Saturday, August 02, 2008

Red's Birthday, A Birthday Message.

My only son was born this day 40 years ago, about high noon as I remember not having a birth certificate to argue with. It was in a hospital in Mountain View, California. I had just gotten to work at Stanford Linear Accelerator where I worked as an IBM CE when the call came from my wife, her water had broken and a birth was immenent. So back to the house I rushed in my trusty 1963 VW Bug. We gathered whatever was necessary, namely HER and off we went to the hospital as fast as the lil' VW could go. We lived at that time in Campbell, near San Jose and the drive took about a 1/2 hour. The longest thirty minutes of my life, I swear. In through the emergency entrance we went and after that it was all a blur. I remember pacing the floor but it wasn't long before the boy child was with us. I was crazy with excitement! My own child, a first born and a boy child at that. Marilyn was aglow with that angelic mother-earth glow and I was so very proud. Labor had not been long at all and he was over 8 lbs! A big guy even then! O've never forgotten that time, it was exciting, fantastic and beautiful all rolled into one. Congratulations on your 40th oh son of mine and may you have many, many more.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Lignieres and Traffic

Traffic, the bane of civilization. When in California we expect to be in long lines (queues) at every stop light and intersection. We have grown not comfortable with it there and know when to take on the worst of it. Here we have differing expectations. Here at The Ruin at 35 Marechal Joffre we have a situation that needs some explanation. Hereabouts are fields of every sort of grain; colza, sunflowers, wheat, barley, linseed, soybeans. In the beginning of each rotation there are seeding equipments, trailers of seed, fertilizers, and all else in support of the growing plant life. Each vehicle traverses our fair village at whatever speed it deems necessary to reach it's destination in a timely and appropriate manner. In it's travels it must exit thru our portal at the Croix Verte (green cross) intersection. Our abode lies right there, smack dam at the point of the crossing of 4 streets major to our town. The stop sign that faces our front door is purely advisory to the majority of the French, Belgian, Dutch and any other driver faced with it. Rare is the personage that actually stops and LOOKS to see the old people, persons on bycyles, cars, trucks and large farm implements forthcoming into the intersection at the Croix Verte. Every morning we sit in our dining room and eye the cars, trucks and tractors that invade the intersection, they see, they slow, they drift through at whatever speed they believe acknowledges thier degree of compliance with the aforementioned stop sign. I have witnessed gendarmes watching this parade of fools yet no action is ever taken. They, these police officers, are on a mission from some god, not the one of traffic compliance. This stop sign cannot be a joke I think. This IS a dangerous intersection, yet in our stays here I've seen only near misses, no accidents. There are rubber marks on the pavement, but no glass or mirror shards. Why not? Apparently the traffic simply ignores this technical requirement to their progress towards La Chatre, St. Hilaire and points south. I actually am afraid of crossing the street in front of my house. When seen by an approaching car I cower and hurry up and hope that whatever stupor the driver is in isn't deep enough to disclude my frail body from their view and responsibility not to hit. Then we have motorbikes.
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At 14 a young person (male mostly) can ride a motor scooter without a license from the government, really. Ok, maybe they need the transport for schooling in a distant community. Maybe a job at a farm some distance from home or the school. Maybe a medical appointment, a dental appointment, a date. Sure. Any of these could be a reason. But AFTER the school hours these self-same CHILDREN are running amok on their gas fed charges. Up and down the narrow streets of Lignieres, chasing their own shadows into the dusk and then into the night. No guidance, no caution, nothing. They buzz into the night doing LAPS around the sectors of the village. I wait for the crunch, the yelp, the screech of tires, the dead thump of a body against a hood or pavement. Parents? They seem immobile, the bikes run without heed alongside sidewalks, corners, bicyclists, trucks, cars and other motorcycles.
Are they in training? What can possibly allow this risky driving? Is this the same activity as those who do not stop at the intersections so marked? It seems so as they fly through the same intersections without slowing 1 kph. I find it hard to understand. Why would I willingly allow my 14 year old to loose himself on a 50cc motorbike to go at full throttle through small village? A life insurance policy BET?
I want to push a wheelchair? You HAVE to be kidding. Not my kid! Never happen. I'd put the law down, stop the speeding, racing and traversing the village at high speed or else the moto is history. Why don't the parents CARE about the action of their children in our fair village? Why?

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Chickens vs Road Crossings

Cluck...too see IF those "weeds" growing in the cracks in the sidewalk in
front of The Ruin at 35 Marechal Joffre were REALLY cabbages. Yes...they
are. Seeds regularly fall from the many, many farm tractors and
implements that frequent the Croix Verte intersection. Our house being right at
that intersection grows cabbages in the cracks in the pavement outside our
door. I will now water them. Other seed is nearby hunting for
opportunities...barley, wheat, lentils, sunflower, colza...oh the colza...a
weed here at the ruin like any other but with a beautiful yellow flower that colors
the oil when in the Euro 1.66 bottles.
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Not enough rain to talk about these last couple of weeks, drizzle here, a downpour there but nothing like back in the oh so wet and gloomy Spring. Now though, the Aoutat are out and about, the invisible bastards eat me at the ankles, unseen but not unfelt...like a transparent mosquito only a thousand times smaller and insidious. No French repellent really works, not deet because we can't get it here, not salves, it's too late then, I'm eaten already not oily crap...nothing. Just bites that itch like hell for about 5 days then fade slowly to a bothersome scab. God made those huh? What the hell was He thinking? I think it must be a TEST of some diabolical kind. But I'm too damned stupid to get it.
I cite:
Harvest mites (genus Trombicula; also known as red bugs, trombiculid mites,
scrub-itch mites, berry bugs or, in their larval stage, as chiggers,
(Aoutat) are mites in the family Trombiculidae that live in forests and grasslands
and the courtyard at 35 Rue Marechal Joffre. In their larval stage they attach to various parts of HNLutes anatomy (ouch!), animals including humans (me) and feed on skin, often causing itching (no shit!). These relatives of ticks are nearly microscopic measuring 0.4 mm (1/100 of an inch) and have a chrome-orange hue, can you say INVISIBLE?. A common species of harvest mite in Northern America is Trombicula alfreddugesi; in the UK the most prevalent harvest mite is Trombicula autumnalis. In France they are known as Aoutat (Ah-Oo-Tah).
Harvest mite larvae are tiny, irritating (very), red immatures between
the egg and nymph stages, which have not yet become adult mites. They are
usually microscopic (yes). The larvae often live in the courtyard of 35
Marechal Joffre, Lignieres, Cher, France, berry patches, tall grass and
weeds, woodland edges, pine straw, leaves, and treebark, or in typical
habitats of their hosts (especially rodents, and cats, quite a mix
there). The larval mites feed on the skin cells of HN Lute, but not blood, of
animals, including humans (me again). The six-legged parasitic larva
feeds on a large variety of creatures including me, other humans, rabbits,
toads, box turtles, quail, cats and even some insects(!!!). After crawling onto
me their host, they inject digestive enzymes into my tender skin that break
down my very own skin cells. They do not actually "bite," but instead form a
hole in my tender skin and chew up tiny parts of the my inner skin, thus
causing severe irritation and swelling to ME. The severe itching is
accompanied by red pimple-like bumps (papules) or hives and skin rash or
lesions on a sun-exposed area. For me and other humans, itching usually
occurs after the larvae detach from the sweet, tender skin.
After feeding on me, the larvae drop to the ground and become
nymphs, then mature into adults which have 8 legs and are harmless to
myself. In the post larval stage, they are not parasitic and feed on
plant materials. The females lay 3-8 eggs in a litter, usually on a leaf or
under the roots of a plant, and die by autumn. The best time of all in the courtyard of 35 Rue Marechal Joffre.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Allez! Allez! Allez! (Go! Go! Go!)



All this month the Tour De France has been underway. Some weeks ago we went to Chateauroux to see the leg that was ending there, we came, they came, we saw, they left, we left. It happens like that MOST of the time...they FLY by and without TV to help that's all you get...a quick glimpse of a rider in colorful tight clothing and then he's gone into the distance. That and then the Peloton (Group) of some 150 riders that stay together behind the leader(s). I won't go into the rules and the strategy as it's quite complicated and subject to the moment just happening. It is a spectator sport though, of no small ilk...at least it is here. And poopsie, it is FREE! Yes, anywhere you go that it comes thru during the 20 or so stages it is absolutely Libre (free). Anyway, yesterday we were invited to watch the spectacle with Brit friends in the little village of Ainay le Chateau a few miles southeast of Saint Amand Montrond. I plugged in the village name in the Tom Tom and Bonnie directed us through St. Amand and then along the tiniest roads to Ainay Le Chateau. It was painless, parking was alonside the road into town and we walked the rest of the way. The village is a colorful medieval leftover with many beautiful buildings and an archway right over the middle of town that was the focal point of all attendees. People everywhere along the sidewalk, eating and drinking in cafes and standing watching out for the riders. It was the day of the Final Time Trial, 53 Kilometers (33 miles) from Cerilly to St. Amand Montrond. The riders leave in one minute intervals and really have to put out as they are by themselves and racing against a clock only. No challengers to watch, no middle riders, no peloton. It makes for quite a tough event and this time it was crucial for the yellow shirted leader Sastre (Team CSC) a Spaniard. A link for you: http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html We watched each as they flew by, some taking the long downhill into town as a rest and others working hard to increase their speed and lower their time.



We had sandwiches and beer with the group Mikel, Maggie, Elvis (The Dog), and P. A great time waiting was had by all. We spent about 3 hours then excused ourselves to go get cat litter (!!!) in Bourges! Yes, bloody cat litter. It's was for the Litter Robot newly repaired the day before, as it chokes on ordinary litter. Needs the clumping stuff, no clumps...no robot. No robot...Cat shit in box instead, causes me to have to fish in with a perforated scoop, you know the routine. A pain in the ass. Anyway we stopped at the LYTL store instead, in St. Amand and they had a 10 Kg bag of the apparent "Right Stuff"! So we will see if it's right enough over the next few days. Then home to rerlax in front of the TV and watch the last 20 oe so riders as they tested themselves in the aforementioned time trial.