The date above the door is carved in a distinctive script, “1553.” I have to think about that for a moment. This beautiful doorway has been here for 461 years. As hard as I try, I can almost bend my mind around that fact and yet not quite. Newness and the space of time are relative, especially if it is true what Stephen Hawking is touting, that there are no Black Holes (thank you Laoch for the link).
Perhaps best then just to skim on the surface of pleasing beauty. Most certainly as I am still escaping to the warmth of a November sun, all while shivering (literally) at my desk as the temperatures dip into a playful late January curtsy outside my window pane.
Remi has been out of town since Tuesday and time has been lolling like shadows. It is funny how much we are each other’s clocks, I tend to forget.
“Are you lonely?” my Mom asked the other day on the phone. “Oh, no. No, not at all,” I responded.
As I talk to Ben and Kipling far too often, I haven’t even had the surprise of hearing my voice spark out loud late on in the day…
…but rather have used this extra, spongy space around me to rethink and reboot a bit.
The words “Have Faith” sprung to mind on the morning of Remi’s departure. They didn’t have such a literal form but were more of a suggestion to believe that the cup is half full, not empty…
…and that there is still much to learn, to discover, to try.
That said, I have finally, gently dipped my toe into the world of Instagram. Now, as a professional photographer’s companion, I am usually staunchly against such sites that have the ability to sell their user’s images as royalty-free (which is also why I am anti-Pinterest, to read my thoughts about the subject, click here). But I am enjoying seeing the quick glimpses of the lives of my friends around the world. I get it. And besides, the quality of the images that I am taking on my ancient iphone 3 are not exactly sellable material!
As I mentioned on Instagram, I have also been eating differently as I am cooking only for myself and that too has been “food for thought.” This means that I have been really enjoying my vegetables and feeling the better for it.
Remi and I actually stopped buying industrial meat last year. When we go up to Banon, we stop in at an excellent butcher (located just behind where this last photo was taken) to stock up on pork and lamb that was raised by local producers under the best of conditions. We freeze the extras when we get back and then parcel them out sparingly over the next few months. The taste is incomparable to the grocery-store equivalent and so a little goes a long way. In French culinary culture, it is a big shift to go towards a flexitarian or “meat as an accompaniment, not always the main ingredient” type of thinking but it is working for us, even if the changes are taking place gradually.
In thinking about the date on that 16th century door, I can wonder how the people of that time ate on the other side of it as well. Simpler, I am willing to hazard. Sugar and meats were certainly a luxury as they were prohibitively expensive.
I don’t want to just sleepwalk through the preparation of our meals (nor the perpetual presence of a baguette on our table, even if this is France) and have come across a few articles about the “hows and whys” of our diets lately that have really caught my attention:
Mark Bittman’s “Sustainable Resolutions for your Diet” in the New York Times – here
The Head Butler’s interview with Dr. David Perlmutter, author of “Grain Brain” – here
Photographer Carla Coulson’s dietary treatment in response to being diagnosed with Graves Disease (plus many interesting health links) – here
My friend D.A. Wolf’s fun but insightful piece on how to rethink weight gain – here
All of them make good sense to me and so I thought that it might be of interest to you as well, despite it not being the typical Lost in Arles fare. What do you think? Have you made any dietary shifts over the past year or hope to in 2014? Any thoughts or information to share? No matter what, I know that I hope to find a workable, pleasurable balance for this is the “stuff of life”!
And on that note, I’ll leave you with a quote, provided by Edgar at simpleimages2:
“Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes abundance”.-Epicurus
I love that.
To listen: WBGO . They are currently playing Louis Prima-esque tunes, helpful when dancing around trying to stay warm – including, in a truly laugh-inducing coincidence, the Little Richard tune that the lovely Vickie Lester spoke of only yesterday here.
May the rest of your weekend be full of much abundance and joy…
That doorway blew me away too Karena. And thank goodness for the internet to let us travel!
I can't imagine you as anything but the skinny miss you are, so thank you for saying that. You know, I was thin for most of my adult life and completely took it for granted. Well, let's just say that twelve years in France have taken their toll! And I can still eat what I love, I just need to be more aware of what I simply crave and what is right for me…
xo
And I love HOW you talk about those delicate subjects too DA…
Bisous à toi aussi…
prepare 'to' eat 🙂
The shadows cast in the third image are extraordinary. They look like the ghosts of arrows. And the sky behind the clock tower actually inspired pain.
The idea of not sleepwalking through what you prepare eat is not only redolent with wisdom but needful and sane. My heart is knit with yours on that one, H.
Those two pups are adorable. I just graduated to a Smartphone last Christmas and am thinking of joining Instagram but not sure I have the time for it. I am not taking that many photos lately, which is annoying me a great deal but I have not had the time. Maybe next weekend 🙂
Lovely post. Thank you
My menu has change to (almost) gluten free, and the better I feel for it. The pancake mix is devine. Before gluten free, pancakes weren't on my morning menu. Balance is the meal guide that works for me. If I have this now, then I can't or can have that later thing.
About Pinterest…I believe the advertising value of Pinterest is great enough for artists to designate some of their work for sights like Pinterest to reach a wider audience. One fantastic pinned on Pinterest photo, I feel, has amazing potential. On Tumblr where so many images are sourceless/no photographer's name or original source, I can see not going there. All in all, I this blog itself has brough you and Remi to a wider audience.
very busy and staying in hotels healthy eating is very difficult at the moment. My husband leave in a couple of days for nearly 6/8 weeks (ooh, in 35 yrs. we were never separated for so long ) and I will move in our new PH we have
found at least. Then I start cooking in my "old way"…lot's of vegetarian, fish etc. I buy only lamb and eco beef for
once a week, and once a week we eat without a guilt ..dessert, wine and not watching cal. Similar to Epicur's words… Luck is not to have what you like, luck is to love what you have got.
Such a nice surprise to see you in IG this morning…I shall happily follow you wherever you go Heather. Lovely thoughtful photos…and your suggestions for eating without guilt are most appreciated. Those two boys of yours are precious…and Edgar's posts, always inspiring.
Best wishes…stay warm and thank you for your kind note..xx
I like the way you tickle fancy and the pleasing way to tease out the beauty of places you visit, the silent doors and closed windows, simultaneous meanings of learning and discovery, and the path we should be taking.
Fresh things from the market are the first essentials of great tastes, “taste is incomparable”.Yes.
Mrs. Abstract is away, visiting her sister in the East Coast who celebrates her 50th birthday today. You have culinary knowledge I don’t have. I plan to survive on sautéing, microwave(ing), and cooking with eggs as the secret ingredient and plan to eat at home.
Thank you for mentioning the quotation.
Enjoy the weekend.