L'aura del Campo

Chartreuse thoughts on my mother's birthday.

SPRING: 10 Jamál (7 May)

          CHARTREUSE          

Weather where I am: 59º and chilly.

Weather in Jeannette, PA: 64º.

Weather in Osaka, Japan: 72º at 7:30 a.m.

My mother's birthday

Today is my mother's birthday. She was born in 1922 in SW Pennsylvania and grew up in Jeannette and Penn until she moved to Buffalo and met my father. She is 1,008 months old.

When I think of my mother, I sometimes remember the kitchen we 'lived' in when I was a child. Some families are living room, sitting room, rec room, deck people. We were kitchen people. And front porch people.

The kitchen walls were chartreuse. So, it isn't odd that thát was one of the first colors I learned. The tile was a light grey and the sink and cabinets were white enamel. So 50s! I've written a poem about that image from my childhood. Can I find it? Nope.

Chartreuse is French in origen, a yellow-green named after the liquor. It entered English around 1865. If you don't know the color click on the following link. Your screen will scream with chartreuse!

http://users.rcn.com/giant.interport/COLOR/CHARTREU.html

Chartreuse

1.) The Chartreuse Mountains north of Grenoble, France.
2.) The Grande Chartreuse, a Carthusian monastery in the Chartreuse mountains.
3.) Chartreuse, a brand of liqueur produced in the Chartreuse monastery.
4.) Chartreuse, the greenish color of the Chartreuse liqueur.
5.) The Girl from the Chartreuse is a book by Pierre Péju and also the title of the adapted film by Jean-Pierre Denis.

Ou est Chartreuse? En français:

52 communes entre les départements de l'Isère et de la Savoie, ses plaines, ses collines et ses moyennes montagnes font du Parc Naturel Régional de Chartreuse, un territoire d'exception à seulement quelques kilomètres des ... des villes de Grenoble, Chambéry et Voiron.

6.) Chartreuse is a color you will notice in the movie "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Bright pastels are a major component of the visual artistry of this 1964. movie that won an Oscar for its music.

Two reviews. The first has stills of some memorable scenes, including one in chartreuse.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/Reviews/umbrellas_of_cherbourg.htm
http://users.rcn.com/giant.interport/COLOR/CHARTREU.html

Must have strained my back a bit last night. Around midnight, I was crawling to the toilet, just to grab something to help me stand up. Bothered me all night, but this morning, it was a bit better. Managed to get to Henry's, to the store and up the hill. Still stiff if I stay in one position too long.

Unfortunately, the store had these miniature Hersey Chocolates for Nut Lovers: almonds, peanuts, cashews, pecans. And I love cashews! I must say, though, that the white chocolate with pecans was a pleasant surprize.

SENSED

Baby squirrel, baby rabbit; grafitti; red warning tag; lilac hedge with last blooms; Corona Extra bottle; my car, still sitting as before; smell of irises; the smell of kentucky coffeebean tree; orange poppies, orange lilies, violet dame's rockets, blue bachelor buttons at the corner of 14th and RI; green, red and white canopies; chocolate!

Art in the Park was today. I looked at the food prices ... and moved on. Could've stayed. Should've? Nah ... can't afford to buy anything and there is no poetry at an event like this.

My car was okay when I checked it. Forgot to look for dings from the hailstorm two weeks ago, but mustn't have too many or I would have! I've imagined it in green velveteen after I saw a velvet cadillac yesterday. Must get air in the one flat tire and move it before the end of the month. I mention it here to remind me! Meet with Jeannette on Tuesday and one item on the agenda will be considering a move to Emporia.

Did see one of the 'Art Cars' I saw in the parade yesterday ... the one with designs made from bottlecaps. Totally awesome !

Students had their day today at the camponile. Saw Hatsumi and Hina. Didn't stay long. Cold chilly day for May. Weather has been a rollercoaster since January.

Speaking of weather ... Nice this morning and all week long in Osaka. I was talking with a History student from Japan this morning. He's doing a paper on the Japanese period of control of Taiwan (1895-1945); he's using memoirs. We talked about a lot of things. He'd like to do a paper on U.S. - Japanese relations. I mentioned the period of occupation (1945-1952) but focusing on the countryside of Shikoku, the smallest of the four main islands. It was not connected to Honshu until the 1980s and had less U.S. presence (less military importance) than the others. One could research how historically it had less foreign influence and could hypothesize that it was more conservative. It definately wasn't Osaka or Tokyo and has an agricultural, aquacultural based economy. The problem, of course, would be finding the material. But memoirs would be a good starting point!

Sketched May 2nd while thinking of a friend, but it could be anyone.

Below the hill

There's a hill that overlooks this town.
A hill that overlooks her grief.
She cannot calm her disbelief.
She cannot climb it.

She sees these scenes in sepia,
seethes when seen in tears.
She cannot hide her heart or eyes.
She hides forbidden fears.

Above her town there blooms this hill.
Above her looms this hill.
Below she wallows in her grief,
shadowed by it still. [163.89]