Saturday, February 27, 2016

Artnotes: Lunch on Sunday

 First Cherry Blossoms   Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/wood   16 x 24"  40 x 60cm
 Branch with yellow Blossoms   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood  16 x 12"  40 x 30cm
 
Violettas  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood    8 x 16"  20 x 40cm
 Deep purple primrose   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood  16 x 8"  40 x 20cm
Potted Plants   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/wood  8 x 16"  20 x 40cm


Lunch on Sunday

In our backyard on Sunday , a guest recited Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To his Coy Mistress”,  in the period pronunciation in which it was written.  He spoke to illustrate the point of how language changes over time, and that can be suggested by the rhyming of poems.   In the back yard in the sunshine, it was a perfect digestif.    It seemed most timely to me as France is about to eliminate the circumflex, the little hat which sits above certain French letters to insure their clear pronunciation.  What will future generations think when they see that?    I was touched by this guest’s giving of himself to all of us, and was speechless with joy.

Another guest, a nurse, listened to my never ending lament about how we can’t go to the doctor here.  It has been a real catch-22:  we have private medical benefits, but only a few doctors, in the city, an hour away, have the mechanism to accept payment for services.  The doctor in our town will not see us because we don’t have a health card.  The next day, S, the nurse from the party, got in contact with us and researched a way we might get our card.  Sure enough, on Monday, 22 February, we got a health card, and were assigned a doctor in Monteombrara, just a couple miles from here.   This came at just the right moment, when we were due to pay 9,600.00 USDollars for another year of (rather useless) medical cover.

Immediately, I found a way to use part of that savings:  primroses.  As an English friend, an occasional sunday guest, says, “Miani is a proper garden shop!”  It has the most wonderful potted flowers, and trees, and tubs, and bulbs – I feel as happy there as I did in Monet’s garden!   I got out my paints at once.

I went to the doctor this week, seeing as I could.  He spoke English and asked, “who will the candidates be in the next US election?”  We each told him what we thought, and he said, “I always wanted to go to America, you were the greatest nation.”    He is from Nigeria, educated in Italian and French medical schools, had a practice in England, and now works just 5 kilometers from our house.  He made me wax pensively over the USA and this ugly, disturbing presidential race.  So many of my values:  education, loving my neighbor, fairness, are being challenged.

I reflect on what I can do (VOTE!).  Keep on with my own convictions and encourage others.   Meanwhile, in our little country here in the Apennines we welcome all nationalities for lunch on Sunday.   

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