Things That Change Forever

     About a month ago I read an article online entitled "Things That Change Forever When You Live Abroad" by Angie Castells.  I want to share her list with you and add my own thoughts.  For those of you who have lived abroad (because you chose to, not because your job forced you to as I think that would be a different mindset) I welcome your thoughts/comments as well.
     1)  "Adrenalin becomes part of your life and 'routine' is dismissed from your vocabulary."
     I find this to be true when I travel and so I have no doubt that this would become a way of life.  I love the rush of adrenalin when I'm about to land in France or wherever I might be traveling to.  Even with jetlag, I find that everything is exciting!  I love reading all the signs in the language of the country.  I practice saying them out loud, especially if it's a country where I do not speak the language.  I have surprised people in Greece, Italy, Croacia, and the Czech Republic because I have a pretty good accent with other languages and they have thought that I actually spoke their language.  I have received (as well as people who were with me) free food, entrance to museums, free souvenirs, etc, simply because I made an effort to try out that language.  Nothing routine about that!

We got free drinks and desserts at this Greek restaurant!

Adrenalin on the donkey trail on Santorini!

  
      2)  "Suddenly you're free and feel like you're capable of anything!"
     I find myself doing things that I might not do at home.  I can spend hours in museums and old churches.  I stop for roadside markets and little shops.  I read everything I can about the place I plan to visit (or live!) and make notes about what I want to see and do.  I look forward to house sitting as I believe that will free me to explore so many other places.  It will free me financially which will be a huge bonus.  Not having to pay a mortgage or lease every month will free up a large amount of money for other things!
     3)  "You no longer speak one particular language.  You learn and unlearn at the same time."
     When you arrive in a place where English is not the first language, you realize how large our world is and you see things from a different perspective.  I don't think you have to speak a second language to realize this, but learning a second language certainly opens opportunities (and views) that were not there before.  Things that we take for granted in American culture, just aren't there in other parts of the world.  And I, for one, love that!  Andy and I have talked many times about how our views are broader and more tolerant from all of our travels.  We often find ourselves saying, "Well, that's a first world problem".  Things that we find inconvenient in America are often non-existant in other countries and therefor not a problem for them!
     4)  "You learn to say goodbye and enjoy yourself.  You find balance between bonding and letting go, between nostalgia and pragmatism."
     I have been saying goodbye to many things.  We are a culture of "more stuff".  As I am renovating my house I am making piles:  the trash pile, the GoodWill pile, the yard sale pile, the taking to France pile (that one's pretty small as it will have to be things that will fit in a suitcase), a storage unit pile.  It is definitely a balancing act.  You determine what really has value to you and what that means.
     5)  "Normal?  What's normal?"
     To illustrate this I am going to recount a scene from Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence."  He and his wife have just moved from England to Provence.  It's January when they buy their old farmhouse and start repairs.  One morning they wake up to frozen pipes because of the nasty Mistral - a wind that starts in Siberia and sweeps everything in its path as it heads south.  His wife asks, "Is this normal?".  Peter responds, "I've no idea!  Isn't that wonderful?"  "Isn't what wonderful?" she asks with a frown thinking that he's lost it!  "That we no longer know what's normal!" he says with a huge grin.
     6)  "Time is measured in tiny little moments."
     I can't wait for those moments of wandering the narrow streets of a village or driving through an unfamiliar countryside.  But I will say, that this is a point that we can all enjoy every day.  We should open our hearts to those tiny little moments.  It's hard to do that when you are still working and in a routine and all you want to do is finish work and get home and then you miss the way the clouds look or the rays of the sun playing on the mountainside.  I bought a really nice bicycle years ago and spent a lot of time riding around my neighborhood and down into Monument Valley Park, but I realized that I didn't enjoy it as much as walking.  Walking is at a slow enough pace that I can relish those tiny moments of wonder.

A cave and waterfall in the middle of Paris!

A vineyard in Paris!

     7)  "Nostalgia strikes when you least expect it."

     I will relate this to my thoughts about my mom.  (I know that isn't exactly what the writer had in mind, but it works as an illustration)  There are things that I miss about my mom and sometimes it's when I'm watching a TV commercial or driving down the street past a place where she liked to eat or I've read something that reminds me of her.  I know there will be times living in France when I really miss my friends and my life back in the US.  I expect that to happen.  Nostalgia is not a bad thing at all.  It is our collection of memories that make us feel happy.
     8)  "You change.  It will shake up your roots, your certainties and your fears."
     To paraphrase Francis Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun") I want to find a place that will have its way with me.   She also said, "Anytime I've stepped in my own footprints again, I haven't been renewed."  She longed for a place that would "shake up" her understanding of the world and her place in it.  I feel the same.
     9)  "You can fit your home into a suitcase or two."
     I plan to leave home with two suitcases and a doggy carrying case.  That's it!  Knowing that I will be house sitting and not looking for a permanent abode makes it easier to know what to take and what not to take.  I am setting aside a few items of "nostalgia" that I want to take.  One of my mom's angels and bluebirds that she collected.  One of my dad's blue glass bottles that he collected.  A few items from my childhood.  I'm still deciding.  But other than clothes, there won't be much else in my suitcases.
    10)  "There's no turning back.  Once you know what it's like 'out there', marveling at the world everyday is wonderful."
     An article in my "International Living" magazine a few months ago was written by an American couple who sold everything they owned in the US about three years ago and all they do is house sit - all over the world!  They said that when they first started they thought it would be for just a year, but now they can't imagine giving up the opportunities to see the world in this way.  They have no expenses for housing.  They spend a month here or a couple of months there.  They've been to every continent (except Antarctica) and they see life as a grand adventure.  They marvel every day!!
     I would  love to hear your comments on these thoughts.  Thank you for joining me on my journey.  Merci!   (Next week I'll give you some updates on the house and some thoughts about Spring)

Rebirth, Renewal, Restoration

     I am fascinated by ancient cultures.  Having visited Stonehenge, Mayan temples and caves in southern France with prehistoric art, I have a certain understanding of how important the changing of seasons was to early mankind.  As the architects of Stonehenge placed the capstones to announce the sun and the Mayans designed temples and observatories of the heavens it is clear that these were events that were anticipated and worshiped.

Stonehenge

      We, in our 21st century technical age, take for granted that there are two equinoxes and two solstices every year.  Those events don't make much difference in our lives.  However, the very existence of early man depended on the regularity of the seasons.  I understand why, at the end of December (the Winter Solstice), they would want to celebrate the sun staying in the sky a little longer every day.  Darkness must have been truly dark with no switch available to bring light whenever it was wanted or needed.  And, of course, they would celebrate Summer Solstice (at the end of June) to show appreciation for the long days which would bring about successful crops.  At the end of September they would celebrate the Fall Equinox and a time of harvest.  And then - my most favorite - the Vernal Equinox when life literally springs from the ground once again.  The earth experiences rebirth as the tinge of green appears on trees and the buds on bushes and the shoots of leaves that promise flowers to come.  How magical that all must have been for early mankind.
     Even in this age, I can feel the power in nature - in thunder and lightning, in wild fires, in natural disasters, the forces of nature that we can not control.  I understand why early man would ascribe these powers to gods.  For surely each power was controlled by a deity beyond man.  Man could not tame nature.  We still can not tame nature.
     It was much later that Christianity decided to give religious meaning to those celebrations.  How beautiful that in the darkest time of the year we would celebrate the birth of one who was to be called the "Light of the World."  Even the word "Easter" has pagan significance.  Some Christian cultures refer to Easter Sunday as "Resurrection Sunday" or "Holy Sunday" instead.  The Summer Solstice is a huge celebration in France to coincide with St John's Day and everyone heads to the beach or somewhere warm for partying!
     I find this time of year (Spring) to bring a sense of renewal to my psyche!  I need sunshine.  I need to be outdoors - especially here in Colorado where the skies are the bluest I've ever seen and the mountains are always near.  To be able to drive for 20 minutes and be surrounded by mountains is a blessing! I always feel renewed when I'm in nature.  I feel renewed by beauty whenever and wherever I find it - paintings in museums, statues in town plazas, the architecture of gothic cathedrals, the brightly colored houses in some European towns.   In a book I've been reading this past week called "Brunetti's Venice", Donna Leon (the author of the Brunetti murder mysteries) wrote that she is always "warmed and comforted by beauty."

Pike's Peak - my "backyard"

Starry Night by Van Gogh

Cellini's statue of Perseus in Florence

Cinque Terre, Italy

     I'm not sure if "restoration" is really the correct term for the work I'm doing on my house.  I'm not trying to restore it to a previous time, although I am trying to be faithful to the vintage of the house.  I want people to walk into it and fall in love with a house that has been on this spot since 1926.  As I restain the wood trim and wood doors and refinish the wood floors I can see the beauty of those old materials shining into the 21st century and making a statement:  "They don't make 'em like this anymore!"  I think about who might have built the house, the first inhabitants who fell in love with this place.  They could sit on the front porch and watch the golfers in Patty Jewett since there were no houses between El Paso St and the golf course two blocks away in 1926.  They would have easily been able to see Pike's Peak from the back yard since the now towering trees would have been much shorter!
     Rebirth, renewal, restoration - those are words of hope.  I like those words!  They point towards the future, they point towards France!  May you all experience that feeling of hope and regeneration at this time of year.  Thank you for reading this post and for joining me on my journey.  Merci!

"There's no Present Like the Time"

     Yesterday my good friend, Kelly, and I went to see a charming movie called, "The Second Best Marigold Hotel".  Near the beginning of the movie one of the English women asks her Indian driver to take her somewhere.  His response is, "There's no present like the time."  You see her in the backseat with a little smile thinking (as is everyone in the audience) how very delightful is this little mistake of turning a phrase backwards.  However, by the end of the movie, one begins to realize that this is exactly what the man meant. 
     To her, the ride in the hired car was simply a way to get from point A to point B.  But for him, it was a gift to be able to spend time with this delightful English lady who seemed to be looking for love everywhere except where it was presented to her.
     Another quote from the movie - delivered by the ever so lovely and wise Dame Judi Dench to the ever so "cup is half empty" character of Dame Maggie Smith - is this one:  "I thought how many new lives can we have?  Then I thought as many as we like."
     Time and life.  Life and time.  Are they the same?  Are they merely perpendicular?  Can you have one without the other?  How can they separate?  How am I having such deep thoughts?  :-)  I am beginning a new chapter in my life as I prepare my house to be sold, as I am getting rid of so many things that I really don't want to keep or move to France or put in storage.  Most all of my actions at this time in my life are to point me towards a new life.  And I welcome that possibility with open arms and open heart. 
     Some of the well-known quotes about time I actually find a little disturbing:
     "Time waits for no man."   "Time marches on."   While those may be true, they make life sound like a military campaign - as if we're waging war on Time or it's waging war on us!  As I sit outside in this beautiful pre-spring weather, I see the promise of life in the form of the green shoots of irises, the purple/green clusters of columbines, the robins in my birdbath.  They don't ponder how time works, they simply show their beauties as part of their new lives.  How many new lives?  As many as they like!  I love Spring. I see nothing militant about how Time asserts itself in the flora and fauna. 
     I decided to do a little research and find quotes about Time that I like and that suit my beliefs on how time and life meld together.  Here are a few that I'd like to share with you:

***"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."  (I really like that one and it makes me think of JRR Tolkien's quote: "Not all who wander are lost."  One of my all time favorites!)
***"It's the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."  (from "The Little Prince")
***"Time spent with a cat is never wasted."  (from Colette)  and I would have to say the same about a dog!
***"To everything there is a season and a Time for every purpose under Heaven."  Ecclesiastes 3:1

     So, how do you see Time?  As merely a way to get from point A to point B?  Or as a gift which we should cherish.
     I will try to remember that as I continue work on my house and my back is aching and my hands are tired and I have plaster and paint all over me!  I shall consider it a gift that I have a house and an able body and a shower and friends who give me encouragement to continue on this journey.
     I was reminded this past week of how my mom's life was a gift.  I received an invitation to a special memorial service to honor Mom.  She was supposed to have died as a teenager from Rheumatic fever.  She lived the next 75 years with a damaged heart and never took any day for granted.  Even in death she wanted her life to be a gift.  She donated her body to the State Anatomical Board for medical research.  Her hope was that by studying her heart doctors could have a better understanding of how the heart works, even when it's so terribly damaged.  The memorial service is for all the families whose loved ones donated bodies so that young medical students can see for themselves just how amazing and precious life is and they can better help the living.
     I thank you so much for the time that you take out of your day to read my blog!  Merci!
    

Fun Frivolous Facts about France (from our latest visit)

     When I first started thinking about making a permanent move to France my search was focused on the area called the Dordogne, or Perigord.  It's a region located in SW France in what once was the ancient kingdom of Aquitaine (remember Eleanor?).  A region known for its amazing prehistoric cave paintings (Lascaux being the most famous), foie gras, cliff towns such as Rocamadour, beautiful winding rivers such as the Lot, the Dordogne and the Vezère.  The first time I visited the area in 1996 I was smitten!

Me in the Dordogne many years ago

     Then about five years ago something happened that made me look further south towards the Pyrenées.  I moved to SW Kansas for two years to help care for my mom and I realized how much the mountains are a part of me.  I couldn't wait for those weekends spent back in Colorado Springs with friends and with Andy.  I (not-so-patiently) focused on the horizon for my first glimpse of the mountains driving west.  This was a life-changing experience for me - I have to have mountains within sight on a daily basis!!
     Andy and I had not spent any time in the Pyrenées.  We had driven through them on a couple of occasions usually on the Spanish side of the mountain range that provides the natural border between France and Spain.  So in September we decided to explore the possibility of living further south from the Dordogne in the Gers/Midi Pyrenées region closer to Spain.

The 300 year old farmhouse outside of Auch

      We really lucked-out on the "gite" we rented for a week outside of the city of Auch.  It was part of a 300 year old farmhouse run by a wonderful French couple who made us feel like part of their family.  We rented a car and spent our days exploring the countryside which included a day in the high mountains, and 4 days in the foothills seeing medieval villages, Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals, and some of the most beautiful scenery anyone could imagine.  Andy and I both grew up in the foothills of the Rockies so it takes quite a bit to impress us!

High Pyrenees

Gothic church in St Bertrand de Comminges

     After our week in the Gers we spent a few days in Paris before our return to the States.  As much as I love Paris it was a shock to the senses after experiencing the calm, quiet solitude of the mountains.  When I got back home I started thinking about all the things that made our trip an adventure.  There are some things that can only happen in France and I want to share them with you. Here they are in no particular order:

#1)  I believe that Andy was a French driver in another life.  He loves to drive fast and will park on sidewalks when all the marked parking spots are taken.  On our first day in the city of Auch there was a street market so the place was really busy.  We needed to find an ATM and have some lunch before heading to the farmhouse so we looked for a place to park.  The parking lot (which was quite small because the market took up 3/4 of it!) was filled, but we noticed that the French were pulling up onto the sidewalk which bordered the lot and decided "why not?"  Fortunately, no tickets.  However, Andy was not so fortunate when it came to speeding.  The French do not stop you to give you a ticket.  Your license plate is photographed, the speed recorded and you are sent a ticket in the mail.  Those sneaky French! We learned all about this process!
#2)  French ducks and cows are the loudest I've ever heard.  Is there such a thing as a duck-rooster?  Every morning around sunrise we could hear one out on the lake - he was LOUD!!!  And French cows can be heard in the neighboring valleys.  We encountered quite a few on our drive into the Pyrenées.  And we found out that they do not take kindly to being mimicked!  Andy did such a good impression of the cow that was coming down the mountainside to the road that I thought she was going to charge him for being so impertinent.

The angry cow

 #3)  The reason the parking lot in the city of Foix is free between the hours of noon and 2pm is because nothing in the city is open during the 2 hours that everyone has lunch - not the grocery stores, or the shops, or the banks, or the tourist office, or the tourist sights!  There is no reason to be in Foix during these 2 hours!  Unless you need a free bathroom.  The public bathroom underneath the parking lot was free.  And speaking of bathrooms, did you know that France still has "Turkish toilets?"  - you know the hole in the ground.  Well, they are nicely tiled holes, but still . . .   Thankfully, the ones at the parking lot were the only ones I came across on this trip.

The castle in Foix that we had hoped to visit but it was closed

 #4)  It's quite unfortunate if you are hungry between the hours of 2pm and 7pm as restaurants are closed and bars do not serve food, only drinks during this time.  If you want to eat between 2 and 7 you are forced to go to McDonalds - which we did upon arriving in Paris at 3pm not having had anything to eat since breakfast.
#5)  Speaking of McDonalds, did you know you can get a Heineken with your Big Mac in Paris?
#6)  The GPS in our Renault Scenic (a great little SUV which got the equivalent of 60 mpg!) insisted on taking us the most direct route (not the quickest) which was usually right through the middle of every little town instead of staying on the highway which skirted the towns.  We didn't really mind as we saw parts of towns and villages that I'm sure no other tourists will ever see - unless they happen to rent that car!  I appreciated that it asked us if we wanted to avoid the toll roads = perhaps that is what gave it the go-ahead to take us on the "scenic route" (or it wanted to do justice to its name - "Scenic")  We had many a laugh when we came out of the little town and ended up on the highway behind the bus that we had passed many miles back.
#7)  No matter how many Gothic churches I have seen, I always am ready to see another.

The Eglise (church) de Raynaude

Inside the Eglise

 #8)  And I am always fascinated by Roman ruins.

Mosaic floor of a Roman villa

 #9)  And no matter how many times I have been to Paris, there is always something new to see.

A natural cave and waterfall in Buttes-Chaumont park in Paris

 #10) I believe that the statue in Auch proves that d'Artagnan really was a Musketeer.

D'Artagnan of Gascony

 #11) The peace and tranquility of the Pyrenées is addicting!

The Neste Valley - my valley!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!  Merci!

    

Updates, The Love Boat, and Mom

     I had an epiphany last week!  What if there's more to these ancient heat registers than meets the eye?  In two of the rooms in the 89 year old part of the house there are black heat registers that sit on the floor and connect to the wall.  They have been black for as long as I've lived here (40 years!) and I never really thought to consider that perhaps they were not originally black. 
     When I took them off the walls to paint and looked really closely at them I saw a "promise" of a shiny metal.  So I went to Ace Hardware, my now most favorite store, and bought a cleansing paste especially made for metals such as bronze.  It took a couple of afternoons of heavy elbow grease, as they say, and lots of the cleanser using a scouring/brillo type pad and look at the results!

Before the cleaning

After the cleaning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 WOW!!!   

     So now I'm wondering if the same is true of all the doorknobs in the old part of the house.  I'll work on them at some point and let you know!  I've decided that scraping the popcorn ceilings are easy compared to washing off all the plaster residue and repairing the cracks before I can paint.  The "prep work" is a pain!  I used to hate painting, but now I welcome it! ha!  It's a breeze once I finally get to that point in each room.
     You're probably wondering how "The Love Boat" got into this blog and I'll tell you about that later.  First I want to share some memories of my mom.  Last week was the one year anniversary of her passing and so, of course, she was in my thoughts a lot.  But they were funny, random, silly memories for the most part.  Many of our old photos include our dog, Pom Pom (never let your 7 year old name your dog!).  So thinking of our miniature poodle and my mom made me smile.  Here are a few memories:  My mom never wore slacks and certainly not jeans.  However . . . she did have few pairs that she wore only when we went camping.  As soon as Pom Pom saw Mom putting on her jeans, he would race to the camp trailer and sit inside it until we were ready to leave!  He loved going camping; didn't realize he wasn't a mountain goat.  He also made good use of my mom's lap on our 3 day road trip to Ohio every summer. 
     My mom was a great cook.  Oh, not a chef by any means, but she made wonderful meals for us.  My dad's favorite was her special pot of brown beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread.  I always tried to make Mom's beans but they never came out tasting like hers.  The same is true with her potato salad!  She could even be sitting right there telling me what to put in and how to do it and it still didn't taste like hers. 
     I love the story of how my mom and dad met.  My dad was stationed at Peterson Air Force Base here in Colorado Springs in 1944.  My mom, at that time, was working at Smokey Hill Air Base in Salina, KS.  She had a good friend who lived in the Springs and invited her to come visit.  This friend happened to volunteer at the USO.  Mom said she didn't remember meeting my dad that first night, but Daddy certainly remembered her.  He saw her walk in wearing her lovely red dress with her beautiful black wavy hair, turned to his buddies and said, "See that pretty girl in the red dress?  I'm going to marry her someday!".  And 4 months later in September of 1944 they were married.  They were married almost 60 years when my dad passed away in 2003. 

The inset was taken in 1947.  The larger photo in 2001  Aren't they beautiful?

     OK, now to "The Love Boat".  I have come across a couple of TV channels not listed in my TV guide.  One of them plays reruns of "The Love Boat" on a regular basis.  The other one plays reruns of another of my favorite shows from way back when, "Hart to Hart".  So I find myself changing channels from the one that plays the "Golden Oldies" rock and roll to "The Love Boat" to "Hart to Hart" and remembering how fun and so much more innocent the TV shows were 30 years ago.   All of these channels keep me motivated to get my work done.  I challenge myself to see if I recognize the song or the actor's voice and usually I'm right! 
     Well, this post seems to be a hodge podge of random thoughts for the week.  I could talk about all the snow we've had, but I think at this point we're all rather tired of all the snow.  But, I shall close for now, go feed the dogs, and get back to my ceilings. 
    Once again, I thank you all for reading my blog and joining me on my journey.  Merci!