Another day, another storm. The wind rips off the last flowers on the wisteria by the front door. April is certainly turning out to be a month of sunshine and showers. Sophie doesn't mind storms but she draws the line at hail. She gives us her 'glum' performance.
The sun comes out. The PONs catch up on time wasted indoors. The mayor is also out early. The replacement trestle tables for the salle des fetes arrive in a large white van. Bob dethreats the left rear tyre. Sophie wanders inside to see if there's any food in the communal kitchen. The mayor despite being well into his eighties has unloaded the tables. He is always hard at work and cheerful. An uncomplaining salt of the earth type man.
This mornings croissant tastes better than it looks. The PONs each get given a small sugary pastry choquette by the bakers wife. This makes today rank as one of the best days ever. Bob lingers and tries to explain to her that if he was given a second choquette it would be the best day ever. He fails in his task. There's always tomorrow.
We go to the supermarket to pick up a paper from the centre libraire. A young man is sitting at table in the entrance . An unglamorous - but practical - new Citroen on one side and a bed and bedside table on the other. Is he selling both ? The demure mannequin adds to the confusion.
Can Europe and New England really have been malarial until 1900 ?
Link here : https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2019/04/Previous-prevalence-of-malaria-world-map.png
Take out life insurance and you'll get a discount if you give up cigarettes or move to vapping. The insurance company ? Phillip Morris : https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/tobacco-company-philip-morris-launches-life-insurance-company-reviti.html
14 comments:
Maybe not such a new Citroen if it says 2008 on the front plate. Although that is one of the more, um, interesting library displays I've ever seen.
There have been news stories recently saying that vaping is even worse for long-term health than smoking. But such research not likely funded by Phillip Morris.
To my mind the mannequin with the unfeasible body shape adds a rather creepy element to the scene.
It's a Peugeot! That's a lion on the front, not three chevrons. So the 2008 is the model number.
I thought Italy and Greece had malaria all the way into the 1970s. It's a nasty disease. When I lived in Africa, I got very sick--very high fever, wracked with chills, it came on fast. I rushed to the hospital, which took 8 hours of travel (the comforts of being a Peace Corps volunteer). When I finally arrived and said I feared I had malaria, the doctor said, oh, no, you'd be much worse. I just had food poisoning. It was the sickest I've ever been and if malaria is worse, I pity anybody who gets it. I never missed my malaria meds (which gave me some pretty crazy dreams).
Well spotted. In this neck of the woods it had to be a Citroen a Renault or a Peugeot.
Yes, Malaria meds create the mother of all dreams.
The new malaria vaccine that's just started real world trials has promise. It only works for 40% of the population, but when you consider that kids can have 6 attacks of malaria a year the vaccine is seen as worth it. Here in the Touraine du Sud we were definitely malarial until around 1900, and in the adjoining Brenne area, with all its low lying marshy land. I'm now just waiting for chinkungunya to appear. It's in the south, the mosquitoes are here -- eventually it will arrive. But for this year I'm concentrating on worrying about Lyme Disease and smothering myself in DEET to dissuade ticks (and hopefully chiggers -- at least they aren't disease vectors, but they are the itchiest things ever.)
What lovely photos of windswept pons.
I have never heard of a malaria case in New England that did not travel back here by plane trip. 2002? Really?
In fact, I have never known of anyone with it. I am circa 1955 :-)
In your first picture, I understand how Sophie feels! Several years ago, almost every house in my city had hail damage. We were the City of blue tarps waiting for an available roofer. Was that picture of Sophie taken in your library?
When there's hail about Sophie's favourite spot is the floor between the library and the big kitchen.
You could believe she dances round the supermarket in the wee hours of the morning.
The Font was bitten when walking through the oak trees. Round circular rash. A quick trip to the doctors and injection of enough antibiotics to sink a battleship did the trick. A warning to check those itchy bites on legs and shoulders.
Catching a PON when its not moving is a small miracle.
Yes I thought Bob and Sophie looked very fetching in their photos as well.
Also that room looks very interesting, a new perspective for us.
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