(-Time)+(-Energy)+(Things to Do)=?
12 Aug 2023 11:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wayfaringwordhackWow. Where did the summer go? It has been such a blessing to be back in France for the past 2.5 months, in our own home,* and I can't believe it's almost over. The kids can't either, and I'm a bit disturbed to say that they're not excited to go back to Lebanon because they love it so much here. (Ti'Loup is getting a little excited, so that is something.)
I myself feel so torn about being here, living this kind of neither-here-nor-there experience. I knew I wouldn't be able to invest in things like having a garden and raising chickens again, but I didn't count on the feeling of not stretching into and filling the corners of our home because we won't be here that long.**. The sense of temporary looms over everything I do. Why clean out all the cobwebs and wash the windows when I know that they will just be there again/dirty when I get back next time? I know the value of doing those things, but I have so many other, more-pressing-to-my-mind (read: interesting or fun) things to do.
And my involvement in my art class (which was "officially" on break for the summer but still very active) took up a lot of time and energy. I participated in the July challenge and did 10 paintings, all done with water-soluble oils in a limited palette to continue working on the idea of color temperature. I'll share a link to a collage. All except the last one used a mix of Titanium White, French Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black, and either Yellow Ochre or Cadmium Orange as the warm color. The last one had Prussian Blue instead of the ultramarine. I painted the last three en plein air, which was way more fun than I thought it would be. I have ordered myself an easel for outdoor painting to take back to Lebanon and hope it arrives in time.
We have plans to come back here for Christmas, even though it will be a very short stay, and next year, I think we will wait until the end of June to return in hopes that I might miss the allergy season and actually enjoy the first month back. That way we'll save on tissue paper and allergy meds. LOL. I also don't plan on doing any more art courses during that time (though who can say what will arise), so maybe I will have more spoons to take care of house and garden. And maybe the tendinitis I have been suffering from for the past two years will be well and fully healed; not being able to use my left arm fully (and I, being a lefty) was also a major cause of me not doing much, including driving places.
We did do a lot more cultural stuff than usual, though, really trying to be "tourists," and if I were a better blogger, I'd upload some photos to illustrate all this [please refer to the (-Time) portion of my subject line].
In Clermont, we went to the Henri LeCoq museum (natural history) a couple of times and hung out in the beautiful park of the same name, and once visited Bargouin Museum (archeology; and usually textile, but that part was closed. ARGH. That's the reason we went, and it was supposed to still be open). We also spent two days at a science festival called Nuées Ardentes at the foot of the Puy de Dôme that had concerts and theater as well as all the science exhibits.
We went to Carcassonne to visit family and see the famous Bastille Day firework display over the fortified city.
We got summer passes to Vulcania, where the kids rode the little rollercoaster countless times (makes me wish I could take them to an amusement park with serious rollercoasters) and saw a show with birds of prey and Vulcania's pyrotechnic show, which we had never stayed for before. Vulcania also has a new planetarium, which was the reason I sprung for the very-expensive passes, and we caught all the shows.
We also went back to the Fête du Pain,*** but the weather and my head (budding migraine) wasn't on our side, so we didn't stay long. On the social scene, we attended two birthday parties and had friends come over to hang out with us, as well as hosting an apéritif dinatoire for 30 of our neighbors.
All in all, it has been a very eventful, fun summer.
_____________
*I have been back in France during summer for long stretches of time spent in other people's houses, and it is NOT the same. :P
** I cringe every time I say "not long" knowing that three months of vacation is an extreme luxury, but it is relative to the amount of time needed to accomplish certain things.
***Hilariously, it was another friend from that "hour away" group who let me know the festival was going on again this year. Guess I didn't learn how to pay attention to local goings-on.
I myself feel so torn about being here, living this kind of neither-here-nor-there experience. I knew I wouldn't be able to invest in things like having a garden and raising chickens again, but I didn't count on the feeling of not stretching into and filling the corners of our home because we won't be here that long.**. The sense of temporary looms over everything I do. Why clean out all the cobwebs and wash the windows when I know that they will just be there again/dirty when I get back next time? I know the value of doing those things, but I have so many other, more-pressing-to-my-mind (read: interesting or fun) things to do.
And my involvement in my art class (which was "officially" on break for the summer but still very active) took up a lot of time and energy. I participated in the July challenge and did 10 paintings, all done with water-soluble oils in a limited palette to continue working on the idea of color temperature. I'll share a link to a collage. All except the last one used a mix of Titanium White, French Ultramarine Blue, Ivory Black, and either Yellow Ochre or Cadmium Orange as the warm color. The last one had Prussian Blue instead of the ultramarine. I painted the last three en plein air, which was way more fun than I thought it would be. I have ordered myself an easel for outdoor painting to take back to Lebanon and hope it arrives in time.
We have plans to come back here for Christmas, even though it will be a very short stay, and next year, I think we will wait until the end of June to return in hopes that I might miss the allergy season and actually enjoy the first month back. That way we'll save on tissue paper and allergy meds. LOL. I also don't plan on doing any more art courses during that time (though who can say what will arise), so maybe I will have more spoons to take care of house and garden. And maybe the tendinitis I have been suffering from for the past two years will be well and fully healed; not being able to use my left arm fully (and I, being a lefty) was also a major cause of me not doing much, including driving places.
We did do a lot more cultural stuff than usual, though, really trying to be "tourists," and if I were a better blogger, I'd upload some photos to illustrate all this [please refer to the (-Time) portion of my subject line].
In Clermont, we went to the Henri LeCoq museum (natural history) a couple of times and hung out in the beautiful park of the same name, and once visited Bargouin Museum (archeology; and usually textile, but that part was closed. ARGH. That's the reason we went, and it was supposed to still be open). We also spent two days at a science festival called Nuées Ardentes at the foot of the Puy de Dôme that had concerts and theater as well as all the science exhibits.
We went to Carcassonne to visit family and see the famous Bastille Day firework display over the fortified city.
We got summer passes to Vulcania, where the kids rode the little rollercoaster countless times (makes me wish I could take them to an amusement park with serious rollercoasters) and saw a show with birds of prey and Vulcania's pyrotechnic show, which we had never stayed for before. Vulcania also has a new planetarium, which was the reason I sprung for the very-expensive passes, and we caught all the shows.
We also went back to the Fête du Pain,*** but the weather and my head (budding migraine) wasn't on our side, so we didn't stay long. On the social scene, we attended two birthday parties and had friends come over to hang out with us, as well as hosting an apéritif dinatoire for 30 of our neighbors.
All in all, it has been a very eventful, fun summer.
_____________
*I have been back in France during summer for long stretches of time spent in other people's houses, and it is NOT the same. :P
** I cringe every time I say "not long" knowing that three months of vacation is an extreme luxury, but it is relative to the amount of time needed to accomplish certain things.
***Hilariously, it was another friend from that "hour away" group who let me know the festival was going on again this year. Guess I didn't learn how to pay attention to local goings-on.