Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The fog is starting to lift.


The two tykes have returned from visiting their grandparents in St Etienne.  They spend their morning doing wheelies on the gravel outside the village hall. In the afternoon they grapple with the intricacies of the 'C' scale on their trombones.

A long and jolly chat with an old friend at Stanford. He observes that ' Some people used to ask what's the point of studying history ? Now the fog is starting to lift '. As good a comment on our times as I've heard. He makes a slightly less upbeat point when he observes that ' after four years of expansionary budgets the 2020 election is one that no one will wish to win '.


We've always had happy dogs but there's something about these two that's different. It's as though they've inherited a kind of mischief to the power ten. The two of them hare down the track to the little lake.  They holler with delight. PONs are not quiet dogs. The Celt in me can't help but think that humans could never be as immersed in the wonder of the  moment as these two are.


An appellation I've never seen before on a wine label  Pays de Mediterranee.  That leaves a fairly wide geographic area for the grapes to come from.


The greengrocers looking particularly exotic this morning. It seems Thai cuisine is becoming a big thing here in deepest, deepest France profonde.



Trailers as a % of the housing stock. Montana and Wyoming seem high considering the climate. Why ?  :



9 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

A happy dog is such an asset in these times.

francetaste.wordpress.com said...

I hope the crows come home to roost before 2020 so that it's quite clear who's at fault. Though the blame might go to those who win this November and not the idiots currently in charge who are making the mess.
I wonder whether some of Montana's and Wyoming's trailers are people living on public land and unable to build there.
The terrible tykes are having a wonderful childhood. It's rare these days, even in France, that kids can roam free.

Poppy Q said...

I guess with dogs, they only live 15 years to our 75 or so, so they squeeze a lot more joy out than us. Bob and Sophie give me a lot of joy too.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
The problem with history is that it gets discussed but never applied, lesson-wise. It is cyclical, the same things happening in every generation, every century, only the ante is upped due to innovation and invention of bigger and better ways to make a mess.

Well, as the 'terrior' is secret, the whole Mediterranee had to be used, methinks!

Angus, the way others may drool at your bakery pics, I am slathering all over the thought of tasting the passionfruits and longans et al!!! YAM xx

Camille said...

Simples....mobile homes are easy to heat in winter and cool in summer. They are also eminently more affordable than stick built housing for low income individuals or families. In the instance of Montana and Wyoming, these are sparsely populated areas with limited alternative housing such as apartments or condominiums. Also, many Americans own two homes (ie: mobile homes) and spend summers up north and winters down south.

As always, the PONS are adorable and brighten my day.

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

Being without an animal companion for the first time since I was fifteen years old, I become very excited just seeing the picture of one. I now understand the joy my father felt when he would call me each night to hear what my animals had done during that day. The more trouble they got in, the better he liked the story! Thank you for sharing Bob and Sophie with all of us.

Anonymous said...

Seasonal usage:)

Anonymous said...

Living where sophisticated culture seems a distant memory, I can assure you that a visit to your greengrocer is almost as exotic as a visit to your baker. I mostly do well with very intermittent internet access with the biggest exception of visiting with Bob and Sophie each morning. But what a joy catching up! Commenters to this blog are a pleasure, too and I'm wondering where Coppa's Girl is. Stephanie in Northern California

Allison said...

It's poverty and a lack of affordable housing. We're currently living full time in an RV, and the number of full time residents in parks has increased significantly in the last few years. We have the luxury of migrating between north and south to avoid winter, but many people are fixed in units that will never move again.