With so much to be done all around the Chatette inside and out, I find that taking things a step at a time and rewarding myself along the way are important. Rewards come in many forms.
It may be just the satisfaction of seeing a job well done. And of course, there's always the pretty that surrounds me all along the way.
It may be some great book I'm reading.
That gives me the chance to take a break, rest a bit, and re-hydrate with a little herbal iced green tea.
Last but not least is having a wonderful dinner that can be something to look forward to at the end of a days worth of work.
I confess that each day has a routine daily break at 2pm France time and 7am St. Louis time.
That's when I call Dad to say hello...I'm thinking about you...I love you. Sometimes Dad has ideas and suggestions for me as I move forward with my projects. Poor guy...he gets to hear about the weather and all the grass cutting. Yesterday, he suggested that I set up little rest stops along the grass cutting route. I'm pondering some of those at the moment.
Talking to Dad is a daily reward.
Another day of grass cutting ahead. I'm thinking about some pretty little rest spots that should be fun beyond grass cutting!
One of the last times I wrote about a book that touched me deeply and was personally significant was In the Shadow of Statues by former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Today, I want to encourage everyone to read Jon Meacham's The Soul of America-The Battle for Our Better Angels. Meacham presents the historical grounding for when our better angels have prevailed many times in the past, and how to remind ourselves so we can survive these current times and move forward with a recipe for action.
The origin of the notion of the "better angels" is found in Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, 1861:
We are not enemies, but best friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Reading historical events from the inception of our country to today's times, taught me things I never knew before and reminded me of tumultuous times throughout my life. It was a memory lane I needed to go down.
But, it was his recipe for action at the end of the book that gave me hope for today. Meacham implores (my word) the following:
Enter the Arena
Resist Tribalism
Respect Facts and Deploy Reason
Find a Critical Balance
Keep History in Mind
Of course, he goes into much greater detail with each of the items above. I believe that if we live by these 5 as our survival mantra for these times, we will not feel helpless and hopeless. We may be able to see our way clear to today's better angels...
Trying to get back in to writing here again, for some reason this particular photo file popped up without even a click.
This was the first photo.
Once again, strangeness strikes for me when I realize that none of the things in that picture remain.
Strangeness strikes at the (ha-ha) strangest times.
It happens frequently when I finish a book. I may be coming in from the terrace. I may have just gotten up from my comfy new chair by the fireplace. I close the cover of my latest adventure and I inevitably think, "I'll just go upstairs and get another book off the beam." There are NO books upstairs. There are NO books left that were on the beams.
Of course I stop myself mid-thought and step.
There is obviously a former flow to my life here that is so ingrained that it just pops up naturally when I've finished a book.
i'm learning again. I'm moving on.
Even if sometimes I feel like this little guy who is on the inside looking out through the bars at the world.
Back when I started the blog in 2009, I had a special side bar that I called "Books on the Beam!"
I loved it, because that was the spot where ALL of my books and journals rested.
Today, all of my beams are empty.
They look so pretty.
They show off our beautiful blue ceilings and window tableaux in the mezzanine bedroom.
They also show off the blue ceilings in the private bedroom and make that new burgundy carpet glow!
I've decided, no more books and journals on the beams of the Chatette.
Now, that means I need to be creative with the placement of my new books and journals moving forward.
I did save my old journals that you see on the beam in the top photo, but some of them are very black and some runny from the wet.
I'm keeping them all, but probably won't display them in quite the same way that I have in the past.
It's one thing to look at my burned and battered sheet music on a daily basis because I love that particular arrangement. It's quite another to display the journals.
For now, my new books and current journals are making their home on the evier in the living room.
I've begun ordering from Amazon.fr again with John Irving, Donna Lyon, RJ Ellory, and Elizabeth George in the stash of nine books that arrived this past week.
For someone who has droned on and on about how much I love my "real" books (and, I do), I must confess that I am seeing the light in the device departments. On more than one occasion, I have been the "inheritor" of "loaded" devices. A hundred to a hundred and seventy-five books can go a very long way! It makes that reading almost a book a day a much easier prospect.
A couple of years ago, I decided to start listing all of the books I'd read under the books section on my FB page.
Earlier this year, I hit the 200 book mark. Just this week...
... I hit book number 300!
While at times I feel like its become an addiction all its own, I don't worry. It's certainly better than televsion, keeps my mind turning, and is easy to enjoy on a break from moving wood.
These last few days its been wood-read-wood-read-wood! And then, maybe a little wine in there too!
Huge Merci to all of my lenders and dealers! Each and everyone of you has enriched my life immeasurably.
Most of my friends know that I've sworn off cars and television. Books and phones are two other areas that I have strong feelings about, but that didn't stop me from looking into devices that could make my life easier in those departments.
I'd actually explored getting a Nook (the Barnes and Noble equivalent of the Kindle), but as I spoke to the salesman about it at the store he discouraged me. Since I was living in France at the time, I would NOT be able to download books from there. That made the decision easier.
These days, it appears that everyone has a smart phone. Not only do they have it, they live with it and are on it constantly.
I told myself that I would consider getting one if I could find something that would work for me easily in both the States and Cadrieu. I'd noticed the quality of the photos, as well. Just because you have one doesn't mean that you have to behave like the rest of the world.
It now appears that the universe has aligned. I discovered something called Project Fi that will make my global life more workable. It also came with a bargain deal on a Nexus 5x android smart phone. It arrived about a month ago. I'm taking it all a step and a time and learning as I go. Then, what I thought was a "last batch of books" from Marion, has turned into so much more. I've inherited one of Marion's Nooks. It has close to 165 books ready to read...talk about traveling with your library! As Eric said: "this would make Mom really happy." But, I will sitll go to my grave preferring to touch, hold, turn the pages, and love on books.
When I told Evelyn my news the last time we talked, she teased me about "crossing over" and pushing limits. She made me laugh when she said: "Better watch out, pretty soon you'll be getting a car and a television."
I don't think so, but I do still fantasize about these deux chevaux!
Most of my friends know me well. Once again, you can see it in the books that have been gifted to me over the years. Anything about Paris is usually a good bet. My friend Ron gave me Adam Gopnik's book: Paris to the Moonmany years ago. It was perfect then and is still perfect today. Not long ago, Ron mentioned that he had a "little happy" for me. He's usually full of "happy" surprises when we get together. This time, it was a hard back copy of The Only Street in Paris-Life on the Rue des Martyrs, by Elaine Sciolino.
I love getting books about Paris, but this one was particularly special. I've traveled the Rue des Martyrs many times, although I'd never stopped long enough to explore. I was always "on my way" between Madam Vera's and William's, not unlike I'm always only briefly on my way through Paris these days to get home to the Chatette.
Although I had my "day" in Paris for me for my birthday in 2014, a day is never really enough. It won't be this summer. But, once we're back in 2017; I'm going to find enough time to take Sciolino's book in hand (or at least make some lists) and wander that Rue des Martyrs piece of my route that I have only breezed through all these years.
As I look at what life and living are going to be for me once Sammie Cat and I are back home in 2017, getting back to my writing is already on my list. A pilgrimage to the Rue des Martyrs and some extended time in Paris fit right in. That novel I've started and never finished is set in Paris. It just so happens that "Morgan" is wandering in some of these same neighborhoods and places, as you can see from the excerpt below:
"Morgan wakes on Wednesday with the daylight, which doesn't arrive until 10am. Even though "her" best part of the day has escaped, she starts out on foot in the direction of the Louvre. Even with map in hand, she zigzags around Paris. Streets stop. Streets angle. Streets change names in the middle of the block. Cold and frustrated, she ducks into a cafe on the Boulevard Haussmann for a grand creme. It feels good to sit down, even though she knows she is an obvious outsider. She isn't sure where she is or where she is going and has no idea of how to ask for help. She wants to cry.
Rejuvenated by the sweet warmth of the grand creme and a chance to sit in a dry warm place, she heads outside to try one more time. Heading down the Boulevard des Italiens changing to the Boulevard des Capucines, she finds the Opera and somehow gets turned around on the Rue du Quatre Septembre to the Place de la Bourse to the Rue Reumur and in some unknown configuration meanders her way to Les Halles. Morgan is drawn to the contrast of the gothic grandeur of St. Eustache beside the modern architecture of Les Halles. Both surround the statue of the leaning head with the cupped hand.
Morgan gives up and sits down on a ledge by the "head" to pull out her map.
"God I look like a tourist, but this is self preservation. I don't have a clue how I got here. Maybe I can just walk around and get a feel for the place," Morgan wonders.
After three turns around Les Halles, Morgan plots the route back to the hotel: the Rue de Louvre to Rue Montmartre to Faubourg du Montmartre to Rue des Martyrs.
The head in the heart of Les Halles becomes a place from which Morgan can always find her way.
Sometimes I feel like I'm still trying to find mine.
After the holiday madness, I find myself looking for homes for my gifts in various places around the house. Some are easily stored, while others must be "displayed". This goodie from Eric and Stew screamed: "Please display me!"-and I did...so perfect for the now very green library room. It has a very pretty place.
I leave you with one of my favorite photos of Eric and Stew, taken in my very own very pretty place.
There are "mornings", and then there are "perfect Sunday mornings". These are the chilly mornings when I snuggle into my bed with my Sammie Cat, coffee, and a book. This morning we are in Scotland riding the borders with Mary Queen of Scots and Bothwell. It's not quite winter at the Chatette in bed beside the fireplace, but it will do. Wishing you many of your own perfect Sunday mornings!
Very special thanks to our own Marion the Librarian
