As I sit here to write you, this Saturday morning, Soph has already walked the dog, Dominic is finishing breakfast, Liz is having a quick cat-nap (after waking with a nasty headache) and Timo is working day 5 at the Optician (more on that later).

Since the dog is also lying peacefully, it means that the only sound I hear is the clickety-clack of the keyboard and the odd muffled noise from outside. It’s peaceful now, after the driving rain & hail earlier.

Care to spend a few minutes, while I finish up the morning hot chocolate?

Early Mornings

I have sleep-onset insomnia, meaning that I have a hard time falling asleep at bed-time. It seems that as soon as my head hits the pillow, that’s when all the built-up thoughts, cares, worries, etc. start to come to mind. So I generally push bedtime off until later – so that the natural exhaustion sort of pushes me to sleep. That’s not particularly healthy and it’s something I hope to do better at this year.

The result of that is that I’m not the early morning person that I once was, unless work or other commitments require me to be.

Such was the case Tuesday when I had to have the car to the garage for 8:00am. They didn’t have a loaner car for me but they did have the Peugeot bicycle that I’d used once before. That suited me fine as Châtellerault’s not that big so it’s easy enough to get around by pedal-power.

Before making my way home however, I took a detour down by the river. Having grown up around water in southern New Brunswick, there’s a real ‘homey’ feeling to it and I find it comforting. Between it (the water) and the riverside landscapes and architecture, it made for the perfect opportunity to get a few sunrise pics as well.

There are lots of beautiful spots in France and Châtellerault is certainly one of them. While there are times when I miss home terribly, morning detours beside sunrise-lit rivers help allay those feelings.

Timo’s Apprenticeship

Timo is in high school, studying to be an optician. His program includes several weeks of supervised internships and this week was the first of a 3-week term with Atol Opticians here in town. Since the car was in the garage, he had to take an earlier bus and wait outside until the shop opened. Knowing this, I extended my detour and headed to the main square, where I knew we could get a take-out hot chocolate (all restaurants & cafés are still closed for in-house consumption). So… we had to drink it while sitting on a cold park bench, but at least it warmed our hands and our insides.

Apple Trees

There are two apple trees in our yard that our elderly next door neighbour grafted & planted when he was a boy. They bear heavily on alternate years and so, on the on-years, we’re swimming (almost drowning) in apples. They’re also an early bearing variety (July timeframe usually), meaning that they spoil quickly if not picked right away.

Last year we gave one of the two a good trimming. Not only did it need to be done for the health of the tree but it had an unexpected result of cutting the apple production in 1/2 for that year making things more bearable.

This year, it’s tree #2’s turn. Dominic & I finished it yesterday and there’s nothing to do now but clean up the downed limbs (Tree #1 is directly behind the tree Dominic is on, so all the ‘hairy branches’ you see are on it).

Sometimes I wonder if part of the pleasure of trimming the apple trees (or other trees down at the church) doesn’t harken back to the joy of climbing trees as a boy. There’s just something therapeutic about the exercise.

The ‘other’ Side

There’s all of the ‘work’ stuff about our week… but these are just a few of the ‘non-work’ things that have been highlights. Thanks for sharing these few moments, it’s nice to sit for a spell, even if it is at a distance.