Ourselves

Autumn has been slow to arrive here in the Dordogne. It's well into October and we are still enjoying sunny days and temperatures in the 80’s. As summer seemed to go on forever, so too did the literally hundreds of local festivals in our area. And even now some festivals still diesel along with these fine warm days. 


The early morning autumn air is crisp. But there is something missing in the mid-day air.  Gone are the bubbling sounds of foreign accents-- Dutch, German, American, and crisp Parisian accents (Parisians are considered foreigners down here.). The last festival -- for pumpkins-- is still ahead of us. But there are no more the town wide yard sales with hundreds of sellers and miles of walking, gawking and occasional shopping. Gone are the elbow pushing mornings at the weekly markets.  No more can we slip ourselves into someone else's vacation video.

With this seasonal quiet time we are all more playful, more laid back, and are able to linger and visit. The now-occasional weekend events have become more quaint. They are put on more for the locals than the tourists. One event is to raise money for an old dog's retirement home. Another proudly touts the advantages of ecologically-minded farming. A third is a festival of recycling and re-using household trash (Tom calls this the "Fete de Garbarge")

It's fun to see children engaged in the activities and hear the sing-song country French of our neighbors. 

The hustle bustle of summer was grand but how wonderful to just be with ourselves for a while.