Yesterday it was Sunday and it is known, on Sunday nobody works. I rested by doing some tidying and I fell on this old photograph: Summer 1975. I had spent the previous winter in the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Sweden, Norway; Germany, Austria and Switzerland too. I had embarked on the MS Alexandr Pushkin which joined his home port in Russia for the winter and I had land down in Bremerhaven. I had allready read Beaudelaire and I had "Bourlinguer", a book of Cendrars, a real traveller if it is one, at the bottom of my pocket and I was ready to go to the Lapps, neither more nor less than the Inuits, to meet people who have a true winter. Me, who lived under a moderate climate, I wanted to know how those can survive under the Siberian cold. I had just met this wonder of girl which accepted me "tel quel" with all my qualities. We were on Ile-aux-Coudres, in the middle of the St-Lawrence river, we were playing petanque, strolling towards the camera on which I had done all the adjustments. Beaudelaire have said... enivrez-vous ; de vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise, mais enivrez-vous sans cesse! At night we had fallen asleep intoxicated of wind and sun, of wine too! Well! today I am able to say that it is here in Quebec that we have hardest and the longest winter in the world (yes Dave, in Manitoba too) and I say to Beaudelaire that I am drunk with winter. And for this reason I put this photograph to show you that we have also a summer : It is on July 20 of the leap years, in the afternoon.
Marvelous image and story. A la santé de Beaudelaire! My wife is getting better, drunk almost all of the wine this evening. But I had enough beer today after skiing;) She needs it more.
Non Marian! j'en ai eu autant que des hivers et ils ont juste été plus courts et plus chauds; en autant que j'ai du soleil et un chandail ça peut aller...
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{K:68840} 2/28/2006
