Simon's Cat 'Cat Man Do'

Joe.....

Yeah I know you missed me...and I know this look is as close as you can get to telling me. Nice guy. Really cool guy.

Lyon - last night

Lyon - last night, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

My last night in Lyon was so beautiful and so hard. The city is wonderful. Something to feast your eyes on in every corner of it. A wonderful combination of old, new, color, shape, texture.....

I have a lot of images to put up and talk about in the next few weeks. BUT....this was the last night - the moon was reflecting over the Rhone - with all of the illuminated buildings as well.

And I was sad to be leaving. So sad. Incredibly sad. But today I think - hmmm....I will be going back, I know. The moon, the rivers, the city, the friends....they will all be there when I come back.

Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?


~ Mary Oliver ~

An image of the ceiling of the Basilica of Fourviere in Lyon. Neobyzantine guilding ALL over the inside of it. On top of a hill - it gives you a view of the city and surrounding areas that is like no other. I have a little video of that - and will get it up here as soon as I can.

Radiohead Nude Bercy Paris June 2008

btw....did I mention???

Lyon at Night.

This is what we do..... (well, what the American tourist does...these two do go to work, so I don't have a clue how they do it - but they do it with very little sleep). Meet in the early evening - talk, coffee, wine. Lots of laughing, trying to teach the American how to say things in French (pointless)...then a late dinner. If the weather is nice (not pouring rain - although Virg seems to think that anything that is not HOT and SUNNY is pointless) we go for a walk. Did I mention that by this time it is well after midnight?

Lyon is....magical. In a totally different way from Paris. It is calm. It has a presence - a mystical presence that I need to learn more about. It is the history, the coming together of so many things in its past. But you do feel it....walking on the silent streets at night. Looking in shop windows, moving quietly through the square, talking softly - laughing....lots of that.

I am so thrilled to be here with these two good friends. We already know each other in many ways....and so when I see something moving and burst into tears (I can hear those of you who know me laughing....) - they aren't bothered - they just wait for me to contain myself and we move on. More soon.

It is always better when you have a friend to point out things that you wouldn't see otherwise, take you to places that are more fun with someone else....or just point out when you are about to make a raging cultural blunder.....(who knew that you would never give peonies as a gift to a French person because that is a flower that goes on a gravesite?).

Spent the day being tourists....walking around icons and small streets...drinking and laughing with Virgil and his friends. We are about to head for the train station for our trip to Lyon. I hate to leave Paris....it is truly one of the most intriguing places I have ever been.

Paris seems to hold unlimited beauty. Now that I have found my bearings and have an adventure on the metro everyday, I can see the scope of the history and diversity within the city. Yesterday I bought a bunch of peonies at a "magnifique" shop that was a work of art in and of itself - near the Ecole des Beux Arts.... I was missing my garden, and walking by the school - seeing students inside the gates - carving and drawing - just heightened the feeling.

The candles were burning in St. Germain des Pres. I find myself going into everyone of these cathedrals....they are incredible. They are also cool (it has been hot and muggy) and a quiet place to take out the map and figure out where I am. This particular one is / was connected to a once enormous Benedictine monastery. It has the tomb of Rene Descartes. These candles, always lit, are very very moving to me.

At the end of the day - I am back to my neighborhood...I climb the streets up and up and then the large stone staircase to my apartment building. At the bottom of the hill, the neighborhood is full of African immigrants...the hair shops and textiles and smells of food cooking are wonderful. Everyone out on the streets...everything is a feast for the eyes.

The switch from the west coast...to Paris

It took me a while to realize that part of what I was experiencing were not only the differences between Paris and County Clare. It was the difference between a quiet rural village - with the sound of the sea and the presence of the clouds over the limestone hills - and a HUGE urban area full of people and tourists...where I am on my own for now and don't speak the language.

Most of the things that have happened to me have been comical. Like the ride from the airport - that involved a forty minute traffic jam. No lanes of traffic (that I could see) ....we just forgo those...and everyone laying on the horn and screaming at one another. Did I mention my taxi driver wore a suit (very stunning) but we were unable to speak to each other - even a word. I handed him my map and he delivered me to...well...it was the top of a hill....but the bottom of a very large, very old, pedestrian stone staircase. Me and my 700 pound suitcase. Ahhhh, but that, is another story. Au revoir.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

So .... we are (sadly) into our final week. Research being completed, projects being pulled together. An edition of 20 books will be due in mid-August - but the completed mock up is due on Thursday, as is a facsimile "journal" of some kind.

It is wonderful to watch the ideas and the experience come onto the page and the book form.

Maybe the only thing as impressive as standing at the top of the Cliffs of Moher, is being in a boat going slowly along the bottom of them. OR maybe going in the ocean in a kayak...or diving....to take a close look at what lives there....(thanks to Lauren for the kayaking pic of Jim...one of our fearless and funny guides.)

dublin

dublin, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

Been meaning to post this image....and I have a couple minutes now...waiting for a bus in the internet cafe in Doolin. Went on a boat to the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher earlier today. Will post those later.

The doors in on this island....are some of my favorite things....so many painted bright colors. Often containing tongue in cheek humor....such as this one......

Here is a little peek into the book I am making this summer. Recipes from the people who are cooking for me on my travels.....starting with Maurizio.

Sea Bass with Olives and salted Sardinian Capers
(and rosemary and garlic)

Buy fish......

WILD sea bass (line caught...and bought in Galway at the open market the same day)
you can see ours as we bought it...in the video above.....

clean if it isn't clean, dry it with a paper towel

put aluminum foil in a tureen, lay the fish in it

In the meanwhile....

strip leaves from fresh rosemary and toss on top of the sea bass -
along with black olives (also from the market)

Pour on top of this....olive oil with capers and garlic that have been sauteeing. Splash of white wine....

Close aluminum foil

Put it in the oven at 200 c. / 400 f ..."hmmm...I have no idea if this is right...just CRANK the oven up then after five minutes reduce it to 375 f"

"You realize that all of these things cannot be repeated in Milwaukee, right?"

A fish like this (maybe three pounds) maybe an hour, or 45 minutes.

Serve with freshly made bread, also from market. Chilled white wine. Salad.

Newtown Castle on the Burren in County Clare, Ireland

Newtown Castle on the Burren in County Clare, Ireland, originally uploaded by raymond digital.

Traditional music at the castle the other night. Mary called when I was working in the studio - so over I went, climbing the stairs to the top. There was a roaring fire and everything was decorated with flowers - earlier in the day there had been a wedding. An Irish woman and a Japanese man - in full Samuri regalia (him). Long trails of ivy hung from the balcony - red and white roses glowing in the light of the candles. The wedding had a visit from the strawboys - a west coast tradition - dressing up in straw disguises and crashing the party to play tricks.

But tonight - some of the best musicians around - traditional Irish harp, concertina, pipes and fiddle. Background and stories for every song they played...and I am reminded again and again how rich in tradition and history this country is - how proudly it is kept alive.

The lights of Galway flickered across the bay (is it a bay?) as the outside light faded and the fire and the candles flickered. We were a small but passionate group - of mostly locals.

Jim (an uncle of Micheal Green - founder of the college) tells me a wonderful story about celebrating the millenium at the castle. A party was held on that new year's eve....the lower floor reserved for the young people...the middle floor for refreshments - and on the upper floor people were asked to come as someone they had most admired in the past 100 years and present a talent of some kind. By the time they all finished performing for one another...they were well into the new year...the new millenium.

Wonderful images to have....even second hand.

Dancing at Kilfenora

Between the Jigs and the Reels

Between a jig and a reel
what is there?
Only one beat
escaped from a ribcage.

Tunes are migratory
and fly from heart to heart
intimating
that there's a pattern
to life's pulls and draws.

Because what matters to us most
can seldom be told in words
the heart's moods are better charted
in its own language --

the rythm of Cooley's accordian
which could open the heart of a stone,
John Doherty's dark reels
and the tune that the sea taught him,
the high parts of the road and the underworlds
which only love can brave
to bring us back to our senses
and on beyond.

Moya Cannon

Low Tides.

Field trip this morning.....in the harbor right outside our cottage...low tide.....8:30 a.m.

Maurizio challenges everyone to find as many different seaweeds and critters as they can. Winning team gets a prize. Everyone has their "wellies" on, their equipment - books, pens, cameras, journals....and is moving slowly around the seaweed covered rocks. We are all trying not to slip and fall. So far I don't think anyone has.

Working in pairs, students spread out across the harbor and you see them bent over and examining stuff. Tanya and Sarah found the most stuff. Nick and Kyle - hmmmm.....enough said.

Last night we went to Kilfenora for set dancing. I believe that everyone had a good time. How could you not? Someone told me (when they got there) that there had been a bit of resistance to the trip. "Why didn't you tell us that it we would be going to the dance on the Titanic?" ... referring to the movie, of course.

Interesting to think about a time when all of our history comes from these kinds of re - creations. Is this just a normal unfolding of events? Another (well a new) way of passing on information? Will movies and such soon be our only point of reference??

Writing about Gibson's Neuromancer, Jack Womack says, "The past lingers on in unexpected and unavoidable ways long after we believe it is gone....Our cultural and historical past is readily accessible to everyone today, so long as you choose to turn it on, or download it. Today, as never before - the information media having become to enlightenment as the cereal aisle is to the supermarket - if you choose not to access the past, you are de facto free to rule it out of existence, as least so far as you might be concerned...."

So time collapses here....and it is something that can bother you horribly if you don't give yourself over to it. You are a better person - and far more likely to see more --- hear more --- feel more --- if you can allow it.

I told you that I went to hear the dawn chorus the other day. What I didn't tell you is that my father-in-law showed up. Granted...he no longer with us physically, but I have found that the great mystery of life is that no one ever really goes....at least not for me.

So I was at the tail end of the forty or so people that were out on the walk. I was dawdling....taking pictures, looking at things. And I was wet. I had locked myself out of the cottage with no raincoat - and there was a fine off and on mist. I couldn't hear Gordon, and I was trying to take notes. Suddenly a white-haired gentleman in a fishing hat leaned over and whispered, "just go on then....you had better push your way to the front so you can hear what is being said now...." I did. I didn't talk to him again. Later, I was thinking about it, and I thought, "...that was so familiar, why?" Then it hit me. It was just the kind of thing John would have said to me, in just the way he would have said it. Nice.

But. Being married to the oldest Fitzgerald son, and having the pleasure of being in the clan - I see all ten of his brood, and their broods - our collective brood - everywhere I go here. Yesterday I swore that my son Joe sold me my copy of the Irish Times. But no, that was just Robert, who is also nearly 14 and likes rock music rather than Moby (free Moby cd's were being given away with the paper....). And this morning, I swore that Teresa drove right past me on the road. I did a double-take. Mary's twin works at Monk's Pub, and Liam has a clone down in Lisdoonvarna.

The green....is what I love, and what I always really forget. I mean, not in the sense that I don't remember GREEN....but the intensity of it. That is what you are reminded of. Lost three students for a bit - as their initial flight was canceled. Hoping to see them later today. The rest are buzzing about...in the ocean, climbing to the tops of the hills...all seeming to be doing well.

The quiet here ... makes me quiet.

home - tide out

home - tide out, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

...here we are, number 5...just a short hike down the road from the village....cows at my bedroom window when I wake up, roses on the trellis - starting to open, swans honking sweetly in the distance.

Up at four thirty this morning to join about 20 folks led by Gordon D'Arcy http://www.burrencollege.ie/faculty/gordondarcy.html to listen to the dawn chorus....a wonderful walk about the area...followed by a champagne breakfast at the hotel in the village.

ascophyllum

ascophyllum, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

this is a brown seaweed....you are looking at the gas blotters.....little built in flotation devices. (hahaha....I had to come back and edit this....they are bladders, not blotters. Gotta love that Italian accent.....)

Marsh's Library in Dublin

Marsh's Library, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

Built in 1701 byt Archbishop Narcissus Marsh...this is the first public library in Ireland and one of the earliest in the islands. There are four main collections consisting of 25,000 books relating to the 16th, 17th, and early 18th c.'s.

There are about 300 manuscripts...including one on the lives of the Irish saints that was written in 1400.

We spent a pleasant time there....you can't actually TOUCH anything without permission ahead of time....but there was a wonderful display of books related to China (EAST MEETS WEST)....and Maurizio had a lovely chat with the librarian about beer while I LOOKED and LOOKED and LOOKED.

We drink a Guinness every night. We drove by the brewery in Dublin...but did not stop - as Maurizio was driving .... and giving the Roman Empire salute at the same time.... (his own particular Mecca) .... it was probably for the best.

...with Maurizio in front of Temple's ... Dublin

...with Maurizio in front of Temple's ... Dublin, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

....also should introduce you to Maurizio....who I am teaching with for the next month....

He has got me looking at kelp in an entirely new way....also loves to cook. We are having a blast. More on this later....

Ireland

Coming back to Ireland is like getting a present that you didn't think you would ever have the like of again....and here it is. Right here.....just as you left it.

This of course is the view from outside our cottage (with the obligatory cows who are there in the morning) and the view of the burren or the ocean or the village....depending on which way you want to turn and look.

, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

"We are surrounded by miracles, but we have to recognize them; otherwise there is no life." Thich Nhat Hanh

Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together


Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

(thank you Violet, for sending this to me)