Russian comfrey and letter of sympathy (with misspellings), reads Sir/Mam, I offer all my regrets for the loss of your chickens. I am sincerely and deeply sorry for the pain this has caused you…" (Read on, in today's story column.)
se rabaisser (seuh rah bay say)
: to humble oneself, to show humility or respect
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Je me suis rabaissée devant le potager, en visant mon plant préféré. Et puis, je l'ai arraché!
I lowered myself before the kitchen garden, and targeted my favorite plant. Next, I yanked it out!
At only $8 Exercises in French Phonetics is a great tool for improving your French.
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE… by Kristin Espinasse
I left Annie's whimsical garden with a bag of stinging nettles and a mission: to plant the medicinal orties and, secondly, to heal an open wound–celle de ma voisine.
The orties, no matter how menacing their bite, would be easy to manage; I needed only to wear gloves to transplant them. As for the pain we'd caused our other neighbor–I was not sure how to proceed… so I followed–hanging on as my body whisked forth my soul, over to the field just below.
There in my own jardin, I landed. Walking past the flowering consoude, with its ornamental purple bells, I knew instantly it was the one. I had just given a seedling to my friend Cari, keeping the mother comfrey–all decked out now in blossoms–for myself. Even then I knew I should have given the best away, and patiently waited for the seedling to grow into another purple-belled marvel. It wasn't too late this time around….
Se rabaisser (the French translation for "to humble yourself") literally means to bow down, and this I did before the royal purple bells of Symphytum x uplandicum–the noblest subject in my potager.
I knelt not as a worshiper before an idol; I met the ground as a broken heart falling in pieces! If the act was dramatic, it encompassed more than the sorrow for my neighbor's lost chickens, it carried with it the weight of other trespasses–both personal and universal. Isn't that what it feels like to be deeply sorry, or navrée? As though the weight of a world's sins rests on your guilty shoulders.
Kneeling there, the rocks below me drove their jagged edges into my skin. But I felt only the pain of shame as I searched for words.
"Please let there be understanding–and forgiveness. Please heal this pain."
There was nothing I could do to bring back the stolen chickens. And only God knows how hard I try to keep our dogs inside our property lines. The best I could do was to reach out to my neighbor: apologize, ask what I could give or do, and let her see the human face behind the unknown perpetrator.
As I stood there, now, on a foreign doorstep–my heart thumping in my throat, my arms holding out a potted plant its leaves going limp before my very eyes–my new neighbor studied me, her lips a straight line…..
(A suivre/To be continued here in Part 2 of story)
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Note: highlighted links within the story refer back to previous journal entries:
Annie's garden (including part one of today's story)
Kristi's garden (picture)
FRENCH VOCABULARY
celle de ma voisine = that (wound, blessure) of my neighbor
le jardin = garden
la consoude = comfrey
le potager = vegetable patch
navré(e) = deep sorrow, sadness for one's mistake
Plants are the best gift, no matter the occasion! An olive or peach tree, aloe or comfrey! They nourish, improve the air we breathe, and are often healing. A book about plants is the next best gift of all. I am offering one copy of Jane Goodall's latest: Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants.
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Leave a comment in today's comments box. You can say anything at all: respond to today's story, or tell us your favorite plant. Click here to comment and enter.
P.S. I can't promise, so don't hold me to it–but if I manage to get a signed book on Monday night–when I go to see Jane Goodall speak in Aix!!–then I will include the signed copy in the giveaway. Otherwise the book will be shipped to you directly via Amazon.com. Good luck!
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My favorite plant is Lily of the Nile. It’s hardy here in hot So. California and once a year it sprouts a flower on a rather tall stem. To me it marks the coming of summer and I’m always sad to see the flower die in mid-July.
It’s up to the neighbor how it will end, not up to you. If she wants to forgive and forget, she will. If she wants to hold on to the loss of you and the chickens, then that’s what’s going to happen. No matter what happens, that’s how life goes. So don’t fret either way. C’est la vie.
My favorite plant is Lily of the Nile. It’s hardy here in hot So. California and once a year it sprouts a flower on a rather tall stem. To me it marks the coming of summer and I’m always sad to see the flower die in mid-July.
It’s up to the neighbor how it will end, not up to you. If she wants to forgive and forget, she will. If she wants to hold on to the loss of you and the chickens, then that’s what’s going to happen. No matter what happens, that’s how life goes. So don’t fret either way. C’est la vie.
Aujourd’hui, j’ai travaillé dans mes jardins pour quatre heures. Mon pommier est joli avec des fleurs. Vos jardins sont très beaux.
Aujourd’hui, j’ai travaillé dans mes jardins pour quatre heures. Mon pommier est joli avec des fleurs. Vos jardins sont très beaux.
Hello, Kristin.
How many emotions must you feel at one time right now?
What if we all trusted both you and your neighbor to do the best thing?
Your writing is so successful because it makes all of us anxious and highly invested in the events of your life!
My favorite flower this month is Lily-of-the-valley. I know that friends exchange this on May Day in France. Our season is so late that they are at their peak in NYC this week. I slept with a glass of them on the bookcase behind my bed and kept thinking during the night, ‘I am sleeping in the middle of a fairy tale.’ Pure magic. Heavenly scent.
Hello, Kristin.
How many emotions must you feel at one time right now?
What if we all trusted both you and your neighbor to do the best thing?
Your writing is so successful because it makes all of us anxious and highly invested in the events of your life!
My favorite flower this month is Lily-of-the-valley. I know that friends exchange this on May Day in France. Our season is so late that they are at their peak in NYC this week. I slept with a glass of them on the bookcase behind my bed and kept thinking during the night, ‘I am sleeping in the middle of a fairy tale.’ Pure magic. Heavenly scent.
je viens de lire cet blogue, et il m’amuse bien. merci.
je viens de lire cet blogue, et il m’amuse bien. merci.
I have a rose that was rooted for my mother by a dear friend when she was just a girl to be planted in the garden just outside her first house. When my mother finally married, the rose was transplanted to the garden of her new house. Through the years my mother shared a little of herself as she gave cuttings to others who were moving into their very first house. With my first house, came my Mother’s rose. I will soon pass a cutting on to my daughter, so even though my mother is no longer here, a little of her soul lingers in the blossoms of the roses that grow outside my house. Sharing from the heart heals many wounds. Perhaps your neighbor will choose to forgive, but if she chooses not to, you have shared a little of your soul grown wiser in the soil of your garden with the hope it may take root one day.
I have a rose that was rooted for my mother by a dear friend when she was just a girl to be planted in the garden just outside her first house. When my mother finally married, the rose was transplanted to the garden of her new house. Through the years my mother shared a little of herself as she gave cuttings to others who were moving into their very first house. With my first house, came my Mother’s rose. I will soon pass a cutting on to my daughter, so even though my mother is no longer here, a little of her soul lingers in the blossoms of the roses that grow outside my house. Sharing from the heart heals many wounds. Perhaps your neighbor will choose to forgive, but if she chooses not to, you have shared a little of your soul grown wiser in the soil of your garden with the hope it may take root one day.
Has anyone ever told you that even your hand writing looks French. I lived in Paris for a year some time ago and I still cross my sevens. Thanks foe sharing such great stories.
Has anyone ever told you that even your hand writing looks French. I lived in Paris for a year some time ago and I still cross my sevens. Thanks foe sharing such great stories.
I can’t wait to hear the rest of the story! You were very brave to face your neighbor. Hoping your meeting had a good ending. I love your heart!
I can’t wait to hear the rest of the story! You were very brave to face your neighbor. Hoping your meeting had a good ending. I love your heart!
Looking forward to the next instalment. As one gets older I find it easier to me rebaisser than in ealier years – only I do not have any comfrey, wilted or otherwise.
Looking forward to the next instalment. As one gets older I find it easier to me rebaisser than in ealier years – only I do not have any comfrey, wilted or otherwise.
I heard the first part of Goodall’s speech. She is amazing but I was too upset by the long wait in line with a smoker in front of my to stay to get an autograph.
I would therefore love to win the book you had signed. My favorite plant is a yesterday, today and tomorrow – it has purple, white and lavender leaves that bud in sequence. My grandmother planted one in front of her house and my mother wanted to do the same but we could never get the transplant from Louisiana to Georgia to work. It is a beautiful, delicate, yet fragile plant. Much like Smokey I guess.
I heard the first part of Goodall’s speech. She is amazing but I was too upset by the long wait in line with a smoker in front of my to stay to get an autograph.
I would therefore love to win the book you had signed. My favorite plant is a yesterday, today and tomorrow – it has purple, white and lavender leaves that bud in sequence. My grandmother planted one in front of her house and my mother wanted to do the same but we could never get the transplant from Louisiana to Georgia to work. It is a beautiful, delicate, yet fragile plant. Much like Smokey I guess.
Back in the days when one could bring seeds from France (carefully toasted, so nothing was growing on them)..I planted the tiny grains from the most beautiful largest coquillicot that I could find. For 20 years they bloomed without fail for my daughter’s birthday. One year. the contracter was renovating my house, so I carefully moved the bed of flowers out of the way of the heavy machinery. Unfortunately, no one one told me that the safe place I had chosen was exactly the place they were going to dig a hole! No matter how often I look, those flowers have never reappeared again. So, I know we can become attached to flowers.
Good luck with the chicken/dog fiasco; you may end up buying some hens!
Back in the days when one could bring seeds from France (carefully toasted, so nothing was growing on them)..I planted the tiny grains from the most beautiful largest coquillicot that I could find. For 20 years they bloomed without fail for my daughter’s birthday. One year. the contracter was renovating my house, so I carefully moved the bed of flowers out of the way of the heavy machinery. Unfortunately, no one one told me that the safe place I had chosen was exactly the place they were going to dig a hole! No matter how often I look, those flowers have never reappeared again. So, I know we can become attached to flowers.
Good luck with the chicken/dog fiasco; you may end up buying some hens!
You are so brave to share with us “real life” that we all experience – loss, pain, humility. It helps us all. I must, however cast my vote for electronic collars/fence and proper training for your dogs, and replacing the chickens (or reimbursing them the value for chicks). It is the right thing to do. Do it quickly and inform your neighbor of your plan for the dogs when you present the money or chicks. I love your blog, but cannot bear to read another story about your pets wandering off. It is dangerous and not fair to them.
You are so brave to share with us “real life” that we all experience – loss, pain, humility. It helps us all. I must, however cast my vote for electronic collars/fence and proper training for your dogs, and replacing the chickens (or reimbursing them the value for chicks). It is the right thing to do. Do it quickly and inform your neighbor of your plan for the dogs when you present the money or chicks. I love your blog, but cannot bear to read another story about your pets wandering off. It is dangerous and not fair to them.
What a cliffhanger! Kristin, whatever the neighbor’s response, I know God is smiling on you for bringing ‘the best’. I’ve had to apologize for my dogs’ actions a few times over the years as well, not for a chicken feast but for getting loose/trampling gardens, etc. Sam, Daisy, and Lily Belle were always forgiven, and I think I was too. Praying that you will make a new friend in the process.
What a cliffhanger! Kristin, whatever the neighbor’s response, I know God is smiling on you for bringing ‘the best’. I’ve had to apologize for my dogs’ actions a few times over the years as well, not for a chicken feast but for getting loose/trampling gardens, etc. Sam, Daisy, and Lily Belle were always forgiven, and I think I was too. Praying that you will make a new friend in the process.
Your writing delivers a reaction to the visceral level that is immediate and powerful and my heart was pounding as I visualized you walking and knocking on your neighbors door, the suspense is building waiting for your next
blogpost; and I might add with sincerity, hopefully a happy conclusion.
Joanny
Your writing delivers a reaction to the visceral level that is immediate and powerful and my heart was pounding as I visualized you walking and knocking on your neighbors door, the suspense is building waiting for your next
blogpost; and I might add with sincerity, hopefully a happy conclusion.
Joanny
Your readers and admirers have written such good advice and encouraging heartfelt words to you as you try to do the right thing in a difficult situation. If anyone in the world could make amends, it would be you with your kind and sensitive heart. Somehow a foolproof way to prevent Braise and Smokey from wandering must be found. If something were to happen to them, we would all be heartbroken.
Jane Goodall has to be one of the most exceptional scientist in the world; how exciting to be going to hear her speak. If you are able to obtain a signed book of hers, do keep it in your own library.
The peony has to be my favorite flower….blooms just around Mother’s Day in this area. My best wishes.
Your readers and admirers have written such good advice and encouraging heartfelt words to you as you try to do the right thing in a difficult situation. If anyone in the world could make amends, it would be you with your kind and sensitive heart. Somehow a foolproof way to prevent Braise and Smokey from wandering must be found. If something were to happen to them, we would all be heartbroken.
Jane Goodall has to be one of the most exceptional scientist in the world; how exciting to be going to hear her speak. If you are able to obtain a signed book of hers, do keep it in your own library.
The peony has to be my favorite flower….blooms just around Mother’s Day in this area. My best wishes.
WOW maybe the dogs killed your cats too? Better get a shorter leash – house pets (including cats) should not be allowed to run wild as it is too dangerous for them.
WOW maybe the dogs killed your cats too? Better get a shorter leash – house pets (including cats) should not be allowed to run wild as it is too dangerous for them.
Borage! Breaded lightly and fried…..crispy and delicious. The flowers are beautiful (and edible) in salads, too. They are the pretty blue star-shaped ones you see in the margins of medieval manuscripts.
Borage! Breaded lightly and fried…..crispy and delicious. The flowers are beautiful (and edible) in salads, too. They are the pretty blue star-shaped ones you see in the margins of medieval manuscripts.
I feel a lot of pain here lately. I hope things are getting better. You seem like such a nice person.
I feel a lot of pain here lately. I hope things are getting better. You seem like such a nice person.
Chere Madame, SVP…
Do you not think it would be good to buy the neighbor lady some new young chickens to replace the eaten ones? Years ago, my dogs took down a neighbor’s young calf and we bought him another one…kind regards,
Judith
Chere Madame, SVP…
Do you not think it would be good to buy the neighbor lady some new young chickens to replace the eaten ones? Years ago, my dogs took down a neighbor’s young calf and we bought him another one…kind regards,
Judith
PS to previous…
And many years later, we finally have a good stout fence enclosing our 6 acres…it works quite well…I recommend it highly…
Bonne chance,
Judith
PS to previous…
And many years later, we finally have a good stout fence enclosing our 6 acres…it works quite well…I recommend it highly…
Bonne chance,
Judith
We have neighbors who aren’t crazy about our dogs so I feel for you. maybe she’ll put a fence up. You did the right thing and hopefully your neighbor will become a friend, and dog lover. Maybe one day she will bring you some eggs.
I did not know of this book so even if I don’t win, thank you for telling us about it.
We have neighbors who aren’t crazy about our dogs so I feel for you. maybe she’ll put a fence up. You did the right thing and hopefully your neighbor will become a friend, and dog lover. Maybe one day she will bring you some eggs.
I did not know of this book so even if I don’t win, thank you for telling us about it.
Kristin, I really do know how you feel! Years ago I managed to run over a neighbor’s cat (and it belonged to a young girl!) with my car as I was heading to my house at the end of the street! It had run out from under a parked car, so I had no view of the cat at all so as to avoid it! Nonetheless I felt horrible!!
At the moment of impact I knew I had struck something but only realized what it was until I parked my car and returned to the area of impact. By that time the neighbor was already hosing the street clean of the evidence! I of course apologized on the spot!
Upon returning home I decided to write the family a letter of apology, offering to replace the family pet with a new one of their choosing. They declined the offer but appreciated the sincerity of the gesture.
Kristin, I really do know how you feel! Years ago I managed to run over a neighbor’s cat (and it belonged to a young girl!) with my car as I was heading to my house at the end of the street! It had run out from under a parked car, so I had no view of the cat at all so as to avoid it! Nonetheless I felt horrible!!
At the moment of impact I knew I had struck something but only realized what it was until I parked my car and returned to the area of impact. By that time the neighbor was already hosing the street clean of the evidence! I of course apologized on the spot!
Upon returning home I decided to write the family a letter of apology, offering to replace the family pet with a new one of their choosing. They declined the offer but appreciated the sincerity of the gesture.
Dites “bonjour” à Jane de la part de ses amis à Salem, Oregon, s.v.p.!
Dites “bonjour” à Jane de la part de ses amis à Salem, Oregon, s.v.p.!
1. Why didn’t you get her some chickens? A plant for chickens just doesn’t do it for me.
2. Why don’t you fence (maybe invisible) your property, or if it’s too big, fence an enclosure for the dogs?
1. Why didn’t you get her some chickens? A plant for chickens just doesn’t do it for me.
2. Why don’t you fence (maybe invisible) your property, or if it’s too big, fence an enclosure for the dogs?
Your willingness to eloquently expose the tender parts of your soul is the reason I read your blog, as I also speak French. I hope your neighbour responds to your kind gesture. As Zoe suggested, offering to replace the chickens is a good idea. To your neighbour, they are a lost investment. I’m sure you will find the right solution.
Warmest regards from Canada,
moushka
Your willingness to eloquently expose the tender parts of your soul is the reason I read your blog, as I also speak French. I hope your neighbour responds to your kind gesture. As Zoe suggested, offering to replace the chickens is a good idea. To your neighbour, they are a lost investment. I’m sure you will find the right solution.
Warmest regards from Canada,
moushka
Oh la la!
We have had similar experiences after our young dog mauled neighbouring farmers’ lambs – for which we were obliged to pay. Awful situation. Hopefully the total solution is not too costly for you.
My favourite flower is a rose – flamboyant reds or so delicate pastels.
Merci, Kristin and good luck!
Oh la la!
We have had similar experiences after our young dog mauled neighbouring farmers’ lambs – for which we were obliged to pay. Awful situation. Hopefully the total solution is not too costly for you.
My favourite flower is a rose – flamboyant reds or so delicate pastels.
Merci, Kristin and good luck!