To win the mysterious French antique, on offer in today's story, simply say hello, here in the comments box + let us know where you are writing in from. After randomly choosing a number, I will announce a winner on Friday. More about the giveaway, in today's story column.
Photo by Alison Johnston Lohry (Note to self: next time you post a photo of your person, choose any other post title… besides "Scatterbrained"! P.S. do you see a scar on my forehead? Ta da! This photo was taken four months after the first operation and a week before the second operation, the one mentioned in the previous post.)
étourdi(e) ay-toor-dee
: scatty, scatterbrained; flighty
Audio File: listen to our daughter, Jackie, pronouce today's word and example sentence: Download MP3 or Wav file
Il est bien étourdi; mais, entre nous, son coeur est bon.
He is quite featherbrained; but, between you and me, he has a good heart. —Voltaire, Complete Works of Voltaire
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
Scatterbrained
I am having a fickle of a time deciding what to write about today. It isn't a matter of writer's block, or la page blanche, the difficulty here is l'embarras du choix! So many possibilities! Which path to choose when it is just too tempting to amble down each windy road and lose oneself in that whimsical place affectionately known as "Just Around The Corner"?
Enough dreaming, it's time to choose a topic! Let's see…
I might tell you about our daughter's renewed passion for jumping (BMX bikes, this time—and not horses!). Jackie's hobby has me aching to line our concrete terrasse with mattresses! I watch, from the kitchen window, as our 14-year-old builds a new jump, adding yet another vineyard stone beneath the wobbly ramp (a repurposed wooden shutter) after each adrenaline-rich stunt….
Then again, I might write about some of the readers who come to visit. But then there have been so many…. To write about one would be to leave out the others. Quel dilemme! Perhaps I could backtrack… beginning with a photo from the most recent visit? (See the end of this post.)
Encore une fois, I had thought to write a story about a thank-you gift, the one I am trying to think up for the surgeon's assistante that I see this afternoon (stitches come out today!). What to give someone whom I know nothing about, but whose gentle confidence has touched me? Du vin? Des fleurs?
I should also update you with the good news: Max, 16, passed part of his driver's exam!: oui, il a réussi le code! This brings him to the "hands-on" part of the exam: the actual driving with an instructor! (such a relief to turn over the co-pilot seat—still wet from my sweaty, gripping hands—to a trained teacher!)
As for writing topics, I also thought this might be a good time to bring up the subject of email… please forgive me if you have sent in a note and if I haven't gotten back to you! I am trying, but no matter how many activities I cut out, in order to devote time to answering email, I still can't manage to keep up with incoming messages. I feel terrible about this… please know that I read and appreciate every single word you send, whether via email or via the comments box. Thank you so much!
There were about four or five or fifteen other lovely things, in addition to your treasured notes, that I wanted to talk to you about today, but time is up! So I will get to the fun part of this scatterbrained offering, this anti-essay that ran away to that curious "Just around the corner" place…
The G I V E A W A Y !
In thanks for reading this French word journal, I want to offer you the chance to win a little treasure! The trésor is currently a secret, but here's a hint: anyone would love it: young or "wizened", man or woman. If you like French antiques, you'll love this historic memento, one from my collection… one I adore and would love to offer you!
You might frame the antique… or wear it (making an eccentric necklace or an avant-garde pin?); you could put it in a glass box or make a whimsical collage…. You could carry it around in your pocket as a lucky charm or use it to mark a page in a book (never mind the bulk!). It could make a cool paper weight… though you might have to tie an extra something to it.
To win this antique simply leave a greeting here, in the comments box, along with your city. Example: "Hola from Jules in Puerto Vallarta!"
I will post the winner's name on Friday. No matter where you live in the world, you may enter the giveaway, by leaving a comment here. (Sorry, but no comments via email).
French Vocabulary
(section under construction… please check back!)
la page blanche = "the white page" or "le blocage de l'écrivain" (writer's block)
l'embarras du choix = a great variety of choices, an embarrassing number of choices
la terrasse = a paved area (sidewalk) or patio
quel dilemme = what a dilemma
encore une fois = then again
assistant(e) = assistant
du vin = some wine
des fleurs = some flowers
oui, il a réussi le code = yes, he passed the driver's exam
le trésor = treasure
I had a good tchatche, or chat, with artist, fiddler, and writer, Alison, who lives part of the year in the postcard pretty village of Sauve. Photo taken by Jackie Espinasse.
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Hello from Houston,Texas. We’re preparing for Rodeo season.
Hello! Longmont, Colorado.
stephen
Bonjour from Melbourne, Australia. A very long way from France!
Bonjour from Menomonee Falls Wisconsin!
Hi to all from Carlsbad, California! What a great way to bring people from all points together in a common greeting.
Aloha, and warm greetings from Hawaii!
Bonjour, Kristin, from Marcia in the countryside near Mitchellville, Iowa. Lonne and I were been glad to hear of the positive outcome to your medical scare. We continue to enjoy your site, and wish you and family the best.
Bonjour de Dwan Shipley, a Bellingham dans l’Etat de Washington, EU.
Good evening from Minneapolis, MN. Some of us are missing our winter here with no snow on the ground (not me though). It is a balmy 37 degrees!
Thank you for your writings Kristin — both books and blog. Seeing your emails each week make my heart sing!
Bonjour from Iowa! Love your blog! Love learning about France!
Hello from Karen in Jacumba, California! I love your blog, you are living the life so many would love to live!
Bonjour de Leslie in Portland, Oregon, USA!
Bonjour! From Wendy Kucherhan Springfield, Oregon, USA!
I love your blog, which I subscribe to. I love my times in France and what’s not to love about a giveaway! I’m in Melbourne.
Greetings from Helen in Ellington, Connecticut
Good afternoon! –Cecilia in Sun Valley, Idaho
Hello from Scotts Valley, CA, south of San Francisco. Amazing to see your global following. Your kind spirit has traveled beyond the borders of France to touch all corners of the world!
So glad you are healing and the biopsy was benign!
Bonjour, Kristin. I’m a reader in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia who just started intensive French immersion this week at L’Universite de Sainte Anne in Halifax. I’ve been following your blog for years–love it!
Hello from Clarice in Castalia, Ohio USA!
Hello Kristin and family! Much gratitude for sharing your lives with us….and I absolutely love your dog fotos. So does my dog, Kobe! Beth Pisani from Sebastopol, California.
Bonsoir de Jan a Danville, Californie
Oh la la! Qu’est qui passe ici! Quelle temoinage de L’Amitié.
C’est une douce l’hiver cette an pour nous, ici dans le petit ville de Gautier, Mississippi sur la côte du Golfe du Mexique.
“Allez, à tantôt tout le monde”… hein 🙂
Hello from Suzi in Montana, and Arizona!
Bonjour de Monterrey, Mexico!
Bonjour Kristin… Don’t get to the computer everyday so I probably missed the drawing. But, I am in the counting of your adoring public, proudly so!!. Jackie is sounding so grown up. Delightful! L.A. weather was bad for a couple of days but we are back to sunshine and 70 degrees. Heaven!
Bonjour from Arizona…. about to burst into bloom!!
Gaelle 🙂
Salut Kristin from Austin Texas = mais m’amie d’enfance vive dans le Midi=Pyrenees. Si je gagne, elle peut avoir le prix! Je vais l’acheter du vin lunatique et mistral!
Bonjour, Kristin, from Boutilier’s Point in Nova Scotia, Canada on a lovely spring-like day.
Hello from Broomfield Colorado! Can’t wait to visit Provence in June.
Salut de San Jose, California
l’envoi d’un vert humide bonjour de Seattle, WA
Salut, tout le monde. Felicitations a Max d’avoir reussi le code. J’espere que Jackie porte un chapeau de securite (helmet) quand elle fait du BMX bike.
Je suis nee en France, mais j’habite University Park, Maryland.
The “winter” has been much warmer than usual, and it will be about 50 degrees F. tomorrow.
After scrolling through around a dozen pages of comments and seeing there were still more, I’ve concluded that Kristin, you are popular. The next time you want to publish a book and anyone hesitates, wondering if there is a market for it, just refer them to the comments on this latest post. You have readers and fans all over the world.
I cannot see any scars or marks in the photo of you. Wishing you a complete recovery soon!
Bonjour Kristin from Michele down under – Perth, Western Australia to be exact!
Love your blog and so look forward to receiving your French Word-A-Day emails – have passed the link on to many of my ‘learning to speak French’ friends.
Faites attention!
Salut from Forestville, California. I visited Provence last summer and fell in love with the land and people there.
Hello from Tigard Oregon. So excited…my husband and I are flying to Paris this Saturday for an 11 day vacation. Taking our long underwear! Chris
Hello from Chicago, Illinois
Bonjour from Kearney, Nebraska
Thank you for helping me in my attempt to keep up on my french 🙂
Susi, blessed Beyond Measure
Bonjour Kristin and to your lovely family.
From, Jo Anne in the forested Overgaard, AZ
Bonjour de Mequon,WI.
Un grand bonjour de Georgie, Etats-Unis, d’ou je vous lis regulierement… Nous sommes le contraire l’une de l’autre, je suis française de naissance vivant aux Etats-unis et j’aime lire et recevoir vos impressions de la vie en France, et aussi celles de la vie de l’epouse americaine d’un français de naissance, parfois bien comiques mais aussi emouvantes pour moi… je m’y reconnais “a l’envers”!… En tout cas, merci de tous ces partages 🙂
Bonjour et Bonne Journee de Pewaukee Wisconsin USA.
Salut from Catriona in Sydney, Australia!
Bonjour de Kimberley à Vancouver, Canada!
Namaskara from Bangalore, India. It’s been great to see the ‘sunshine’ pics in this post, Kristin!
Bonjour de St. Louis, Missouri!
Oh, MY! This is FABULOUS, Kristin! My husband sent me your link from the University, and I am an instant fan! I even know where Windsor, CO, Beaverton, OR, and White Rock, British Columbia …(RIGHT across the Bay from us – I can see their beautiful lights twinkling like diamonds!)… are!! And I FINALLY found TWO from Kansas – my home state! 😉 Now we call Blaine, Washington, the Peace Arch City, our home! It’s so beautiful here – especially when the sun shines! Be blessed!!
Nita
Nita here again… Blaine is right on the Border, and on the water, with views of our beautiful mountains above Vancouver, B.C., in Washington, and on Vancouver Island, as well as the Olympic Mountains on the Peninsula! 😉
My Linguistic Professor husband is more fluent in French than his Mother tongue of English, but somehow has never found the time to teach me more than a few phrases. Our daughter and I love learning languages, and French is so beautiful! Now we have a way!! THANK you!! Merci beaucoup! 😉
Hello from Sandy in Asheville,NC
Bonjour, Madame:Felicitations. Chaque matin J’attend votre message. Vivian in Lake Charles, Louisiana le dix-septieme fevrier.
Hello from Bonny in San Mateo, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula.