For various reasons, it has been a bit of the Summer that Wasn’t. No visits to the beach with sandy puppers in tow or rosé-drenched apéro’s in a flowerly bower. In a certain sense, we knew it would be so–it was in the Planning as Remi is knee-deep, slowly pushing a three year long project into home, leaving me a loopy amount of time to reason and read. And so I have been taking in the words, taking in the words until I am full and restless. Quand c’est trop, c’est trop.
In this lull of in-between, I have let myself get trapped in amber, like a prehistoric fly. In my emptiness, I have built up a routine to create structure in all of this floppy space. A very relaxed version of métro, boulot, dodo. Dullness weighs my body down and thoughts cease to swing. Yes, there are elements of routine in Arles that have a perfume of gorgeousness about them but if I am not seeing them, well, I might as well be sleepwalking anywhere. Luckily my camera can rearrange my focus when I cannot.
The streets of Arles are solid but also shady and shaking. I have lived here for eight years now, quite some time for a nomad like me. I walk them in patterns and loops, where the dogs lead, I follow. That too can be dulling blind until the light shifts and on the wall in front of me and an angle aligns or a sign is revealed, one that I had somehow never seen. A bit of magic and blink are the must of these little gifts. It is a moment that inevitably makes me smile and snaps the amber quick to set me buzzing free.
“I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad,
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.”
To see the wonders of the world abroad,
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.”
–The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare
So no great adventures for the moment, friends, just little, local ones.
Thanks for being along for the ride.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Your pictures break my heart with beauty, Dear Heather.
Oh gosh, your English is far, far better than you think it is!!! Write away…I always appreciate your take on things, M.
Heather thank you…you always encourage me to leave a comment. Month ago I was so
shy and insecure because of my English.
You could not have said it better Heather…I think you could start the first page of a novel with that post. I would be eager to see what follows next. Here is something I just posted on Facebook…we seem to both be searching for words at the moment..
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more" — George Gordon Byron
attached to the following photo…
http://lacalaveracatrina.tumblr.com/post/46940488100/painting4life-wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog
xx
PS…I have been remiss in blogging this summer and am just catching up. I missed your Birthday!! Happy Belated Birthday wishes my friend.
…and a recent favourite you might enjoy…
http://youtu.be/HoRkntoHkIE
I loved Annie L's "At Work" too. We were lucky enough to have her work exhibited right down the street from us at the Concord Museum and we attended an event practically in our own back yard where she shared the stage with Doris Kearns Goodwin.