Our neighbors

Sunday, August 19th

There is so much life in this quiet little french town.  This morning while I was nursing my cup of coffee, so I could sit on the porch just a little bit longer, my tree gazing was interrupted by the rustle of leaves.  I very bright orange squirrel had decided to come down the trunk to check out my breakfast.  Just as soon as he arrived he scurried away, because refreshingly enough the wild life here is actually wild and, therefore, timid of people.  There is also a rather impressive rooster who serenades everyone in the morning and again at the end of the day.  I believe he is the one I saw at Monet's gardens next to his big old house.

traces of a painted rooster, hidden on the back of a door, in a forgotten house

A few mornings later I was lazily enjoying another cup of coffee and I heard a trashing above and to the right of me.  The trees were actually moving, it was the biggest turtle dove I have ever seen.  No idea what he was after, but he made a very nice intro to the distant viola I then heard.  The musicians from the annual music festival, Musique de Chambre à Giverny, had a few days before become our newest neighbors.  They took to practicing in the garden, hiding behind the hedges.  At the end of the week we were lucky enough to catch the first concert at the Église de Giverny (where Monet makes his final resting place).  The space, with its arched ceilings, had great acoustics and the performance was beyond my expectations; a song that stood out in my mind was a vocal piece in German by Beethoven.  I left the church with my mind cleansed and still.