Introduction – Reading a Facebook entry earlier today pertaining to the Atenas, Costa Rica, (Gentle)Men’s Club. Someone mentioned that one of the prefered activities of that organization is the ballet. Really? I thought, and the following ensued. Set – A river bank in the southwest of France, decorated with the usual ancient SW Frenchy stone […]
Read more "Ballet for three Bulldozers"Slowly traipsing around the house to wake up, brewing coffee, cradling a warm cup between my palms I move over to the front window. Looking out across the river Charente, I contemplate the quiet Christmas village under the arch and notice five white animals. The dog soon disappears, while the swans continue to drift lazily […]
Read more "Christmas Swans Swimming"Minutes before the official opening of the Christmas Village in Saintes, Charente-Maritime, some residents aren’t happy …
Read more "Sapin Snafu or Fir Fiasco"Enjoying a lovely walk on a foggy winter morning.
Read more "A Foggy Walk"Preparations for the Christmas Market in Saintes are well under way.
Read more "Les Sapins de Noël Sont Arrivés"Saturday dawned pretty in pink, accentuated by a solitary cormorant passing overhead. As the rising sun backlit the trees and rooftops across the river Charente with ever increasing brightness, mist gathered gently to envelop the landscape in milky fuzziness. Inside, morning light filtered through sheer curtains creating mottled patterns across walls and objects. A few […]
Read more "Sculling and Rowing with a little buildering thrown in"A beautiful afternoon, overflowing with autumnal sunshine and culminating in a mild evening with a 97% full moon, gave way to a cloudy sky on Monday. Monday’s 99% full moon should have progressed to a smashingly stunning proper Full Moon on Tuesday night, but the weather gods decided to give us rain instead. Or, as my British […]
Read more "Moon over the Arch"Saturday evening we dined al fresco on the veranda, watching life play out in front of us on Quai de la République, the river Charente and Place Bassompierre on the opposite bank. It wasn’t the brightest of summer evenings, but still comfortable and very pleasant in an overcasty way. That was no longer the case […]
Read more "Ode to the Indefatigable Tourist"In large part thanks to the aid of automated translators, I routinely write emails or post on Facebook in either English, German, French or Spanish, with a smidgen Italian thrown in now and then. I’m only fluent in two of those languages, happily guessing my way through the others, killing grammar right and left as […]
Read more "Electronic Lunacy"The last two weeks have been decidedly unpleasant, filled with disconcerting news from Costa Rica, compounded by upper respiratory trouble and a case of food poisoning, unpleasantness galore! More about some of the gory and at times frightening details sometime down the road. Today on the other hand was a beautifully sunny, warm and pleasant […]
Read more "Spring Has Sprung For Good!"