“I don’t care if I am an artist or not, what worries me is writing good stories. Besides, when I start taking myself for an artist – which can happen to me in a moment of madness – I start to write any which way and I have to throw everything in the trash the next day. I am a craftsman, not an artist.” -Harlan Coben.
Today’s Word: la poubelle
: trash can, garbage can, bin
Sound file: hear Jean-Marc read the following French:
Je me fiche d’être ou non un artiste, ce qui me préoccupe, c’est d’écrire de bonnes histoires. D’ailleurs, quand je commence à me prendre pour un artiste – ce qui peut m’arriver dans un moment d’égarement -, je me mets à écrire n’importe comment et il faut tout jeter à la poubelle le lendemain. Je suis un artisan, pas un artiste. -Harlan Coben
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
“How God handles the competition: A funny message from The Almighty”
When I saw Mom heading to her butterfly chair, our golden retriever Smokey trailing behind her, I hurried outside to catch up with the colorful duo. They were headed over to the pepper tree, which also shades our little pond. Mom wore her purple muumuu–what a find at the friperie!–and Smokey sported a feathery train: a wake of turtledoves dragging along behind him, as jittery as a bride.
“Mom,” I said, hurrying over. “The latest episode of Charles Stanley was great! It’s on listening to God.”
As Mom tossed pockets full of seeds to her precious birds, I briefed her on the various ways to hear the Almighty, Le Tout Puissant (through His Word, through circumstances, through prayer, through people…) then shared highlights from the half-hour sermon, including the pastor’s recipe for prayer, as he suggested here:
“Don’t start by asking for everything you want. Start by listening. Say this simple prayer:
Heavenly Father, I need to listen to you….I’m gonna be quiet and I just want you to speak to my heart, and help me to listen carefully so that I can do exactly what you want me to do.”
“Mom! I got down on my knees and began to listen. I tuned in, straining to hear any words at all from Above. I heard a lot of distracting thoughts but began to visualize my soul as a boat, a craft moving towards the Message on the horizon. I began to see any distracting thoughts as flotsam.
“Do you know what flotsam is?” Mom interrupted.
Of course I knew what flotsam was! Was this not MY visualization?
Mom proceeded to point out the pepper blossoms floating on the surface of the pond beside us: “Flotsam!” Mom shared.
I nodded patiently, eager to get on with my story. “So Mom, listen. I knelt there like that in silent prayer, wading through the flotsam, heading toward the Almighty on the horizon, the closer I got the more I could hear the message–until it was loud and clear! Do you want to know what I heard?”
“Yes. Tell me!” Mom was on the edge of her papillon chair.
“LISTEN TO YOUR MOM.”
Mom lit up. “Really?” she said, emptying the birdseed from her purple muumuu pockets in order to give me her undivided attention. As the turtle doves and Smokey settled at our feet, some eating, others sleeping, I told Jules the rest of the story, as I am telling it to you now, dear reader….
“Mom, after I heard the message, I headed downstairs to make your favorite cake. Passing by the end table, I noticed a carte de visite. A pink business card. It read masseur kinésithérapeute.”
My brain imputed the data: Calling card…masseuse….
I knew better than to get all paranoid. After all, it wasn’t as if this was a massage therapist. It looks like she’s a kind of physical therapist, I reassured myself. She’s working on Jean-Marc’s injured knee. Still, I kept noticing the pretty pink paper, the elegant typography, her English (??) name, and my thoughts (Why the need for a card when there’s internet?). Internet… Suddenly I was tempted to google her.
This suspicious circumstance was interrupted by a message from The Above:
“DON’T GOOGLE HER!”
Just as I stood wondering if this was truly Providence guiding me (the pastor said God speaks through scripture, prayer, and circumstances…), The Almighty radioed in again, this time with instructions!:
“THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE!”
Jette-le dans la poubelle? This felt sort of wrong. Who am I to destroy my husband’s papers? Besides, what if he asks about the card’s whereabouts? (Would he? Would he dare!)
I soldiered on past the card, only to hurry back and pick it up again, and there I heard Le Tout Puissant once more:
“THROW IT IN THE GARBAGE!”
I paused a brief moment when another thought, this time my own, surfaced: Who am I not to listen to the Almighty? And without the slightest feeling of guilt or wrongdoing, I chucked it! Je l’ai balancé! How easy it is to eliminate the competition (real or imagined…) when you listen to Le Tout Puissant, God Almighty!
***
Post note: After I finished sharing the story with Mom, who was now laughing, and I along with her, I heard a final command:
“Write that story!” It was Mom guiding me this time. And I listened to her!
I hope my husband has as much fun reading today’s post as I had writing it 😉 Happy 26th anniversary to us tomorrow, July 4th.Photo taken on our wedding day, July 4, 1994. Our church ceremony (photo here) was two months later, in September.
FRENCH VOCABULARY
la friperie = thrift store
la carte de visite = business card, calling card
masseur kinésithérapeute = physiotherapist
je l’ai balancé = I chucked it, tossed it
la poubelle = garbage can
cheri = dear
Irises (gone to seed), bougainvillea, and sunflowers in our garden. Thank you for reading and have a lovely weekend!
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your wonderful postings so full of bonhomie and beautiful pictures are so uplifting for me. Thank you as always.
Well, I am going to want to know forever who that pink-card-pressure-point-professional (?) IS!! Shows how pious I am, right? Maybe I’ll fish it out of the poubelle.
Or maybe your maman already has, haha.
And if there isn’t a little jealousy in a long marriage, well….
Bonjour Kristin,
Votre façon d’écrire au sujet de la vie quotidienne est vraiment émouvante! Quoique je lis tous vos posts, ainsi que les beaux commentaires, voici la premiere fois à répondre. Pour moi, celui-ci a été le plus amusante et important. Merci
Hi Kristi! Today’s piece is great- and a areal blessing to read and share with my wife. (I’m more keen to sharpen up my French than she is) Thank you for passing the ‘bouder’ advice down the generations.
Keep it up!
Chris Papworth.
Loved this story — every message in it. And I laughed, too. Merci, Krist!
Happy Anniversary! It is also my 87th birthday and I don’t feel a day over 60! Only my back and knees feel 87! Love your blog and your books. Keep writing!
“… if I am an artist or not.” I would have translated to French do differently! Arg. I still have a long way to go with this language. Great and enjoyable post! Thank you!
Happy Anniversary! Poubelle sounds so pretty when you say it. Who knew lol.
Happy birthday, Geraldine! Celebrating with you!🎈♥️😘
I thought Jules was going to say “God is in the flotsam”!
Great story. Great voices!
Bon weekend!♥️
Happyhappyhappy Anniversary to both of you! Keep listening!!!
… of course you know the old adage…..’mother knows best’! Happy Anniversary and have a bon weekend, as well. We will be celebrating our Fourth of July by having an indoor picnic, as the temp is going to be 94F! with tons of humidity! Cheers , from the USA! Judi Dunn
Wonderful story!
Joyeuse anniversaire! Nous aimons aussi Charles Stanley!
For various reasons, the morning hasn’t gone well. I was in a lousy mood, wondering how I could feel better. The answer was in my Inbox – an issue of FWAD! The message and pictures, especially the flowers at the end, definitely made me feel better.
Happy anniversary, Krisin and Jean-Marc, and many more!
Happy Fourth to all!
Sorry -Kristin and Jean-Marc
Wonderful story!! Love your garden! I, too, like one of your other readers wonder if Jean-Marc ever asked about that business card! Hey, maybe it was Max’s card!
Happy Anniversary. -love the photo of you two!!
Our dear Kristi,
Joyeux Anniversaire,mes cheres Kristi et Jean Marc!!
May God bless you with many more filled with health and happiness.
You truly are an inspiration to us all.
And as always,your beautiful words wrap us in hugs.
Love
Natalia. xo
Salut Kristi,
Je te remercie pour l’histoire bien amusante et réfléchie. Joyeux Anniversaire aux jeunes mariés! 😉
Debbie
Chère Kristin,
Always a pleasant reading… I can always visualize vividly your stories! You made me laugh, smile..
Happy anniversary !! You both are beautiful people !
May you have many more adventures in your journey through life!!!😘❤️😘
Joyeux anniversaire!
I thought you were going to say that God said to listen to the voices of Black women. But I guess that is our God speaking in America. Maybe God has different instructions in different countries. Thanks Kristin for your always wonderful, honest writing.
Joyeux anniversaire! This is a lovely post. Your writing gets better & better! Your mom’s flotsam comments gave me a good laugh!
Happy Anniversary. Wishing you many more years together. And thank you for your wonderful stories.
Kristi..Wonderful..both stories, the one from today and the one from your wedding day. Both beautiful photos of such beautiful people. I feel very happy to have met you and would love to think we might meet again one day…but nevertheless I am blessed. Best wishes on your Anniversary and Congratulations for working at your marriage. This, I fear, too many people do not do. You have made it a success and that is the reason for the sincere congratulations! Love to you from Arizona…
I once had the pleasure of staying
in an apartment in Nice. The one week stay
was a prize that my sister-in-law won in a raffle.
We were wondering when the garbage was
to be collected. When I asked a neighbor,
I suddenly realized that I did not know
the French word for “garbage.”
Much mumbling and miming ensued,
until the neighbor brightened and
said, “Ahh…la poubelle!”
Such a pretty word for garbage.
Mon “tutor” toujours me dit “practiquez, practiquez, practiquez!” C’est un but pour toute ma vie, c’est la verité!
Hi Kristi,
Have a wonderful anniversary! I loved your story!
I remember when we first moved to Brussels and I didn’t know too many French words yet and I would take the metro from our little town on the outskirts of the city to the stop for the American Embassy where I was taking French and Dutch lessons on different days. We were supposed to keep our ticket until we exited the metro station and I went ahead and threw mine away. Right at the top of the stairs was a metro policeman and he asked me in French where my ticket was and I said, “dans la poubelle” … he just laughed and said in English, “you must keep” hahaha….
Bon weekend!
Bon anniversaire, Kristin!
Je n’ai jamais lu une de tes histoires qui soit si comique et si tendre à la fois. Félicitations 🎉, vous avez trouver votre voix authentique!
Congratulations! Some of us had trouble being married 10y – much less 26!
Remy (Boston and Paris).
Now that was a message that has my full approval, even though I am not Christian, but a follower of Vedanta. Well done!
Aussi, bonne anniversaire de marriage!
Congratulations, Kristi and Jean-Marc!
Kristi, your story reminds me of a book I read recently, You’re Not Listening, by Kate Murphy. It highlighted to me just how much work I have to do to become a better listener, not only out of respect for others but also out of respect for myself. When we can be still and learn to listen to the world around us, we start to understand it so much better. I believe that this also applies to messages from something greater than us.
Hello Kristin
Should like to know more about mother’s purple mumu please? where she bought it?
Is it cotton?
like her style, and things she wore from Mexico….FI’m very senior, nerly 93.
long ago National newspaper girl! Uk. With Kind Regards to you all….and Thanks.
So uplifting and such a fun story with a wonderful message! So needed and appreciated today!
Happy Anniversary to a very special couple!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi Sylvia, Mom found it at the second-hand store here in St Cyr-sur-Mer. It is cotton, sleeveless, and falls below the knee. Its wonderful for summertime. I hope you can find something similar. 🌞
Nobody seems to have asked the obvious linguistic question: the last time I looked, a “masseur” was a man (pink paper aside), the feminine form being “masseuse”. Are these separate feminine forms being dropped in French? If so, what does the Académie think about that?
And happy anniversary, Kristin & Jean-Marc! But Margie and I have you beaten; we just celebrated our fiftieth.
I love the way words sound and look, like the fact that the word jouaient has five vowels in a row (and all five!). “Poubelle” has always sounded silly to me. In English the word “blimp” also sounds silly. They’re not bad words, just fun words that sound silly.
Bon anniversaire de mariage!!!!
Happy Anniversary. You should not worry. You are a beautiful person inside and out, so JM has nowhere to look but at you. 😊
Peace,
Kathleen
Superbe, Kristi! Comme un soufflé parfait — délicat et délicieux — pour égayer le cœur. Loved every moment of it, easily running like an exquisite film in my mind … Bon Anniversaire de Mariage à vous deux! (xxoo from Canada)
Good question, Larry! It would now seem that the person behind the pink card is male…but it turns out *masseur* (like avocat, écrivain) are used by both sexes. I could write: Je suis une écrivaine. It is also correct to say (as a female): je suis un écrivain.
Meilleur vœux de l’Afrique du Sud!
Bon Anniversaire de mariage Kristi et Jean-Marc! Merci encore pour l’histoire. Comme d’habitude, c’est plein d’humour et leçons de la vie.
I heard Him all the way in Brunswick, Georgia, U.S.A. He said, “Joyeux anniversaire, Kristin et Jean-Marc!”
I enjoy your writing so much, and wish all of you God’s blessings!
Ahhh…if we would all only take time to “be still and listen to God”…what a better world this would be today and everyday. Thank you for sharing this important reminder, and as always, thank you for sharing your life and words. Blessings to you and Jean-Marc on your wedding anniversary!
Beautiful prayer, Kristi!! And God bless you and Jean-Marc in every way!, And your Mom and children, too!
C-Marie
Thank you, Cerelle. Your note, especially about marriage, means a lot. I hope to make it make to Arizona before long. It would be a great pleasure to see you again.
Dear Kristi,
I am just now reading this post on Monday, July 6th. Hope your anniversary weekend was wonderful! What a fine writer you are! I am now going to begin thinking of the being we refer to as God as the Le Tout Puissant! And I am going to try to listen! I also read the piece about pouting–brilliant! Thank you, thank you for sharing your life and life lessons with your readers.
Katy in Florida
PS: I have always adored the word poubelle since learning it one summer in the late nineties/early 2000s, when we lived with students in an international student hotel in the 14th of Paris. Lovely word for a garbage can!
Correct. In French, gender follows the profession, not the individual. In my daughter’s restaurant in Savoie, she is the “chef,” not the “chefin”…