Tongue in Cheek

French Kisses, the First Signs of Spring

vintage postcard. 1929

the unbutton coat

scarf tossed aside

the cherry trees blossom

babies are born

flowers change the landscape

tenderness fills the air

the first

signs of

Spring

are like

french kisses!

SeaShells

First, I must say I collect seashells.

Secondly, my daughter's prenom-first name is, "CHELSEA." My Father-in-law, a man of very few words, let alone English ones, said to me at her birth: "Chelsea is, "Sea-Shell, backwards, non?"

The French pronounce CH as SH, my daughter's name therefore in pronounced, Shel-sea.

When I was pregnant I mentioned to Yann that I liked the name; "Chelsea." Yann looked at me, mouthed the name without any sound coming out, then despite himself he said, "Chilli, you said Chilli!" That should have been my first clue that names were not pronounced the same, and picking a name that sounds the same in both countries should be foremost in importance.

English pronounce Yann as Yawn! French pronounce Corey as Core-Ay. Names like Anna sound the same as does Laura or Mark, well more or less the same, but not nearly as butchered as Chelsea! Chelsea has been called, Jealsee by her teachers since day one!

Luckily, in France everyone gets by with Monsieur or Madame, names are something reserved for a future relationship. Though, when you have a prenom that isn't French, you are left as a Madame Americaine forever!

*Salt holder, hand-made, found at a flea market in Cannes.

Everywhere you Look Railings

Railings, are everywhere is France. Everywhere. They adorn everything. Varied sizes, intricate to plain-janes, straight-lace to curvy. Made of iron they are made to last. I bet you could go to any part of France, Stand in one spot, pivot around and you would find an iron railing. Like I said they are everywhere, look at this one; It is just hanging out waiting for something to happen to it, it has been waiting so long it is rusty and growing tired with boredom.

Opera in France

The Stone steps at the Theater in Orange are also used as seats. This massive first century outdoor theater holds five thousand people. I have been to two opera performances there. Both were jammed packed without an inch to spare.

The first opera I went to at this theater I didn't know to take a pillow. The second time I went to the opera I forgot to take a pillow! Even with the surreal surroundings, the glorious full moon shedding light upon the huge stage and the movement and sound of the amazing costumed performers, it didn't subtract one grain of hardness from those rock hard seats! While my behind was going numb, I realized that those seats are wide enough to place a mattress...If you should ever go to listen to an opera in Orange...I strongly advise you to forget a pillow and take a mattress instead!

I wasn't the only one rubbing my behind while humming when I left!

Feast Day of Love

Saint Valentine's Day

Trust the many hands of love that come your way...

The giving

and receiving,

the gentle and the strong.

The hand that asks you to let go of it,

the hand that is hard to hold...

Many are the hands that long to be held--

that speak of love worth holding.

*A painting in our church. Blurry because I took this photo last night, in the dark, without a flash..

Ruby Lips

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, tomorrow is Valentine...French kissing, chocolates, all things red, expectations, pink candy heart messages, love letters, red roses, sweet nothings...and on *ruby lips the words I love you.

*19th century oil on canvas painting of an young man. His ruby lips.

Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder

On the top left hand corner

of a destroyed painting that I have is the face of an *angel. (In the corners of my life sit angels... and some demons too.)

Time has chipped away the rose-colored cheeks,

though time has not vanished the longing of hope that whispers in its eyes, nor has it diminished its beauty.

*click on this photo or any of them to enlarge.

This place is not Taken

Stillness.

Quiet. silent. Empty.

alone-- pair of chairs.

Similar-alike-symbolic.

Two-of-a-kind. Side-by-side. Next-to-each-other.

Twins--not exactly the same.

Peas-in-a-pod.

Pears.

Apples and Oranges.

Blue.

Waiting. Empty seat.

The two of us.

you and me.

inseparable.

Matching pair.

Faded. used. out of focus

Memory.

Nothing changes. Remains the same.

Here waiting

Still.

The Footprints we leave Behind

The carved slab of stone appears

soft and delicate

as silk fabric.

I can almost see it move with a gentle breeze.

Where was he going?

Who took the time to care to such detail? To imagine perfection in this design?

How did he feel that day when the stone was a hunk of sheer force and the idea of such an image was about to take hold of his hand?

The first  step....one must trust and begin...no matter how hard...

Jewels and a Few Precious Words

Rusty little tins with window tops as lids, gave view to *precious antique gems that had high hopes to be placed in a crown.

Peering into the tiny windows I could see the stones were not necessarily classified by color or by type. Biting my lip I asked the dealer if I could mix-n-match one rusty tin box for myself. He looked at me like I was a rusty tin box..."I guess that means no-huh?" He nodded his head yes.

A second plan came to mind..."How much again for each box?"

"$40." Flatly without any fanfare he muttered.

"If I paid you double to mix-n-match one box, what would you say?" He turned away and walked to the end of the table without given me a verbal answer, this wasn't easy.

I don't like dealing with grumpy dealers, especially when my toes are frozen! "Okay, what if I bought a few tin boxes; what better price would you give me?" Slowly he turned around looked at me, and without even cracking a smile he said, "How many boxes are you thinking to buy?" Calculating quickly by trying to see the doorway to a cheaper price in his eye I added, "Four or five of them?" His eyes did not twinkle when he said, "Four boxes $160, five boxes $200."

Gee, not even two cents less! I glanced at the tin boxes and blew a kiss towards my crown of wishful thinking. Sometimes kissing a French frog doesn't bring you a Prince.

"Excuse-me?! Can I at least take a photo?" He didn't say no.....though you might say he didn't say yes either.

*Saw these at the flea market in Paris last weekend. If these were semi-precious stones... $20 a box was a very good deal to be had.