A group of Croat pilgrims come along the lane. Their staves clickety-clack clickety-clack on the tarmac. Bob stands on his stump seat. The Croats wave. In return he gives them his impenetrable stare. Little do they know what a ferocious guardian they are trifling with.
Down through the sunflower fields to the stream. The PONs drink long and noisily. Dragonflies the size of wrens flit around us. Some lapis lazuli, others a salmon pink. A red white and black woodpecker works away at one of the willows. The PONs sniff the ground drinking in the scent of deer and badgers and who knows what else has been drinking here during the night.
Back at home the PONs are congratulated on being such personable companions. Bob and Angus discuss a tweet that says Presidents reign. It's more likely that they serve or rule. Sophie has no interest in linguistic semantics and makes it plain that she's impatient to head off to the cafe for our morning croissant.
In the little market town they've restored the plaster figure of St.Michael in the old church. It used to be a riot of reds and golds and greens but has now been 'gentrified' in muted good taste. The restorer seems to have gone overboard with the mascara. Angus isn't convinced the end result portrays the church militant. The slain devil is a particularly unattractive primordial grey green.
We go to the glaziers to pick up the bathroom window that broke when a gust of wind caught it and slammed it against the wall. What was promised in two weeks has taken two months. I mildly complain about why it's taken so long. The window man apologizes. He and his wife look after eighteen month old children that come from Madagascar to have major heart or cancer operations at the Purpan hospital in Toulouse. The mothers are poor and may have other children to look after and can't travel. After surgery this wide ranging a young child in an environment without family support often doesn't survive. The window man and his wife , their children, and their pack of mutts, act as a surrogate family. At the moment they have two eighteen month olds recuperating with them. They've been doing this for ten years. I apologize for being impatient. He laughs. ' C'est rien ' . I'm not sure whether this unassuming middle aged man in a green boiler suit in a messy workshop is a saint or an angel but it's certain that quiet kindness is a mighty ocean.
So starts a day in a small village in deepest, deepest France profonde where nothing ever happens.
Coming to a cinema near you the voice of Kevin Costner : https://twitter.com/i/status/1156636308116103168
8 comments:
ANGUS and the FONT: You must read THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN ! N.Y.Times bestseller for months on end. And now the film. You are dog people. This book is for dog people. Best read my husband and I have had in years and years. I think you should read it before seeing the film - which (by the way) was filmed very close to us here in West Vancouver, B.C., Canada. I implore you to read it, if you have not already.
Enjoy! Suggested with lots of love, from the Westcoast of Canada.
Shall order the book today. Thank you.
Hari Om
Oh yes, I saw this trailer a few days back and have marked my calendar to check the local cinema. Dunoon hut-screen can surprise us with such things! ...I am fairly sure that most of the incumbent presidents of the world consider themselves to be reigning over their people... and the people of the world are not quite sure what happened. YAM xx
Your world is wonderfully full of guardian angels this week.
I too will check out the book/film.
Cheers, Gail.
Purpan is an incredible place. A friend of my kid's was there, extremely ill, for months. The mother could stay at the Ronald McDonald House nearby (so those coins actually produce something). The pediatric wing was as unhospital-like as possible. But little babies (and at 18 months they are still babies) need lots of holding and cuddling, more than hospital staff can give. Bravo to the glazier and his family.
When I lived in Kenya, there was a home for kids crippled by polio. It was run by Polish nuns, and every year a team of Italian doctors would fly in to operate on the kids. It would look like a war zone afterward, with everybody lying around bandaged up. I returned 10 years later, and the Polish nuns were still there. But they informed me the kids they now serve have birth defects--polio is gone. I cried for joy. Progress in the world.
I also read about the author of the book, and how many years it took to get this film made. The film opens here August 9th. You were definitely in the presence of Angels today!
The art of racing in the rain is my favourite dog book. After reading it in 2010 I named my next Golden Retriever puppy Enzo after the main character.
Bob you are a great dog guarding your gate from the pilgrims. Such an important job to do!
That restaurant looks like a lovely place to sit for a while. Do you eat there or at the little one across the road?
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