Birthday celebrations I believe are very important at all ages and meant to be celebrated, but why?
The history of birthday celebrations dates back (or so they believe) to the period when humans began to tell time and could count that a year had passed. The story goes that men, women, and children surrounded themselves with friends, food, and noisemakers to ward off evil spirits around the time of their birthday. Having a party and being noisy protected them from anything bad that would come into our lives. Today we may not believe we are warding off evil spirits, but indeed we are bringing the opposite- joy- into our day. 
That brings me back to the point that why do we reserve one day a year to treat ourselves special, why not have the intention of celebrating our life everyday. In turn, we can do the same for others with a simple wish of a great day, a song, a lighting of the candles, and especially treating ourselves and others with kindness.
Today is my daughter’s 10th birthday. She woke up early, climbed into bed and had a huge grin on her face in the dark shadows of the early morning light. “I’m so happy?” She said. “It’s my special day.”
The Answer to Closet Clutter
There are a variety of things Americans have learned from the French, but when it comes to closets, it is not one of them. For the past two years, Jean, Zoe-Pascale, and I have lived in a ancient Maison de Village in a small country village. Our goal was not specifically to simplify, but to live a different life that would provide balance unknown to most professional dual career couples. Simplification however comes in many forms and learning what the French have to teach us is what we were after.
French homes, many of which are hundreds of years old all have one thing in common, no closets. They just aren’t built. Gorgeous wooden armoires, tall as the ceilings, new modern creations, and cupboards are used, but not closets.
Moving into our home for year round living we had to figure out some method to handle all of the clothes, books, and work supplies we had mailed from California. We didn’t want to invest in furniture, but instead pulled upon our college day resources and nailed heavy duty antique hooks on the wall and purchased old coat racks with character for hanging clothes. This worked fine until all of our winter clothes arrived by post in large boxes. Figuring out where to put the additional clothes was one problem, but the fact that they were winter clothes, heavier, thicker, and bulkier posed another.
With no closets there is just only so much room. Trying to stuff old jeans and winter coats into the back of a closet was not a possibility, there was no closet. Hanging them on the coat racks and hooks just wouldn’t do; the weight was more than they could take – thus the reason closets were built. However, here we were and we had to figure out what to do before the hat racks tipped over and the hooks came out of the wall.
Last Sunday we were invited to the Till Family's Grand Mas for a won
derful lunch and house warming. After five years searching for the perfect house they found it. Just on the edge of St. Quentin surrounded by one hectare of garden, fruit trees, grassy knolls and play areas sits a thousand year old farmhouse built with thick stone walls. Once an old farmhouse converted into a gite they are turning it back into a grand old family home adding a swimming pool and large living room with an old stone fireplace. By next year the house should be in Maison de Provence. In driving into their traditional French stone driveway you knew you were in for a treat. Luncheon tables were set up among the fruit trees or under a canopy set out on the lawn. A trampoline, a badminton court and soccer nets were placed around the garden for the kids as well as lots of jumping in the old stone pool.
I had an epiphany today driving from our village of 2000 people in St. Quentin la-Poterie to Uzes a village of 8,000 people 5 kilometers away through the countryside to the larger town of Nimes 30 kiliometers away with a population of 60,000. I realized that if I never went to Nimes or outside of the Uzege region (about the size of Marin country) I would be able to drive without ever stopping at a red light. The reason I realized is that there are no stoplights in this entire area. In 14 summers and over a year living her this is the first time I noticed this. No stoplights. The reason I even noticed it was because I was driving alone and had to stop at a red light. Wow a red light I thought. I haven't seen one of these in a long time.
Instead France and especially in the country roundabouts are loved. Those beautiful circles that are planted with various landscape designs, fountains, vineyards (yes on a roundabout) gardens and trees. The French being a very civilized society knows how to weave their cars through the double lanes, pass a car on the left and cut over just in the nick of time to the cut off to the road on their right. Cars entering the roundabout yield to those already in the circle (first come firt serve) and somehow they all move together.
In driving through these roundabouts I’m amazed at the feeling of flow. There are no abrupt stops where you wait forever for the light to turn green or in the worse cases for the left hand turn lane to go, then the right hand turn lane, then the opposite turn lane, and ten minutes later you get to go. I could have finished the New York Times crossword puzzle in the amount of time I waited.
Now roundabouts have their challenges also, especially if you don’t know which direction to take. More marriages have been lost in a roundabout when the wife is reading the map and the husband is yelling “Which way do I go.” The solution is simple however; keep going around until your wife figures it out. Sometimes it’s one time around, sometimes two and our all time record was four times around.