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seuil (suhy) noun, masculine
  : threshold; doorstep; brink (of
death)

franchir le seuil = to cross the threshold
le seuil de
rentabilité = break-even point

 :: Audio File ::
(sound file follows… see story column below.)

One of the many gifts that Lily* left me was a lifetime
membership to the cat and canine community. Now on "the other side" of the
furry wall, a whole new world has opened up to me: a monde* filled with
humanity, animalité*, and a slew of new vocabulary (words like "feral,"*
expressions like "over the Rainbow Bridge"*).

Wearing my new
membership badge, which hangs a little off-center, I feel something like a
"straight-D" student who has been invited to a Mensa meet-up: I still don't
understand how I got here or how I passed the test. And, to think: two years
ago I was refusing for the quarante-troisième fois* (in twelve years of
marriage) to adopt a dog or a cat into our home. The kids, Jean-Marc, and my breaks-for-abandoned-balls-of-fluff-or-feathers mom, had all but given up on
me and my humanity. And now, I can't stop haunting the vacant fields and
buildings that surround us, in search of homelessness.

In between
time I read email, enjoying the photos and poems, and "listen" to both senior
and newbie members of the Creatures Great and Small Community. I want to
thank you for your empathy and for your straight-A altruism. Talk
about brilliance.

The following is a moving éloge* that I received
from Aunt Marie-Françoise. It concerns her beloved dog, Jaby, who made it
over that Rainbow Bridge a few years ago, in time to welcome our Lily. I
hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have. I will post the English translation
("My Life as a Dog") on Monday.

J'ai domestiqué ma nature animale : instincts, besoins, rythmes et
joie vitale pour vivre dans votre maison.

J'ai écouté et appris,
oreilles levées, vos ordres, vos intonations, j'ai compris vos
codes.

J'ai su me contraindre à faire doucement pour ne pas bousculer
l'enfant, la grand-mère et le petit animal à moustaches.

J'ai su
prendre ou réclamer de chacun de vous les flatteries et les jeux. J'ai aimé
votre compagnie joyeuse ou calme.

J'étais fière de mon obligation à
surveiller le portail, le seuil, toute la maisonnée en guettant les
importuns.

J'ai quand même eu mon royaume secret au jardin ou en
promenade pour faire vivre dans la nature la puissance originelle de mes
sens.

Je suis entrée dans ce lien avec vous sans craindre la soumission
puisque nous avons échangé du respect.

J'ai du ensuite mourir sans
comprendre la maladie et la déchéance. Je suis partie digne et sans plaintes
mais en comprenant vos larmes.

Dans nos échanges, je vous ai appris des
émotions différentes et spécifiques : celles de l'animalité ; les codes de
l'instinct que vous avez perdu. Je vous ai offert un autre rapport à la
nature.

De tout cela, je suis fière et je sais que vous aurez d'autres
chiens pour continuer ce
partage.

~~~~~~~~~~~References~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily = a feral
kitten now "over the rainbow bridge";
le monde (m) = world; l'animalité (f) = an animal's characteristics; feral =
sauvage (in French); "over the rainbow bridge" = where animals go when they
die
; quarante-troisième fois = forty-third time; éloge (m) =
eulogy

~~~~~~~~~~~In
Film, Music, & More~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Film) For earthbound humans,
Winged Migration is as close as any of us will get to sharing the sky with
our fine feathered friends. It's as if French director Jacques Perrin and his
international crew of dedicated filmmakers had been given a full-access pass
by Mother Nature herself, with the complete "cooperation" of countless
species of migrating birds, all answering to eons of migratory instinct.
-Jeff Shannon

Words
in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France

Songs
in French for Children: includes "Mon Père Avait 500 Moutons", "Prom'nons Nous Dans Les Bois", "Dansons la Capucine", "Picotin Musicien"…

More, in
music: Faure / Durufle Requiem