June 15, 2007

Bringing up Conversation


Wacky day today - brisk winds, temps mid 60's to 70's, rain, clouds, 2-3 minutes of sun, rain, clouds, repeat all day. Have been reading some other blogs out there, impressed with those stories from individuals who are able to constantly travel; pilots, nurses, professors, and others. Some blogs focus on political differences and difficulties, some on beauty, and yet other blogs live and thrive on the comments and photographs of others. Had some questions that have proven difficult to fully answer: #1 History: Dry, encylopeadic history is not difficult to find - Yes, able to find images of bombed out areas of France during lots of different wars, in fact my photo of the Saumur bridge over the Loire River had a much different look (from a Google Image search), in late June 1940, when it was bombed to discourage tanks from taking over, but I want to be able to tell the stories from the people, and that is the difficult task - #2 Conversations: French culture limits some conversations that would be easy in USA - employment, wages, living arrangements, family history may all prove to be taboo subjects with some residents. But I will strive to try and get some personal stories and photographs. Photo for today - taken at 10:30 p.m. yesterday from our balcony - storms moved in yesterday and stayed around for today. Stay tuned. M