Tongue in Cheek

A constant about life

everything

changes and is changing

stars burn brightly

This November my blog will be 16 years old. To celebrate that I have asked you my readers to submit a Guest Post for my blog as a way of celebrating our connectedness as a community through social media. 

I hope you will send me your story or at least a glimpse into your life I feel I know so many of you through the comment section and...

Let your story be told

in words that sing the notes that brought you here, with melodies that weave your days into song. Let us hear it, all the notes hi and lows, and the note that carried you through.

Please, I want to hear about you:

Do you cook, do you play a sport, are you suffering, do you care for your parents, are you married,...

Going to try something new on my Blog, I do not know why I hadn’t  thought of it before. After 15 years of blogging I think I should have thought of it. 

My idea is to feature readers of my blog. Intentionally I will ask some of you who have been reading my blog since time began for French la Vie. What I hope is that each person...

Cinderellas I have watched you grow on the vine, snuggled in the dirt, full and ripe

Stacked on the blue truck away you go

Cinderellas I have watched you grow on the vine, snuggled in the dirt, full and ripe

Stacked on the blue truck away you go

Petal by petal

your fragrance a soothing strength

unfolding with consistency 

though your depth surpasses such a mundane word

eternal beauty,

poetic boldness,

even in your elegance

your protective thorns set the boundaries

though hinder not your graceful strength.

... and let us be the petal, the fragrance, the rose that...

    As I pushed Gabriel in his stroller I read,

“You are not alone”

on a building’s wall. Not three yards away was a man gathering his belongings; Several empty plastic bottles, a massive soiled plastic sheet that appeared to be his home, and a rag for a blanket. His clothes barely hung on him.

Barefoot.
Unruly hair and...

Babies when they hear a sound they usually stop what they are doing and listen at the same time they look around for recognition that they have recognized a familiar or new sound.

When Gabriel hears a sound he knows or a new sound he stops- he looks- he listens- he looks around to see who has noticed what he has heard. Registering...

Cherry tomates clinging to the vine

Gently swirl them with a generous splash of olive oil,

toss oregano and salt confetti

bake for 30 minutes or so on medium heat until theit coats wrinkle.

A moisten path

leaves glistening with raindrops,

nature breathing after a long spell without rain.

Snails. 

This cabanon (cabin) that really wants me to come inside.

I know it does.

My name is on the door.

I have never seen anyone around it except trees and vines inching their way cover...

Be safe

be kind

Scream if need be, get it out, but do so without hurting anyone.

These are unusual times challenging us to see things we might not have seen, to listen to ideas that are new or uncomfortable, to hold on to what we believe yet be open to the possibility that it is okay to change, to question, to keep caring even if it is too much...

The photos of the orange sky, smoke dense enough that you could look at the sun directly as we do the moon, photos that I doubled-checked by asking if they were taking last night or this morning?! A silence fills the air, birds are not singing, wild animals are coming into the neighborhoods in search of food, water, shade, refuge... Ash blowing as...

After six months in the south due to Covid 19 Chelsea and Martin returned to their apartment in Paris. Martin was working from home but now is back at work, and Chelsea will go back to work later this month. 

Gabriel is in Paris and loves loves loves to be outside. There is a park near their home so they go there as often as...

Breathing in peace

breathing out distractions

breathing in grace

breathing out worry

breathing in gentleness

breathing out bitterness

breathing in faith

breathing out superficiality

breathing in love

breathing out anger

breathing in silence

until I am breathing out silence as well

Your birthday

you woke up early to take a bus to the motorcycle repair shop

were, at last, the reparations of one of your oldest motorcycles was completed 

while there you saw a vintage 125 motorcycle

love at first sight 

I shook my head 

disappointment filled yours

”you have six”

”three don't...

Changing seasons

In the air 
Caressing my consciousness

ever so slightly

Barely aware

that tomorrow

that distant future

today

Leads the way

In the garden of delight

Bread of life the source of our well being

community

communion

together

Bread: many hands, golden wheat, sweat, the beating of heart and sun.

Breaking bread,

shared labor,

shared joy,

shared.

Life's source food for the soul, feeding the need of our hearts, bodies, and minds.

A ten minute walk from my home

that I ritually take to start my day

Peaceful 

a place where I find 

solace, a place to pour out my thoughts.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I am going to miss this little person!

While threading the needle to sew Sacha's worn jeans I asked Annie if she had any tender memories of living during World War II? If there was any light in that dark passage. Anything that reminded her of beauty when life around them was so unfair and off balance.

Annie keeping her eye on the thread and needle said, "Of course...

Over and over he plays

Sometimes he gets it other times he guesses again.

He plays, he tries, and he is happy learning on his Mother’s knee.

Holding on to this delight while he propels me forward to seeing the world through his eyes.

Thank you for the many messages on my blog, email, and FB. I appreciate your opinions, your encouraging me to do what I feel and yet understanding my stance without having to spell it out. I am thinking and rethinking about the possibility of keeping my blog politically free, yet encouraging myself to listen without judgment, to...

“You listen not for the purpose of judging, criticizing or analyzing. You listen only to help the other person to express himself and find some relief from his suffering.”

Over the years that I have been blogging, I have purposefully made an effort not to engage in politics on my blog and for that matter anywhere on my social media accounts. With the outbreak of COVID-19, my being in the States, the Presidential election taking shape, and how masks were becoming a political statement -I made a choice to post a...

Thank you for your messages regarding my blog. There were a few hiccups that we figured out, so it is back. Whew. Hopefully the comment section will start to work allowing you to add links and comment to one another. I appreciated your response, your caring ... 

I have no idea why some of you are not receiving my blog and are unable to see it. I am trying to figure it out and hopefully it will work soon.

Please let me know if you are receiving my blog or not.

Corey

Trying to post today is hopeless. After several long posts and a multitude of photos disappearing faster than I could save. I am writing to say this is my post. My patience is leaning towards frustration which I refuse to enter into as this is our mini holiday. 
Love you and I know you understand.

Until tomorrow xxx

After a very warm summer day topped off with a feast on blackberries without exaggerating: He ate fistfuls; we put him in the tub.

A torn leaf

holds the remains of last night’s thunderstorm 

an insect approaches for a sip

walking by I am drawn to the vibrant color 

Mesmerized - my thoughts drift - leading my steps

in a different direction.

Literally.

A few kilometers later I sense the scenery is not the same

I have gone off course.

I keep walking...

When you fall in love with the brocante it stays with you

The older woman leaned out her window, it could be me one day. 

What will you still enjoy no matter what?