Le Mazel! (Part 2A-first full day)

The first week at the farm was full of adventures, new characters, breathing deep the mountain air, being present in their stillness, and basking in the extroardinary light; it prepared me well for the end of the week, that brought some sadness, and a difficult decision.

Brigitte, my host, is full of energy. As I was struggling to switch over to thinking in French again, it was both good and challenging to have her as my main conversation partner. She speaks very fast, even by French standards, and is also often on the move at the same time. It forced me to concentrate(!), and move a little faster myself to keep up! I could tell the first full day that she was thinking about her son, and feeling his absence keenly. It seemed a good day to listen, too.

After a brief introduction to some of the chores and the kitchen/pantry, and the chestnuts in the freezer (oh, the chestnuts!), she took me to the garden and showed me how to cut off lettuces already big enough to eat (frisée, and oak leaf? - that would grow back!) that we would use in our meals. This was something I ended up doing often. Along the path to the garden, I saw a purple patch of grass, thick with spring violets (at the end of February, they were a welcome sight!). Brigitte told me they were edible. I tried one. Mmmm... like eating a bite of pure Spring. Fresh and alive, tangy-sweet. Violet. :-)

(Need I say... it was the first bite of many! There were big patches everywhere I walked often.)

We had lunch outside in the courtyard that day, after I got settled in a little and played with the dogs, and I could tell that she was thinking of her son. After lunch, we went to look for an internet connection. She got a call from her son, and long story short - she had another opportunity that evening to spend some time with him, and needed to go. It was strange to be on my own that night already, but there was a hiker who had come in and was staying there that night. It was nice to be trusted, and as Brigitte suggested, I invited her down for a sit by the fire. It was a great conversation - she lives in Nantes (in Brittany), where I was a student, and we had many things in common.

I went to bed that night thinking how good it was to be where I was, how happy I had made this trip happen... and how wonderful it is to have a friendly place to lay one's head on the journey.