Yes, I have already spent 2 years in the US by then. I did not think Sophia was pleasant nor otherwise because that was only the work place where I never spent time outside of Inria. I rented a place in Antibes and that was fantastic. I also took opportunities to visit other cities and towns in Southern France and Paris.
Thanks for writing about these two people! I'm in a permanent state of considering my options and it gives me hope to think of others successfully negotiating such challenges.Random ramblings !
I'm feeling sad now talking about chickens so I thought I could babble about something very different ! Here are two anecdotes relative to off-grid, or atypical lifestyles.
I think I mentioned before that I grew up with my three elder cousins. My parents shared a house with my mum's sister for twelve years.
The middle cousin is what one could call a mountain photographer, journalist and author. He began working for a mountain magazine, then they laid him off and he continued as free range, doing articles, photos, and also writing and editing climbing and mountaineering topoguides. He lives in a small village in the south Alps where we have always owned a family cabin, just across the street.
At the age of 52, he is now attempting his second climb of Mount Everest working for an expedition with a professional navigator who is giving a sponsored try at mountaineering. My cousin acts as photographer, blogger and helper. His first climb to Everest was in 2002, also working for an expedition.
It's already unusual, but it gets more interesting. My cousin has always had an hectic love life. He only told us after his mum died in 2010, but the first time he was in Everest, at base camp he met and had a very short relationship with an Italian alpinist. They unwillingly conceived two twins, which she decided to keep and raise on her own (she only told him three years after their birth). He tried to get to see them and this did happen several times, but for whatever reason, the mother did not want him to be a part of his kid's lives, and she locked him out.
Fast forward several years and after a lot of loonies he finally settles with a nice normal girl, and during lockdown and COVID...they make a baby. He is 49 and she is much younger. And now, two months before he left for Kathmandu, she gave birth to their second son, Sensei (I don't even understand how that can be a baby's name!). They also told us after it was done that they got married. The mum has friends over to help her during the two months he will be away, and the first person to go help was in fact my wonderful aunt, Marie-Mad, who I mentioned talking about my uncle Bernard.
I don't know what the lesson of the story is, but to me, having kids in this world at the age of 50 is a lot more crazy than climbing Everest again at that age...I would almost say irresponsible, but who am I to judge, I took the easy way out! Now, having two kids at this age AND leaving them to go climb some summit for the 2d time?
This is the link to follow their trip (in french).
My second story is about my best friend in junior and high school, Ben. Our friendship was the kind that you can only have as teens : we were always together and discovered everything with one another about life, literature, art, politics, got into all kind of troubles, did all kind of stupid things often involving various substances. He was also much more creative, curious and probably intelligent than I was so he made my high school years very interesting. Even if we quickly lost sight of one another I can say with certainty that the impact we had on each other was for life.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from him in Bali. The last I had heard of him and seen him was in 2009 in Paris. He was getting fed up of his career as both professional double bassist, and bass teacher. He had married a Japanese classical piano player who was also killing her passion at work. His email picked up from there. He explained that he went back to school to learn Japanese (which he already spoke with his wife) and he created a trilingual Japanese- English -French translation business. This made him live for a few years. Then, due to a birthday present, his wife and him discovered scuba diving and it completely changed their lives. They did all the dives and certifications required to become instructors. For the last five years, they had been working as such in places all over the world : Indonesia, Mexico, Micronesia, Maldives, Japan...But although they loved it he said they now needed a break. They were physically and also mentally exhausted from diving three times a day non stop and living always with people around them. So they decided to stay for a few months in Bali to take a rest and try to figure a way out where they could live their passion with a calmer lifestyle.
He was also realizing that climate change and environmental damage made such a practice no longer sustainable in the longer term.
I thought this was wonderful news and also an incredible life path. I would never have guessed that 30 years ago, and it certainly shows that it's possible to completely change your life more than once. The only thing that I could have guessed, is that he also grew a passion for underwater filming - we made a lot of idiot films back in the years
Now I will stop rambling and go apply some betadine on Piou-piou !
She was but yesterday I couldn't find anything she would eat to put the metacam in (it's liquid). I have to look for dosage but we have only strong acetaminophen/ paracetamol, maybe I can pop a very tiny piece in her beak today.
.
Because you give them a good life - and you do care for them when they have health issues; it is just that some health issues are not fixable. Life and death are two sides of the same coin.
Because you give them a good life - and you do care for them when they have health issues; it is just that some health issues are not fixable. Life and death are two sides of the same coin.
All good things must come to an end. That's not a reason for not having anything at all, in my view. I don't know about painless endings, but it's relatively simple to make it quick. You could perhaps ask one of the experienced keepers in the village to do it, if you doubt your ability or just can't face it.
That's a beautiful tune by the way; I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Thanks Perris, your words are wise.Because you give them a good life - and you do care for them when they have health issues; it is just that some health issues are not fixable. Life and death are two sides of the same coin.
All good things must come to an end. That's not a reason for not having anything at all, in my view. I don't know about painless endings, but it's relatively simple to make it quick. You could perhaps ask one of the experienced keepers in the village to do it, if you doubt your ability or just can't face it.
That's a beautiful tune by the way; I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but I enjoyed it anyway.
