i am the child of the wasteland....a land of haunted houses and monsters i call father. dark talents run in the family, but i shatter the glass to let the moonlight in, not to destroy something fragile for the feeling of breaking beneath my fists. all i can do is scream, crawl out, and keep screaming. but i can hold the sparrow, mend its wing... i am the spring rain and the hurricane... the monsters cower now, not me, not you. *xn*

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2003 - 3:26 pm

a casual friend wrote me today- she sends out a newsletter on her adventures...

Snow in Senlis

By Annie

A rare thing happened today. It snowed!

Even though France is on the same latitude as Calgary Canada the weather

is mild because of the ocean breezes. It used to snow here quite often,

but to actually have snow covering the ground is very rare.

We had the good fortune to be invited to Natalie and Jean Paul�s house

for lunch. As we walked to their ancient stone house in the center of

the village we were covered with tiny balls of ice. The balls looked

more like teeny tiny miniature hail.

Cat, and Natalie�s two little girls were almost hysterical over the

sight of the snow. As soon as we entered the house they all started

hugging and jumping up and down chattering away in French about the

neige (snow).

During lunch we sat looking through the French doors out into the

garden. The backdrop of their garden is a huge stonewall that is three

stories tall. On the wall is an ivy vine and a wooden box with the

bottom nailed to the wall. Jean Paul uses this box for a bird feeder.

The whole time we were eating we had a wonderful show of chickadees,

sparrows and even robins flying from a small tree to the bird feeder and

then onto a tall pine tree.

The tiny ice balls started to become snowflakes about midway through

lunch. The snowflakes became bigger and bigger until they looked like

small pieces of lace floating down from the sky.

The girls grew more and more excited as the snow covered the ground.

They could hardly get through lunch. Periodically they would jump up

and start to put their shoes on. Jean Paul would tell them that they

had to wait until all of us were finished eating, and were finished with

our coffee.

After lunch we bundled up to go for a walk. The gate was frozen shut so

we had to fuss with it by breathing on the lock.

We walked through Senlis and admired the snow-covered roofs of the

ancient stone buildings. We all took the liberty of scooping snow off

the parked cars to make snowballs. I kept yelling to aim at �butts�

because I didn�t want anyone to get hurt.

We ended up at the WWI park memorial. Our goal was to make a �real�

snowman but by the time we got to the park the snow was too dry to pack

into snowballs. After lots of snow throwing and a few snow angels we

took the path along the top of the ancient wall of the city. It was

feeling colder and colder.

In the bend of the path we discovered a snowman about the size of Cat

that actually looked more like a snow pig. Earlier in the day someone

had sculpted ears and a snout. We all stood behind the snow pig and

Jean Paul took a picture of us. Further down the path we saw a much

more sophisticated taller snowman with ivy sprigs for arms and clusters

of black ivy berries for the two eyes.

When we got back to Natalie�s house we sat around talking about Maurice

(Ma rish us), Natalie�s birthplace. We even got around to talking about

a variety of other topics including prisons in the US, French dogs who

pee on the corners of couches at the Paris Marriott, and the cost of

real estate in Senlis.

It was a marvelous afternoon of good food, snow and interesting

conversation. I was sorry to leave the coziness of the stone house and

garden view.

When we entered our garden gate the view was breathtaking. Everything

was covered in white. There was no green grass, or rose bush or fennel

or Bibb lettuce anymore�only a bed of snow.

The fire in the fireplace is calling to me as I write this. The smell

of the chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) comforts me. The birds in the

garden are still flying up to the feeder for a late snack before the

last bit of daylight fades. All is right with the world today.

****************************************

don't you hate people like this, and yeah that nasty little town up there is her cute lil' paradise- i would have rather seen the snowpig (oh i'm kidding but you know what i mean.. the world is far from right ANYwhere- but i am glad for moment, anyone's moments of beauty and peace. would be nice to be there.. ihateherihateherihateher :)- we met in a convent in florida, yes a convent- i'll explain sometime later..no i'm not a nun..)

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