Reflections

We have just been on a short trip away, to visit a friend near Toulouse who is well into his 90s.  Barry lives in a rambling old house in the countryside - he and his then partner Peter had moved these from London many years before, having started buying and selling antiques in London, and continuing dealing and collecting in France.  Barry was my fellow tenor in the Canonbury Chamber Choir and continued singing in French choirs for many years - Peter died over 20 years ago.  Barry is still holding his own against the pressures of old age, adjusting to the more restricting boundaries of a life more hemmed in by age and infirmity.  In the random lottery of health and wellbeing which affects us all as we age, he seems to be surviving well.  Thinking of our own luck in surviving to good ages in reasonable health, I can't help also thinking of those of our family and friends no longer with us, and of others suffering from severe illnesses.  But I still have many years ahead to reach Barry's age, and Mary nearly as many.

Our current reading in our Tuesday language group is La fabrication de l'aube (the making of the dawn), by Jean-François Beauchemin.  It is short, elegantly written but not easy reading.  Essentially, it's the musings of a seriously ill man who expects to die (but evidently does not because here he is writing the book).  I often say it does not really matter what we read if it is in French; and in fact I find it good for a wide variety of phrases and expressions which are in common use but in less abstract contexts.  So it is informative, and good for our language skillls, but not necessarily entertaining.  For me, the interesting thing has been that it reflects my experience of waking from dreams which stay in the mind and seem fairly realistic although they are clearly not real.  This author's near-to-death musings, oscillate with images he has of his relationships with family and reflections on his life experiences, and rang bells for me...

One of our language groups here last week

Our short trip into   the Haute Garonne has been spiced up by very high winds which discourage tourism but, in sheltered spots, offer beautiful light and sunshine.  It is not a wine area, but we have taken advantage of the latest Lidl wine fair to stock up on bottles and appellations we know quite well!  Now we move into the lighter days of March and look forward to clocks going forward too in a couple of weeks.  Happy Easter to everyone!