Random Things, Part 1

Military jets fly over this area of France fairly often.  Also, when we were in the cemetery in Henri-Chapelle, a military jet flew directly over us, at what seemed like a low altitude.  I always find it strange when you hear something, look up, and the thing is already miles ahead of where you looked.  Also, the roses.  There were literally thousands of roses in several different colors at Henri-Chapelle.  And each color of rose smelled completely different.

I hate the flies here.  Ginette has little dishes all over the place of some weird sugar insecticide product which kills them, and is probably extremely dangerous for us, too.  There is nothing more disgusting than a little plate full of dead flies.  Tessy the dachshund catches them and eats them. 

They are relentless, since the houses don’t have screen windows or doors.  There are some particularly aggressive mosquitoes as well, but fewer of them than at home.  There probably would be even fewer of them if André would dump out the bathtub full of stagnant water in the back yard.

My in-laws have never had smoothies.  André bought Ginette a slightly defective blender at the Emmaüs (the French equivalent of Goodwill) for 9 Euros so I think I’ll try to make some for them before I leave.

My friend Nate noticed that what I had always thought to be a brass flower vase on my in-laws’ fireplace is actually a German artillery shell casing from WWI.  André’s uncle, George Jailliard, carved them for family members and gave them to them after the war.  You can see the initials “GJ” carved on the side, “Somme,” and “1916.”

Hépar is mineral water with lots of magnesium and calcium.  Indispensible for travel.  Amy’s mother calls it “poop water.”  Need I say more?

When I close my yahoo email here, the general yahoo page automatically redirects to yahoo.fr.  The articles come up in French with French gossip and politics.  Johnny Depp is often there.  The same happens in Flanders in Dutch with a redirect to yahoo.be.  Same in Spain.  I didn’t try it in Wallonia, but I wonder.  Sometimes the language in Blogger changes, sometimes it stays the same.

Grocery bags are one of my favorite souvenirs.  Not only are they usually made from recycled materials, can be re-used endlessly, have some catchy advertising and nice graphics, but they also pack very easily to come home.  My newest one comes from a grocery store in Leuven.

There are enough fruit trees and vegetables in my in-laws’ back yard to support a family of 10.  Apples, three kinds of plums, pears, quince, two kinds of peaches, currants, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, sweet cherries, tart cherries; potatoes, artichokes, lettuce, mâche, green beans, rhubarb, tomatoes, peas, carrots…..and I’m quite sure I left out a few things.  And yet, not much but berries, cherries, and lettuce is ready this time of year.  The growing season is short and intense; we are still eating canned goods from last year.  Maybe I should have come in September.

Prices go up extremely quickly during the vacation months of July and August: tomatoes were  1.80 a kilo a couple of weeks ago; today they’re at  2.80 a kilo.  Same for gas and diesel.  Same for everything, except clothes, which are on sale.  Strange country.