Without Reservations

Siena, Italy

I just finished reading Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach. It is the story of a nearly year long "sabbatical" she took from her career as a journalist to live and travel in Europe and try to find herself along the way. I saw a lot of myself in the book as I read about her. She was 50 something at the time, her kids had left home and she was coming to terms with being in the latter half of her life.
This has been on my mind a lot of late too. Many existential questions of where do I go from here? On the one hand I think I love my work--note that even there I am losing my certainty. On the other hand part of me wants to "run away from home" and find a new life.
The back to school season leaves me thinking about transitions and empty nests--my oldest has moved into his own apartment near campus and my youngest started high school. In four years it will just be me and my husband, cats, turtle and fish rattling around in a too big house. Even before Alice suggested the idea by her own life choices, I had been thinking about what the next steps will be.
There are all these lists nowadays--50/100/1000 things to see/do/read before you die. I don't need a book to come up with my own list. It is there in my mind, more so when I get itchy feet and need to do something new or challenging.


Paris, France

Ms. Steinbach spends her year of wandering in France, Britain and Italy. She writes concisely as in a series of essays about her experiences of each place she stops, as well as her experience of herself in those places. Not everyone can do what she did--it requires a financial freedom and a freedom from pressing responsibilities that not everyone has. It also requires a degree of courage and spirit of adventure to make the leap.
I'm not likely to make any great leaps until my son graduates high school and heads off to college but I'm dreaming now. I hope I make the right choices for me when the time comes.
But back to the book. I very much enjoyed it. It is a relatively light read--easily accomplished in a couple of days but journeying with the author was a pleasure. It also may inspire me to pick up the works of some of her favorite authors: E.B. White, Freya Stark and Janet Flanner.
What's on your life list?

Thinking of Spring?

The days are getting shorter and the nights colder. The turtle is inside all snug in his container of dirt. I'd like to hibernate but instead I'm dreaming of April Fools Day in Paris. The "poisson" always makes me laugh.

Postcard Friendship Friday

Night Lights

La Rochelle harbor at night.
I find I'm getting pickier about my photos. I took several harbor photos and none are to my liking. Does this mean I'm getting to be a better photographer or just more selective in processing and posting? Whatever.

For Weekend Reflections.

Great Grapes

One of my first nights in France this summer, we stayed in a chateau. Actually we stayed in the outbuildings of a chateau. The place was charming but we found our hostess cold and unwelcoming. I guess not everything that glitters is gold.

For See It Sunday--grape.

A Day at the Beach

I got to indulge my weaknesses for old postcards, photography, and flea markets while in France. I still love it that I can buy a tiny piece of history for around a Euro, the same price as for a glossy modern tourist postcard. There is nothing written on the back of this postcard but the label is printed upside down to the photo. I can't help but ponder all the details--all the men with berets and mustaches, the child's lace up boots, "grandma" wearing mourning clothes perhaps. There is a tale here if only I knew how to read it.

Today's theme for Postcard Friendship Friday is National Dog Day. Note that this family brought their dog to the beach.

L'Horloge

Back when I was studying French I used to enjoy puzzling through the poems of Baudelaire. Some poems are transparent and enjoyable for that reason; some require work to feel at least somewhat connected to what the meaning is. Baudelaire was in the latter category.
I had a momentary lapse and forgot the French word for "clock". Whilst looking it up (poetic word intended), I found a link to one of Baudelaire's poems, L'Horloge, from Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil). Here is an excerpt with translation:

L'Horloge

Horloge! dieu sinistre, effrayant, impassible,
Dont le doigt nous menace et nous dit: «Souviens-toi!
Les vibrantes Douleurs dans ton coeur plein d'effroi
Se planteront bientôt comme dans une cible;

The Clock

Impassive clock! Terrifying, sinister god,
Whose finger threatens us and says: "Remember!
The quivering Sorrows will soon be shot
Into your fearful heart, as into a target;

Quote and translation from http://fleursdumal.org/poem/218

Makes one feel one's mortality, doesn't it?

A Very Big Shadow

Shadow of the Lighthouse of the Whales, Le Phare des Baleines, Ile de Re, France

Playing a new photo meme--Shadow Shot Sunday.

So many photos to process, so little time.