The month of June has flown by. Maybe that's because it was so jam-packed with living! I spent the first week of the month in Cincy, helping my grandmother move, and working on a few interesting projects, including trying to gather Linwood history and to photograph Linwood now. I started a Flickr group to post Linwood photos and am researching Linwood's history. I found several books published about a few of the older Cincinnati neighborhoods, and I think we can scrape together enough history to do this for Linwood.I also helped Grandma move from one apartment to another because her building is under construction and she was losing her location - but mainly because the pounding around her was making her crazy.
Stopping to ask brings many opportunities for learning. Many folks had tried to get Grandma to move for about 6 months, and she just kept saying she hadn't found the right apartment. But finally, someone asked her what she was actually looking for. She had always been shown apartments that had a lovely view of the lake --- just like her old apartment, where she had lived for over 5 years. But finally when directly asked about the view she said, "I am bored with that view. I have been looking at that lake for 5 years, and it never changes!" She loved instead the apartment with a view of the parking lot. She said, "now I can watch all the comings and goings." So with her view of the parking lot, and her new hearing aids, she seems to have bounced back from someone who I thought was slipping away (at 94) to someone who is back to playing cards 7 nights per week, and calling me to tell me how much she likes her new place.
Mom and Peter arrived on the 10th of June for a month long stay while they trekked around Paris and the region. They arrived on a cold, rainy gray day and we all dreaded spending a month in the house together. But that soon changed and we are thrilled that the sun is shining and being a tourist is easy...that is if I get you to the correct train station. What??? That's right, Mom was heading to the Loire Valley and I took her to the wrong station -- of course there are only what 6 stations in Paris? Fortunately, we had started early and had plenty of time to correct our error, and got back on line 14 to take us from Gare St. Lazare to Gare Austerlitz. (They both have zs in them...)
I have felt pretty hamstringed this month because I lent my camera to Peter. Mom wouldn't let him bring his big 35mm camera with all the bells and whistles because she said it was too complicated, and besides, he loses things...So instead, I loaned him my little digital. He was a little surprised to learn there was a bit of a learning curve, but seems to have got the hang of it now. I expect there will be some nice photos for souvenirs. I will do the best I can to document things when I get the chance.
We went to the Django Rhinehardt Jazz festival this year. We ran into Pat's french teacher who was quite surprised that the Americans had found the concert. This was our second trip in 4 years, and I think it was the 40th festival. Our neighbor Fred was clueless about this series, and he professes to be a huge jazz fan. It's fun to be in the know -- of course it's because we spend a little time on the internet, and looking at the posters in the Metro stations for cool things to do. Have you looked around at your local events? I find that the longer you have lived in an area the less likely you are to try something new. Maybe it's time to look for a new event.
Speaking of new things to do -- I went to Aglamesci's for ice cream when I was last in Cincy. That's really good ice cream, not very far from my house, and some place I don't think I had ever been (or if I had, it had been a long time). I didn't go to Terry's Turfclub in Linwood yet - but I have heard you really need to.
As for us, what's our next trip? Well, this summer is pretty full. Our 17 year old nephew is going to arrive in a couple of weeks, and will accompany us through the WW1 battlefields, and then off to Provence to see Roman ruins. Lisa is also coming to visit, and she and I are planning a trip to Grasse, home of french perfume. In the meantime, though, Carole and I went to see 1000 year old art works never before seen by women, in a display at the Petit Palais. Oh why wasn't those pieces ever seen before by women? Well because they were squirreled away in monasteries in Greece - where women still aren't allowed. The monks believe women are unpure. You can probably imagine what I think of that philosophy? Got milk?
Here is a picture of a really cool noisemaker that we found at the Festival de l'Oh. Where we watched African dancers and marionnettes and spent time learning about water conservation. It wasn't quite the grand entertainment that we thought it would be, but the props were kind of cool.
