L'Oiseau et le chien

Prelude to the End

A quick one from Carolyn

We sold our house and sprouted wings.

We flew to France to flap those wings.

We noticed the pigeons first--

perching on walls, hooting like owls, pecking at the lettuce scraps from the market.

Eleanore and Frances are bringing home one french song to play together: "L'oiseau."

Jeff's favorite "piece" of the terrace is the birds that circle the rooftops,

in constant, orderly orbit.

My friend Patricia wanted Ann-Sophie's sculpture of the woman and the falcon.

I gave Patricia a small metal bird to remind her of her wings.

My alarm clock is the swallows outside my bedroom (video below).

Birds everywhere.

And...

Today was my last run before we leave.

I haven't seen Jacques in one week. No matter how hard I try.

Half-way up the steepest hill, my ipod battery died.

Huffing, I stuck it in my shirt...and...

suddenly, I heard my french world.

I heard the birds. Like a jungle.

I heard dogs.

I heard faint echos of techno music from a waning party.

I thought I heard a wild boar.

And, at the top of my hill, whales.

A blow hole? No. Yes?

Then over my private horizon, my little hill,

a hot air balloon rose.

I saw the people in the basket. It flew right over me.

Blue, White, twisting, floating, rising..exposing its emblem: a soaring bird!

Running down my hill, thinking of birds and their place in our journey,

I saw Jacques and his three dogs.

We talked BP, politics, overpopulation, bee stings, self-sufficiency, retirement, human nature.

To one of his comments, I said, "We should be more like dogs."
"Yes," he said. "All they need is food and love."

"Food and love! That's it! A perfect goodbye."

"Yes," he said, "And we should be consistent in those needs."

The question: birds.

The answer: dogs.

Eleanore and Frances and Jeff will write tonight...our last blog!