This and That

Today was a mythical day…perfect temperatures, a light breeze…for doing errands around Geneva: insurance, library books, buying new lingerie at H&M at 70% off, walking along the lake, having a hot chocolate Café Auer, dropping a book off for Dennis, etc. Walking along the lakeside, tents are going up for the fête. The water smelled fresh as it raced by.

Fête de Genève…starts tonight. I bet if I walk out my door and look at the lake I will have a great view of the fireworks.

Music camp…coming back from Paris on the TGV train I sat with a group of kids 9-16 going to a holiday camp where they would learn English and Math while doing camp-like things. I sat with two of the teachers. One is a young woman who wants to open a special cultural guided tour business starting with the 100 anniversary celebrations of Cezanne’s birthday in Aix next year. The other was from Uruguay, had lived in the US and was now a Paris art student. Amazingly how fast three hours go when talking with intelligent people. Only once did any of the teachers have to calm the 25 kids on the train.

Terrorist warnings…Last month one group gave us a warning that Denmark, Italy, the UK and Holland would be hit if they didn’t withdraw their troops by August 15th. Today another group warned the US that something big and bad was coming. It will come. There is a feeling that our leaders are doing exactly the wrong things for the wrong reasons. I just hope those I love will not be among the victims. Sadly, everything I predicted would happen in Iraq has happened. To be wrong at times is better than to be right. The fear of things to come hangs heavily.

Cartoon of Uncle Sam with bombs strapped to his body. Each is labelled fossil fuels. The caption is suicide bomber.

New idea…there was an advert in the paper for a flat that I could afford both the down payment and the monthly payment. The flat was huge and the result of a bankruptcy. Although the agent didn’t call me back, it got me thinking that I might be able to buy a studio in Geneva, rent it out part of the year and live in it the rest. Certainly worth looking into after the summer. If it is meant to work, it will. As my daughter said she wouldn’t mind inheriting property in Geneva.

Scare…When Susie and Bill visited Llara there was a mixup on pick ups and S&B were convinced something happened to her. Although it was cleared up Susan wasn’t sure which would be the worse – the pain of losing Llara or having to tell me. Fortunately it was a mixup. When Llara was a kid the only time I was really worried was when there was a misunderstanding of where she was going to be at a certain time. The panic is unbelievable. May all the scares be only misunderstandings.

Lunch...Chitra and I ate at Sagano, a Japanese restaurant we both love. There is a feeling of sneaking away for nice girl talk. She was the one who directed me to the advantages of a Geneva studio as a possible purchase. One of the wonderful thing about friends is throwing ideas around. It stretches the possibilities, dreams shared, examined, etc.