None of my regular leads into the daily universe where I prefer to hang out seem to be given off signs of comfort, no omens are given of prosperousness’ return on this historic day I’ve been looking forward to, thinking it would somehow change the course significantly, steering away from the challenges we have been dealing with for so long they have internalized into new habits, for better or worse, who’s to say.
This morning, goody-goody schoolboy Holland started the Covid vaccination process, far behind our current host country, where politicians are raising such a hue and cry over the snail-like pace, but the Dutch are probably our best bet for personal relief anyway, considering the bureaucracy and procedural complexity no doubt put in place by the French government. Not having left Les Pierres for nine consecutive months has been an altering practice, enriched by all experiences we thought could only be obtained through displacement and a constantly changing territory, the fools we were and we partly long to become again, if given the chance, still so much to see in this world.
Imposing itself on my day as well, involved not only by so many American friends but an apparently sparse sense of justice and a probably naive hope for change, is the sham unfolding today in Congress in America. I have an inkling that these events will finally bring forward some clarity on how to interpret our rather insane focus on what we erroneously been calling the free world, no matter who was leading us.
Pretty big stuff for an ordinary Wednesday at Les Pierres, where the factual news is that January so far has found the courage to act like it is supposed to, no historic deviations to report, grayness and solid frost are still King, with a capital I cannot but acknowledge, but just enough to keep us in. Never mind our frozen veggie garden, these are the days I had in mind when in summer I ritually put up some of our fruit for planned providence, only to forget I ever did.
Hazelnut, elderberry, prunes, cherries, sloes, they all add to the party we plan for days like this, days that are filled with meaning and a guidance forward, but tend to end early at the kitchen table.
