A Virgo month

Not my phhoto, but that of someone patent who waited patientlyfor the storm over the Pic Saint Loup 

I began writing a rather downbeat piece about ageing, but then stopped and changed tack. We have many friends of around our age, and some are fortunate like us, with senses more or less whole, lots of good friends near and far, partners we love and care for. I think a lot of my friends, like me, live largely on the experiences we’ve accumulated, and even if life is now restricted by pain or illness there is a wealth of memory and inner enjoyment to enjoy. I know about music and am so thankful to be able to listen, supported by the wonder of recordings. And I am endlessly grateful for the gift of sight, the ever-changing skies and light in the place we live, and the sensory pleasures of food and drink. 

This is a birthday month for us, and has been throughout my life - my grandfather, my mother, the lady I married and numerous friends all share this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness (mists not so much in our warmer climes).  It ssms also to be a month for visitors - my nephew David has just left, and a dear friend from the US will be with us soon.  The summer heat has moderated and the storms have stayed away from Lunel, but seem to have broken all around us, wiith some floods in Montpellier.  I'm reminded that when we first came on holidayto the Languedoc, almost 25 years ago, there were bad floods in Nîmes and we had to trek up and down to our holiday flat onn the stairs because a lift shaft was flooded.  It keeps suprprising me that Lunel is so dry when there are floods and storms all around.

We enjoy visiting friends and receiving them here for our regular language groups, and in the lovely warm weather just now we can sit outside.  Our reading at the moment is from books by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.  The ones we have read so far are related by boys born into Jewish families - one, Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran is about a lad abandoned by his parents and adopted by a local Muslim grocer - Moïse becomes Mohaùmed - and the one we are currently reading, l'enfant de Noé,  is about a boy who is separated from his parents to be hidden from the Nazis in a Catholic boarding school in the early 1940s .  The writing is humorous despite the difficult stories.  Both are narrated in the voices of the boys.  We have a faithful group of 20-30 people who come regularly, and an average of 15 or so in our weekly gatherings.

Of the many upsetting things in the world around us, killing innocent people by powerful weapons in Gaza and Ukraine and the complete disdain shown by many politicians for the lives of  those they are supposed to govern are open sores in the daily news.  

We think more and more of our dear friends, with whom we must now keep in touch by electronic means if nothing else is possible.   With advancin age, calm and wisdom are lurking somewhere, but on the surface are all the ailments and frailties that  beset us.  It is easy to doubt your mental capacities, (sometimes, we know, with finite symptoms of mental deterioration).  And even if you are compos mentis, it is easy to wonder and doubt.  

My own difficuulties are mainly in walking (as regular readers will know), but it's important to take care with balance and avoid falling over!  Many of our family and friends have a  variety of more or less trying difficulties, including the very distressing loss of sight  and/or hearing for musicians after a lifetime of  active performing at all levels.  Things like arthritis can interrupt other kinds of art too.  And all the infirmities bring with them increasing isolation as travelling becomes more difficult.  Moving house to better adapted premises is a good theory, but the emotional wrench of leaving a good home and neighbourhood is  huge.  I think few people have really begun to think about the  challenges of living a lot longer than our grandparents.

wonderful meal at the Maison Soubeiran last week,,complete with birthday candle from the restaurant