"I smell a pear!" Meet "Pear" (here, with Braise) —our painting on auction— in today's edition!
Check out the current bid for "Pear" at the end of the story column, below. It is not too late to place your bid, through Monday October 6th…
enchère (ohn-sher) noun, feminine
: bid
enchères
(noun) = auctions
faire une enchère = to make a bid
faire monter les
enchères = the raise the bidding
mettre quelque chose aux enchères = to put
something up for bid
Mom and I are very excited to announce our first auction
here at the farm. "Vineyard!" she corrects, "sounds better than farm!" As for
sounds, you won't hear any slamming of the gavel–for this is a virtual
auction! My goal is to raise money for Mom's return ticket, that is: her next
return to France.
We have been lucky to have "Jules" with us almost every
year, beginning in 1994, in Marseilles, when she proudly walked me down the
aisle–wearing a tough black tuxedo, tears streaming down her
face.
When our first child was born, Jules stood out in the cold
maternity parking lot at night, when hospital regulations prohibited more
than one visitor in the salle d'accouchement.* Mom made do, returning her
gaze to the lit fourth floor window as she stole roses for the newborn,
intent on offering her grandchild his first fragrance on earth.
Over
the years, whether she arrived with a broken hip–or departed
breast-less from an unexpected visit to the cancer clinic in Marseilles–I
noticed how France regained its color the moment my muse-of-a-mom stepped off
the airplane. If Jules has one talent, besides painting, it is communication.
Don't get me wrong, she can't speak French–or Spanish, for that matter,
never mind that she has lived in Mexico for 15 years–no, Jules communicates
from the heart, her wide-open arms paint the words as she travels her path. I
can meet more French people in two weeks, when Mom is here, than in an entire
year, when she isn't here. Though not all of the encounters are welcome by me…
Once, in a
bar in St. Maximin, after one of the customers ran out, brandishing a bloodied
knife, Mom asked the bartender for a shot of tequila… which she poured over
a young man's fresh wounds!
dangerous! You can't do that!" Jules's answer was simply "Why not?"
I
am learning, thanks to Jules, to say the same "Why not?"… Which brings
us back to today's auction, a longtime goal that I have had for Mom. Why
not auction off one of her paintings? One of my favorites? It will be a way
to set her back on her path to Mexico–where I hope she will continue to
paint–and to France, where I hope she will return before
long!
The truth
is, we really have no idea what we are doing (hence, the informal auction
format), but boy are we excited! When I say "we", I mean Mom, "Pear",
and me–and boy if she isn't the ticket (Pear, that is, just wait and
see!).
Introducing Pear, our "auctionee": see an entire tongue-in-cheek
gallery of photos, here.
The starting bid is set at $100. And
now…. LET THE BIDDING BEGIN!
**Note: while informal, this is a serious
auction. All bids, we trust, are authentic. Please email your bid. Many
thanks! Check back to this website, where I will list the
current bid.
rules:
"Pear," created with a palette knife, is an oil painting (2007)
roughly 7×7 inches, by Jules Greer
Cost of shipping (estimated at $30) to
be paid for by buyer.
Frame included!
Shipped from France to anywhere in
the world
Check, Money Order, Paypal accepted
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Thank you “My Darling Kristi”, May this be the beginning of a new path we can travel together. XOXO MOM
She had to stand in the parking lot of the hospital?! I have never heard of such a backwards facility that didn’t have a waiting room – especially for labor and delivery.
That is now tied with worst delivery story ever with my French sister-in-law, who having given birth 13 years earlier in the same Jewish clinique (Strasbourg) I was schedule in, told me of how she had the mis fortune of giving birth just as a Jewish fasting period began and they wouldn’t feed her – her husband had to sneak her in food.
In any case – good luck with the auction!
Hi Stacey,
Mom did not have to wait in the parking lot — but that is where she could see the window to the salle d’accouchement, high above (not that she could see any of us!)
We also snuck in food (for my daughter’s birth): not because it was a fasting period, but because we knew, from experience, that the next meal was 6 or 7 hours away. That is a long time to wait — after such an effort! Talk about low blood sugar.
Come on, we need to keep the Pear in the family, think how it would look in a picture with a cactus!!
When I pause each day to read wonderful stories drawn from your family adventures, I am reminded to treasure the unique and marvelous people and moments that form the tapestry of my own life. By your daily reflections, you teach me to pause, to listen, and to recall my own memories. You remind me that I, too, have a lifetime of precious souvenirs of my own mother, daughters, and dear friends that I can cherish by taking time to reflect and recount in the book that is each of our lives. Thank you for reminding me that we enrich our lives by sharing our stories. Bon voyage to your maman–I hope you receive many bids on her lovely painting.
Sorry I will not be bidding but I love “pear”. I have commented before on the “character” your mother appears to be and I really admire her for it. Now I can put a face to the personality! Wow she could rule the world with all that. My mother recently passed away and everyone says I really looked like my mom. I can pass the same compliment on to you and your mother. You are both beautiful and talented. Keep the stories coming.
aj
Wonderful, vibrant photos, one beautiful painting and many inspiring images of the wonderful French countryside and la vie Francaise!
Thank you!