Sunflowers–and come see the exotic pink bird in our garden… at the next wine tasting here at Mas des Brun, August 6th. We hope to see you! Contact jm.espinasse@gmail.com for details.
le flamant rose (flamahn rowz)
: pink flamingo
Audio File: listen to today's word and example sentence, read by Jean-Marc: Download MP3 or Wave file
Flamant Rose. En Camargues, les flamants roses sont des espèces protegées. Pink Flamingo. In the Camargue, pink flamingos are a protected species..
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE… by Kristin Espinasse
"Reverse Culture Shock"
After missing the London-Nice connection, Jackie’s bag made it all the way home from Denver! My 16-year-old was sleeping off her long voyage when Chronoposte arrived with the beat-up valise, but when Jackie awoke her first instinct was to ask for that bag.
“It’s in the garage, Sweety. Have Max carry it up for you.” I left my daughter to root through her suitcase (sur place, for there was apparently no time to wait for her brother!). Moments later I heard a knock on my bedroom door.
“Mom, there’s a surprise for you in the garden….” Jackie said, wearing that crooked smile her father wears when he’s up to something.
I couldn’t help but wonder what my husband (assuming he was in on this) had installed, erected, or otherwise “fashioned” in the backyard. Would it be pleasing to the eye? Would it involve a thick band of silver tape as so many of his solution-inventions do?
Climbing the stone steps beside the garage I followed the girl in cutoffs, my heart swelling as her ponytail swept from side to side. How Jackie had changed in four weeks, after spending time with my sister and family in Colorado and Idaho!
“Mom. I need to take the TOEFL test. I want to go to the University of Colorado, in Boulder!” she announced, almost as soon as her plane landed….
TOEFL? Boulder? Go away from home? But that was a few years away! For now we were here together, here in a garden in the south of France–here on a treasure hunt! My eyes scanned the verger, its floor covered with paille. But nothing looked out of the ordinary … there was the comfrey and the row of chives I’d recently planted, the little plants leaning out of their toilet-paper roll jackets (which were supposed to eventually compost, according to the experts).
With an anxious motioning from my daughter, I moved on to Sector Two, where four raised beds made of local stone held a chaotic forest of herbs and vegetables. “Say ‘hot’ or ‘cold’, and help me find it!” I begged, when suddenly a bright something to my right began drenching my peripheral vision, in pink!
Turning, my eyes met a plastic pink flamingo.
"It’s from Heidi," Jackie pointed out.
Well, that was odd, I thought, staring at the unnatural object. Sort of kitch! Normally my sister has better taste than that.
It would be necessary to hide the thing. But would I remember to pull it out when my sister came to visit? In the words of Walter Scott, “Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” No! The whole scenario was too complicated. I’d have to fess up, and let my sister know that this one was a bomb. Not at all my style.
“Heidi said you would understand,” Jackie smiled, eager to know my thoughts.
Understand? Now it was I rooting through the pockets of my mind’s valise, trying to make associations. Pink flamingo… understand… pink flamingo? Little beads of sweat formed over my brow as I came close to failing The Recognition Test.
Was it something to do with our childhood, Heidi's and mine? My mind raced back to the Arizona desert, where coyotes and quail, and rattlesnakes roamed. Were there pink flamingos, too?
“Mom!” Jackie’s impatience woke me from my reverie. “Heidi said it’s something you (you Americans) do. You put these in people’s gardens … to surprise your friends!
My mind began to perk up and I was back on the streets of Phoenix, rolls of toilet paper in hand, laughing with a gaggle of girls as we played a prank on a friend. Once the cactus and the citrus trees and the mesquites in the front yard were covered … we’d leap out of the yard and run like bandits.
I vaguely remembered an occasional pink flamingo in those desert gardens, but it never registered then (at 12-years-old). Except in retrospect. Yes, it was another kind of prank! Not the kind kids were good at (owing to the expense of the plastic birds.). Toilet paper could easily be stolen from the bathroom!
It was surreal, standing there in my garden, listening to my French daughter teach me a lesson in American Pop Culture. Surreal may well be the definition of reverse culture shock: when something is so intimately familiar to you that you can’t recognize it at all.
"You mean out of all the stuff you bought in America, you managed to cram a giant flamant rose in your suitcase?"
"Aunt Heidi helped me," Jackie shrugged her shoulders and that crooked smile was back.
As we gazed at the kitchy pink bird, I threw my arm around my daughter and broke out into what the French call a fou rire—a serious case of the giggles. That sister of mine. She’s priceless. And so is this cheap pink flamingo!
Comments
Would you keep the pink flamingo–and “own it” when your French compatriots come to visit, questioning your sense of style? Or would you plant it in your neighbor’s garden, and so introduce the prank to French culture–which seems to have its own version: garden gnomes! Click here to comment.
Not everybody is thrilled with this new arangement. Some are getting their feathers ruffled over it! A pink imposter?
Breizh is not happy with the new setup either, and is remembering a sarcastic French expression: Tout nouveau tout beau (A new broom sweeps clean). Harrumph! Time to chew on an ear of corn, if ever it will grow.
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Who cares who anyone might think? I love the pink flamingo and it gives a special exotic character to your potager. Display it with price because it’s priceless.
Who cares who anyone might think? I love the pink flamingo and it gives a special exotic character to your potager. Display it with price because it’s priceless.
Please learn the difference between “it’s” and “its”! After all, you are a published author.
(which seems to have it’s own version: garden gnomes!)
Please learn the difference between “it’s” and “its”! After all, you are a published author.
(which seems to have it’s own version: garden gnomes!)
My neighbor was given a pink flamago…she didn’t like it but kept it …it is still there…she didn’t understand meaning of it either.
I gave my son & his wife a solar powered owl, symbolic of a live owl that used to perch on pole overlooking their backyard but then stopped coming…was good conversation piece until storm destroyed it…maybe the same thing will happen to your pink flamago! Bonne chance!
My neighbor was given a pink flamago…she didn’t like it but kept it …it is still there…she didn’t understand meaning of it either.
I gave my son & his wife a solar powered owl, symbolic of a live owl that used to perch on pole overlooking their backyard but then stopped coming…was good conversation piece until storm destroyed it…maybe the same thing will happen to your pink flamago! Bonne chance!
Every gift is a treasure.
Every gift is a treasure.
I would keep it happily. It is fun, will start conversations, will remind you of your sister, and will remind others that you are (mostly) a light-hearted, fun-loving person!
I would keep it happily. It is fun, will start conversations, will remind you of your sister, and will remind others that you are (mostly) a light-hearted, fun-loving person!
She could have brought you a whole flock and something bigger, too.
http://boingboing.net/2014/07/25/on-google-campus-a-dinosaur-i.html
She could have brought you a whole flock and something bigger, too.
http://boingboing.net/2014/07/25/on-google-campus-a-dinosaur-i.html
You must keep it. It’s a symbol of care and love from your sister and your daughter. Nuff said!
You must keep it. It’s a symbol of care and love from your sister and your daughter. Nuff said!
I’m with Rachel LeBlanc and all the rest of the keepers. it’s a touch of color, but also a remembrance of your sister. It’s by far “classier” to keep it than to throw it away!
I’m with Rachel LeBlanc and all the rest of the keepers. it’s a touch of color, but also a remembrance of your sister. It’s by far “classier” to keep it than to throw it away!
It’s the sort of thing some French people going to Florida on a winter break would bring back as a souvenir. Make a little pond/bird bath for it with a basin surrounded with moderate size rocks. You could add a goldfish or two for additional fun. (In real life, of course, the bird would make short work of the fish.) Funky. Fun. A garden surprise. Laura
It’s the sort of thing some French people going to Florida on a winter break would bring back as a souvenir. Make a little pond/bird bath for it with a basin surrounded with moderate size rocks. You could add a goldfish or two for additional fun. (In real life, of course, the bird would make short work of the fish.) Funky. Fun. A garden surprise. Laura
In Paris this past May the pink flamingo was the newest craze to decorate the vitrine of the boutique, Antoine et Lili on the canal St.-Martin. They aren’t so cheap. They are more in vogue than you might think. For me they’re a little pink reminder of Florida.
P.S. I got my master’s degree from C.U. Boulder. It’s a great school sitting at the bottom of a fish bowl…unless Jackie’s interests change from “fashion” to another major you have no worries.
In Paris this past May the pink flamingo was the newest craze to decorate the vitrine of the boutique, Antoine et Lili on the canal St.-Martin. They aren’t so cheap. They are more in vogue than you might think. For me they’re a little pink reminder of Florida.
P.S. I got my master’s degree from C.U. Boulder. It’s a great school sitting at the bottom of a fish bowl…unless Jackie’s interests change from “fashion” to another major you have no worries.
CU Boulder is a wonderful school! My parents and my older brother went there, and I graduated from its sister school in Colorado Springs. If that is still where she wants to go in a couple of years, it is definitely a good choice 🙂
CU Boulder is a wonderful school! My parents and my older brother went there, and I graduated from its sister school in Colorado Springs. If that is still where she wants to go in a couple of years, it is definitely a good choice 🙂
Kristin:
The pink flamingo is something to smile about. I actually sent my Colorado sister a garden gnome. We were just out in the Denver area visiting family in June. I can see the attraction to Boulder. We always enjoy our visits. We love the mountains and the cooler temps in the summer. Both my sister and her husband are artists. They have done some lovely watercolors and drawings of the area.
Good luck to Jackie, whatever she decides.
I’m glad she got her luggage back!
Edie from Savannah
Kristin:
The pink flamingo is something to smile about. I actually sent my Colorado sister a garden gnome. We were just out in the Denver area visiting family in June. I can see the attraction to Boulder. We always enjoy our visits. We love the mountains and the cooler temps in the summer. Both my sister and her husband are artists. They have done some lovely watercolors and drawings of the area.
Good luck to Jackie, whatever she decides.
I’m glad she got her luggage back!
Edie from Savannah
I imagine our published author does know the difference between it’s and its, just as I know about those quotation marks. Perhaps a typo or two could be overlooked by the ever-vigilant grammer police. It wouldn’t kill ya! Or maybe it would. Who nose?!
I imagine our published author does know the difference between it’s and its, just as I know about those quotation marks. Perhaps a typo or two could be overlooked by the ever-vigilant grammer police. It wouldn’t kill ya! Or maybe it would. Who nose?!
I would hide it from everyone. I would like to tell you how I wish I could come to the wine-tasting.Please tell us all about it and have a glass for me.
I would hide it from everyone. I would like to tell you how I wish I could come to the wine-tasting.Please tell us all about it and have a glass for me.
I’m too busy being entertained by Kristin’s telling of her thoughts and experiences to pay much attention to typos and such. I agree with your thoughts, Pat. Few people have the gifts which Kristin has.
I’m too busy being entertained by Kristin’s telling of her thoughts and experiences to pay much attention to typos and such. I agree with your thoughts, Pat. Few people have the gifts which Kristin has.
What a fun, unique gift! I think the pink flamingo looks great in your garden.
What a fun, unique gift! I think the pink flamingo looks great in your garden.
Haahahhahaa!!!! Don’t you love silly sisters and daughters!!
(watch out…might pop over and wrap it in loo paper… 🙂 )
Haahahhahaa!!!! Don’t you love silly sisters and daughters!!
(watch out…might pop over and wrap it in loo paper… 🙂 )
Also….your garden looks really beautiful..so much work!
Also….your garden looks really beautiful..so much work!
I have a feeling that you will find the perfect place for it. And that it will be featured again on your marvelous blog.
I have a feeling that you will find the perfect place for it. And that it will be featured again on your marvelous blog.
Bravo, Pat! Well said…and you made me laugh!
Bravo, Pat! Well said…and you made me laugh!
Funny, fun, and a conversation piece…
Funny, fun, and a conversation piece…
I would keep the flamant rose, which looks beautiful with the borage in your garden. Here is Portland, where we eschew snobbery in any form, we love flamants roses and garden gnomes. We have a garden gnome who has slept peacefully in our rockery (probably startling a garter snake occasionally) for 29 years. He is not for passersby…he is for us, as he never fails to bring a chuckle when he reveals himself among the ferns. We don’t have a flamingo, but that is just because I’m not much for acquiring stuff. If someone gave one to me, I’d be delighted…it would look gorgeous in our Pacific rainforest back garden. Please don’t paint yours…a flamingo’s glory is its incredible color!
I would keep the flamant rose, which looks beautiful with the borage in your garden. Here is Portland, where we eschew snobbery in any form, we love flamants roses and garden gnomes. We have a garden gnome who has slept peacefully in our rockery (probably startling a garter snake occasionally) for 29 years. He is not for passersby…he is for us, as he never fails to bring a chuckle when he reveals himself among the ferns. We don’t have a flamingo, but that is just because I’m not much for acquiring stuff. If someone gave one to me, I’d be delighted…it would look gorgeous in our Pacific rainforest back garden. Please don’t paint yours…a flamingo’s glory is its incredible color!
Ooo! I see a lot of people commented. I am impressed with that. I think you should keep it. I think it is a good laugh and a funny story to tell. It also makes a wonderful companion for the duck.
Ooo! I see a lot of people commented. I am impressed with that. I think you should keep it. I think it is a good laugh and a funny story to tell. It also makes a wonderful companion for the duck.
Of course you must keep it. You must embrace the flamingo. I’m sure it is totally unexpected by everyone in your neighborhood (including you) but you should not be afraid of doing the unexpected. It’s fun.
Of course you must keep it. You must embrace the flamingo. I’m sure it is totally unexpected by everyone in your neighborhood (including you) but you should not be afraid of doing the unexpected. It’s fun.
Kristin, those pink flamingos are enjoying a bit of a tongue-in-cheek come-back. They are being used as fund-raisers, jokes and just to bring smiles to faces.
I think anyone who has a pink flamingo in their yard is simply showing they are fun-loving and don’t take themselves overly seriously! My vote . . . keep it, just as it is! It will make you smile and think of your and your sister’s youthful escapades and Jackie’s delight in bringing it back to you every time you see it! I agree with the others . . . it’s just plain fun! 🙂
Kristin, those pink flamingos are enjoying a bit of a tongue-in-cheek come-back. They are being used as fund-raisers, jokes and just to bring smiles to faces.
I think anyone who has a pink flamingo in their yard is simply showing they are fun-loving and don’t take themselves overly seriously! My vote . . . keep it, just as it is! It will make you smile and think of your and your sister’s youthful escapades and Jackie’s delight in bringing it back to you every time you see it! I agree with the others . . . it’s just plain fun! 🙂