Friday, January 31, 2014

Fort Atlantic - Let Your Heart Hold Fast Official Lyric Video







This song is so good that I really am loathe to tell you that I heard it first as the background music to the proposal scene on an episode of How I Met Your Mother.



Whew!!

That is really a weight off my shoulders.

It's good to let it out.



But do take a moment and listen.

This is good stuff.








The Avett Brothers - Down With The Shine (Live on Letterman)







A friend of mine (Hi Sharon!)  told me about these guys a long, long time ago.

I listened but without having a particular feeling about them until I saw this song.

And now I can admit that she was right and I was wrong.

There.

It's done.

Let it go man.






Wednesday, January 29, 2014



Walking with ghosts in snow


Walking in the snow this evening
I could feel my father's ghost
treading lightly behind.

Funny how the stillness
will echo your thoughts.

My father left me 2 things outside of a name:
A worn copy of Brave Men
and a lighter from his days in service.
One to light the darkness
and another to steel the heart
on these cold days of ice and snow.

And on this walk,
I wonder how he could've been so wise
as to know all the things I would ever need.




Friday, January 17, 2014


Arriving in Nice, France






Golfe Juan, France - 

When Napoleon returned from exile on The Isle of Elba, he landed in Golfe Juan and began his march north towards Paris.




A sunrise walk thru Golfe Juan with "King" Louis the dog.


Eglise St. Pierre.










Couldn't survive more than a couple days without sweet tea.  


The view from the terrace at Frederique's house.


 Black and green olive trees to the left and lemon tree in the right corner of F's terrace.


"King" Louis after our long walk.

 A very French table setting including flowers, wine glass, paint brushes, a fancy-pants hankerchief, and a vase with the likeness of the the last emperor of China.


The entrance to the old medieval town of St. Paul.
















Why in God's name would anyone put an egg on an otherwise perfectly good pizza!?!







"The Source of the Trouble" loves figs.  I scored fig preserves and chocolate covered figs for her and fully intend to take the next couple birthdays off.




In Grasse, France.  The perfume capitol of the world where the author spends a small fortune on good smellin' stuff for various mothers, aunts, friends, and even a couple exes.



 2 of the sweetest "hosts" ever, Lilou and Charlie.













Biot, France - glass making capitol.




 Inside the catholic church in Biot.  Just stunning.
I've never seen a church with a blue ceiling like this.
Gorgeous.



 Every town and village that I visited had a monument of some sort to commorate their lost boys from WWI.  Biot had a large monument in town and this plaque at the church.
It's very moving to read the names of the dead and realize how deeply effected this little village would have been by this loss, esp. 100 years ago when Biot would've been so much smaller than now.


















The main square in the center of Biot.


Had I not already spent my allowance shopping in Cannes the day before, I'm certain I would not have been able to resist this small alter and the 2 chairs below.
All of them were just beautiful in person.






My adorable "host", Lilou, making me feel at home!