurant with hula dancers-and said good-by as we headed on to our next destinations.  Ed and his fiends had to go back to Philly to get to work, and me, I was on my way to San Francisco to see a friend from Graduate School.  Ed and I exchanged numbers and addresses and made plans for me to visit him in Philadelphia as soon as we could coordinate it.  Thus began our long-distance relationship between Philly-St.Louis-and New Orleans with more than monthly trips between those cities.  We wrote lots of letters, talked regularly on the phone, took many trips together, and Ed sent some of the sweetest flowers and cards I've ever received.  Come to think of it...I bet he'd have been happy to stoop down to tie both of my shoes for me if I had asked.  Distance wasn't kind to us, but even 30ish years later, I still hold Ed in my heart and hope wherever he is and whatever he is doing...he is doing well.

Overalls in Spiritual Places

You may be "Grand Canyoned out" by the time I'm through with this series of overall shots, but not unlike Paris...The Grand Canyon is always a good idea!  I haven't been to the Canyon as many times as I've been to Paris, but I managed to go when these shots were taken in '78 and again in '88.  I'd always considered the Grand Canyon the most spiritual and centering place in my life.  Now that I've been to Montségur and hiked to the top, I'd give them equal standing.  As I sat with Jean at the top of Montségur, looking out over the valleys and the Pyrénées mountains, I felt that same spiritual intensity and energy that I felt in the Grand Canyon. 

Aside from Barbara, I don't remember the names of our two other traveling companions.  I do remember that they were both teachers from Australia.  We met on the bus to Flagstaff and decided to share a room together there at the Flamingo Hotel.  We hiked as far down into the Canyon as we could to still give ourselves enough time (twice as much) to make it back up to catch the bus back to Flagstaff.  Later that night, Barbara and I went to a very rustic western restaurant and I had some of the best chili with cheese I'd ever had in my life.  I'll close with a few shots of my other most spiritual place...Montségur in the Pyrénées mountains of southern France.

Happy Wedding Anniversary Kat and Tom

Today is Kat and Tom's eleventh wedding anniversary.  We constantly marvel at the escaping years, and now I'm even losing track of what photos were taken on what trips.  I know the one on the left is from our first trip here together in 2001, when I came to sign on the house.  I believe the one on the right is from the winter of 2003, when we welcomed in 2004 together.  I've often said how much I enjoy being with Kat and Tom, and that we have fun anywhere we are in the world.  I have a favorite story about Kat and Tom that I have to share with you here today.  At the end of our first trip to Paris together, the three of us were walking down the hill from Montmartre together.  All of a sudden, Kat stops, looks at Tom and says: "Would you tie my shoe for me?" He turns around and ties her shoe, and Kat puts her other foot up and says in this very sweet voice: "Now, would you tie the other one for me too?" I looked on in awe and said: "Boy Kathleen, you are really lucky!"  I think they're both lucky. Kat says I get a lot of mileage out of that story, and I do.  But, if you look at the photos below...you'll see another shoe-tying event at the train station in Cahors. I can't think of any man who has been in my life who would have tied my shoes for me.  Maybe that's why I never married again! So Happy Eleventh Anniversary Kat and Tom.

And, another shot of me in the Grand Canyon in my overalls back in 1978 to continue the celebration leading up to International Overalls Day on November 20, 2009.  I mentioned yesterday, that part of the fun of this trip was meeting new people and making new friends.  On the bus ride up to the Canyon from Flagstaff, a couple of very handsome Australians sat behind me.  In no time, we were chatting away.  Both were rugby players, and spent some of the trip explaining the fine points and rules of rugby to me.  They then asked me about American football.  I knew I had arrived, and was very grateful to my sporty Dad and brothers, when I was able to explain the fine points and rules of American football.

Times of Trouble

I'm not exactly sure how I ended up here today, but I've been overwhelmed this week by troubling news from every corner of my life.  Any conversation I have had or e-mail I've received includes news of one of the following: huge financial trauma, a cancer diagnosis, fire, job loss, personal attacks, injuries, hospitalizations...and some people fall into more than one category.  I've had to ask myself if it has something to do with getting older, or is it that with the shape of the world today...living is just hard work for everyone?  It's sometimes hard to hold on to the peace when everyone around you is suffering, and it feels like there is very little left in this world that we can count on. That's when I: light my sweet, soft candles in the morning, put a little Chopin piano music on the stereo, spend some time writing in my journal and love on Dali and Sam way more than usual.  I pay attention to putting one foot in front of the other and celebrating small successes each step along the way.    

On a much lighter note...the overalls photo I want to share with you today was taken in January of 1978, on the south rim of the Grand Canyon at the start of the Kaibab Trail.  One of the best things I ever did for myself, was to take 2 months off after graduate school and travel around the USA on the Greyhound Bus.  Back at that time, you could travel on a 2-month pass all over the USA and Canada for $325. It was great, you had your book of blank tickets and just walked up to the window and told them where you wanted to go, they'd write it on your ticket, and you were off. I thought it would get the travel bug out of my system and I'd settle down to working, but all it did was make me want to travel more.  I met great people, made wonderful friends, and yes, I even fell in love.  The "un-overalled" woman in the photo is Barbara, who was from Switzerland.  More from the Grand Canyon over the next few days...and Happy Overalls!