This life here

Yes, I turned 62 yesterday. It's hard to believe. I appreciate all the birthday greetings and wishes I got here and on Facebook.

When Walt and I move here to Saint-Aignan, I felt old and tired. I think it was stress more than anything else. My father died fairly young, and I thought I might not live to a very old age. Now that I've been here for nearly 8 years, I sometimes I feel like I might live forever. With aches and pains, of course, but that's old age, right?

Somebody has again been moving rocks and stones around
to fill in the potholes in the road through the vines.

These crisp sunny days we've been having for a while now could get to be kind of addictive. The ground is drying out, so walks with the dog are much less muddy than they were for quite a while now. Our winter turned out to be very wet, with a snowy December, but over all, the weather people say, the cold December was balanced out by a mild February. So on average, it was a normal winter.

The bright yellow of forsythia is one of the first signs of spring.

Yesterday, or the day before, I was out for the morning walk, and I was taking a lot of pictures. The young woman who is a member of the crew that works in the vines, pruning them back and repairing their supports posts and wires, asked me as I passed by if I had been able to get some photos. I said I hoped so, with such nice sunny weather.

This is Callie's view of the vines in late winter/early spring.

« Vous êtes photographe ? » was her second question. I told her no, but that I did this blog, and we talked about that for a minute. I got the impression that she knew what a blog was. I told her that I write the blog in English and that we have met a fair number of Americans, Canadians, Brits, and Australians because of it. They visit when they come to the Loire Valley.

Here's an early morning view of the grain silo and
water tower across the river from our house.

« Ah, vous faites découvrir la région, alors », she said. That seemed to satisfy her curiosity. I told her I was retired, and she wanted to know if « l'autre monsieur » — that would be Walt — had a job. I'm sure people are curious about us, and I don't mind answering their questions when they ask. I told her that Walt does the same things I do, basically — blog, cook, garden, walk the dog, and work on the house as necessary.

Primroses are coming up all around the yard.

Sometimes I wonder if it's enough. But then I remember what it was like to commute long distances, waste time in traffic jams, deal with company politics, conflicts, and personnel issues at work, and have a big mortgage to pay off. This life here is better.

Here are some vines that have been pruned back
and are ready to grow in 2011.

Plus, it's a life in French. I've spent nearly my whole life learning the language and exploring the country. When we lived in California, I used to enjoy "escaping" to France by going to French restaurants, cooking French food at home, watching French programs and movies on satellite television, and, most of all, actually coming to France every year for vacations.

Just outside the back gate...

Now I'm just here. Right now, along with thinking about France, well... in my mind, I'm going to Carolina. And in fact I am going, in just a few days. It'll be fun.