I arrived in this part of France 9 days ago. Seemingly a long time, with 3 days in Barcelona added, less than two weeks. I put down some shallow roots here with Benoit and Sarah and Bertrand am somewhat sad to move on. Tomorrow I leave Sauve by bus to go to Nimes. From there I go to Souillac to stay with Richard and Jacques, our Vermont friends with a partially restored house over here. I still do not know where I will be and what I will do Dec 22 -31. Maybe I will be back here, maybe not. Something will come along I trust. I said goodbye to my hosts, Benoit and Sarah yesterday at the Sommieres house and spent the night here at Bertrand's in Sauve.
Dinner last night with Frank, the Cirque de Soleil acrobat, and his guests and son next door to Bertrand. Frank is back only briefly for the funeral of a colleague who fell from the trapeze some years ago and became paraplegic. He already left again He spoke with me a little about wanting to get things settled with the house so that he can take a pack… a small pack…. and just travel. That is what these people do who I find myself among. I have not decided whether this wanderlust is healthy or neurotic. For myself or anyone else. Frank is probably at least 50 and has a son, Adrian who is Gavin's age but reminds me of Lexi. He's going into grad school for physical training and therapy. It seems that everyone has a son or daughter who makes me think of Gavin and Vanessa (or Lexi). Frank is from Algeria, has a formidable face not unlike an American Indian, a full head of long black hair and looks the athlete that he is. Patrice (Patrick) from Quebec, Frank's old friend of 20 years who has been working on Frank's house in spells over the time and was a carpenter for C, de. S. was there with his wife Phillippa, and son Chili, who I met previously.
The house itself is a great big thing with a number of artistic flourishes and works in progress, but I find myself uncomfortable with the mayhem of places like this where nothing seems to ever get finished. The many ideas floated my direction from Patrice about work I could do back here have ended up in the same mode - great concept - no follow through. But this is also the endearing quality of this place - that people are not achievement oriented or terribly concerned with material things, and put primary emphasis on friendship, laughter, conversation, eating together, music, the arts, and all that. Every evening is a soiree, it seems. So it is not a complaint, only a discovery of what I like or dislike in my own living arrangments. I also met Alison today, an American and a painter who is changing her life around, with a couple children and step children 17 -30, as I might have expected at this point. She has a nice little place with just a few rooms.. and it is pretty much all done inside in a nice way. If I lived here this is what I would look for. There is some outside work that here house needs (as was hinted by one of my agents), but I don't expect it to develop into anything that I would do. She is a fiddler and we met around 7 to so to see if we can put together a few tunes on whistle, or flute, and fiddle. It was a nice time and good conversation with someone who speaks English. I bought a flute from Khaim today, a master bamboo flute maker here In Sauve who travelled, lived and studied in S and SE Asia for many years for Unicef. Worldwide reputation for his flutes. He showed me how to properly play the thing and I think it would be a good idea to relearn my technique as he showed me, but it makes me a beginner again. Sauve is packed with eccentrics, musicians, artists and the such. I listened to a CD of music by musicians from Sauve. Bagpipe, accordion, balkan music, delta blues… an all good.
On Monday, my last day of working in Sommieres, at the end of the day I was helping Rene lift a heavy block into a space in the wall up on the terrace. When I got it to chest level it felt like things were ripping in my chest. I think they were. It reinjured the spot that took the hit from the seat belt in the car accident. So it is good I am having a few days off. It's like a sprain and will heal I am sure, but it is a reminder that I luckily escaped something that could have been far worse. So it goes. Some unpleasant moments, but mostly marvelous discoveries and fortuitous surprises. I learn a little more French every day, but do not have a drive to work at it too hard. I have a long way to go. I hope my 'moi, moi, moi' air kiss greeting technique ala Francais is also improving. It is a lovely thing. Also nice to throw in a good old Yankee bear hug now and then. So 'moi moi moi' to you too.
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