It's the neither fish nor fowl season, if you ask me. The countryside here in central Texas looks half asleep, much of it still in the wintry mode of leafless trees, stark against the sky; some of it flowering into spring. Our lop-sided pear tree is one of the latter, as is the red-bud up by the gate, its fog of magenta bloom a welcome respite among the desert-y expanse of former pasture. The pasture remains a casualty of the drought, which continues. We are in the worst-hit part, as rain clouds drift upward often from the south, only to part as they near us to rain somewhere else.
Daylight savings time began again today. So I awoke at 3:15 AM instead of 2:15 AM with a recurrence of my headache. I think the culprit is switching from coffee to tea, although both have caffeine. I had been drinking about four shots a day of espresso, so maybe 2 large cups of black tea can't compete. I succumbed at 4AM to a single shot of espresso with milk and am feeling much better, although I should be asleep. I'm saying that just to show my inner self that I know what it needs, even if I can't supply it.
When I'm up in the middle of the night I always wake up one of the computers, too, and read in an undisciplined fashion, like a car careering across an empty parking lot. (It's a heady feeling to ignore all the lines telling you where to go.)
This morning I read Frank Rich who was talking about Thorton Wilder's Our Town, a play we did in summer camp that is enjoying a revival on Broadway now. My twelve year old self, playing a bit part, found it an upsetting play, with its great compaction of the joys and tragedies of life, precisely at a time my life when was starting out. An odd choice for girls 8-16 I thought then, but it has become a high school staple.
Then I went back to looking at maps of France. For some absurd reason that makes me happy. I love the place names, which sound familiar to me either from multiple visits over the years or from innumerable map porings like the one a few moments ago. I saw the website for the 4 Seasons Resort in the Var, east of Marseille(s) and north of the Riviera. Nothing about it but the view says "this is France." There is another place and time, I guess, called Four Seasons where you can feel as though you've never left the States, although the view around you changes like slides on a surrounding screen. Not why I go to France, at least. (More about that another time.)
Bon jour, mes amis.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The View from the Front Porch
6 comments:
Goodness me! a shot of espresso at 4am! I guess I understand, caffeine withdrawal headaches are wicked!
Did I miss why you're stopping coffee? I had to a few years ago, dur to irregular heartbeats. How I miss cafe au laits, thought I only had one a day before. I joke that my IQ dropped considerably...
I never drank a drop of coffee til I was bout 32, and that was because I learned to love it in PARIS. Your themes today tie together for me.
Sorry about that headache - probably too much coffee though. I too often wake in the middle of the night and can't get to sleep again - have some of my best ideas then but have forgotten them in the morning!
Was in Texas last April/May - loved it.
My sleep pattern was rubbish last night, too; awake from 2-5 then a scant two hours before the day needed greeting! Fingers crossed for tonight for both of us! x
Oh France! What a wonderful place! I cannot think of one negarive experience, although I have only spent 16 days there. The villages, the countryside, the culture, the history, the flowers, the wonderful expresso served with a small piece of dark chocolate, and pastries that are no too sweet. The roads are good. I even had good expresso from a vending machine. And, we found the people to be wonderful!
I have now found little French candies containing fingernail size concentrations of sweetened espresso. Vive la France!
Post a Comment