07:00 Jeg får
en overraskende mail fra blogger.com . En franskmand kommenterede i går aftes det,
jeg for 6 år siden skrev i min franksprogede blog. Den 26. februar 2011 skrev
jeg en analyse af en fransk novelle, der hed ” Cet
homme et cette femme” (denne mand og denne kvinde) af Anna Gavalda, i hendes
bog, der hed ”Je
voudrais que quelqu’un m’attende quelque part ” (Jeg ønsker, at nogen venter på mig nogle steder”) (flot titel, Anna!).
Jeg kan stadig huske denne rørende novelle, om et
fransk ægtepar, der er tvunget til at dele hinandens selskab på en lang biltur
sydpå til deres sommerhus. Ægteskabet er dødt, men parret bliver sammen af
finansielle grunde.
Franskmanden,
der commenterede, sagde kun, at ”denne analyse er superb”. Tak skal du have,
franskmand – og hil dig! Du holdt os ud af krigen!
Jeg skrev min
fransksprogede blog nu og da mellem 2008 og 20011. Jeg var dengang medlem af
Hazels U3A franske bogklub og Anna Gavaldas bog var vores gruppes nuværende
projekt i februar 2011.
Ingen har
nogensinde kommenteret min franske blog før. Hvorfor skulle man?!!!! Men jeg
føler mig lidt smigret – det kan jeg ikke nægte.
Det er lidt af
et sammenfald, men min 91-årige mor døde faktisk nøjagtig 7 dage efter jeg analyserede
Annas franske novelle i min blog.
Annas
bog: en franskmand har commenteret min analyse
6
år efter jeg skrev den i min fransksprogede blog
Anna:
er hun ikke bare verdens mest pragtfulde forfatterinde?
10:45 Jeg går
ud i haven og klipper den græsplæne, der ligger foran huset, og omkring det område,
hvor den roterende tørrestativ står, for det tilfælde, at Lois beslutter at
hænge vasketøj der senere på dagen.
11:15 Lois og
jeg taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah,
vores datter i Perth, Australien, og også med hendes 4-årige tvillinger, Lily
og Jessica.
Vi er lidt
bekymret over Sarahs og hendes families situation: deres liv er meget
stressende for tiden. Sarahs mand,
Francis, har fået at vide, at han har knuder i skjoldbruskkirtel og må få en biopsi
– der skal foregå på onsdag. De fleste af sådanne knuder er godartede, men
selvfølgelig føler han sig meget stresset for tiden.
Sarahs job er
også stressende – hendes chef (selskabets ejer) er en vanskelig person,
egensindig og temperamentsfuld. Hun har nu arbejdet der i over et år og hun
overvejer at søge et nyt job. Dette har været hendes første permanent job,
siden familien flyttede til Australien i december 2015. I begyndelsen var hun
en britisk revisor uden lokal erfaring, men dette er ikke sandt mere. Hun
synes, hun kunne nu få et bedre job med højere løn.
Familien vil gerne
flytte til et pænere nabolag med pænere skoler. Tvillingerne kan starte børnehave
i februar, som deltidelever – det vil den australske regering betale for.
Lois og jeg
føler, at Sarah skal bære en masse problemer på sine skuldrer – hun er
familiens forsørger, med et meget stressende job, og må passe på tvillingerne, når hun er
derhjemme, om aftenen og i weekenden. Stakkels
Sarah!
Vi føler vi
desværre ikke kan hjælpe hende ret meget, fordi hun bor så langt væk hjemmefra.
Men vi mener, at vi kan hjælpe lidt med at lytte til hendes problemer. Eller
det håber vi på i hvert fald.
Sarahs
tvillinger, Lily og Jessie, er så søde – de elsker at snakke med os. De siger
altid først ”Granny and Poppa?” og venter på, at vi svarer ”Yes?”, før de
fortæller os, at de eksempelvis har en dejlig halskæde på, eller ligende. De er
meget til børnesmykke for tiden. Vi savner dem så meget – hulk hulk!!!!
twins:
Lily og Jessica, vores 4-årige børnebørn i Australien
12:15 Vi
spiser frokost og bagefter skal Lois ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i en
gudstjeneste, der finder sted i dag i byen Tewkesbury. Hendes veninde, Fran,
kører forbi og henter hende.
Jeg har lidt
alenetid for første gang i to uger. Jeg læser de første 50 vers af ”Hávamál”, et oldnordisk digt, fordi Scillas U3A
oldnordiske gruppe holder sit næste møde på onsdag i byens bibliotek.
Digtet starter med et meget godt råd – når du
træder ind i en stue, vær lidt forsigtig, fordi du ved ikke, hvilke stole dine
fjender sidder på. Det må jeg prøve at huske. Minx, katten, som vores datter
Alison efterlod hos os, da hendes familie for 5 år siden flyttede til
København, overholder altid denne regel – når hun træder ind i stuen, smutter
hun først bag sofaen, så hun kan bruge et stykke tid på at afveje, præcis hvor
de bedste skød er, så hun kan hoppe op med tillid.
Senere læser jeg lidt om Odin, de mest fremtrædende gud i den traditionelle nordiske
religion. Han bliver ofte
sammenlignet med Jupiter eller Zeus i den klassiske græske-romerske religion,
men jeg har på fornemmelse, at Odin havde mere svært ved at forføre kvinder,
end både Jupiter og Zeus.
I ”Hávamál”, læser jeg eksempelvis om Odins forsøg på
at forføre Billingrs datter – han ser et glimt af hende først, da hun ligger
inde i sengen, og han bliver tiltrækket i sær af hendes hvide hudfarve – han beslutter
at komme tilbage lidt senere og have sex med hende, men desværre finder Odin en
masse dumme krigere i huset, viftende deres brændende fakler på kryds og tværs.
Odin kommer tilbage mod morgen, da krigerne
sover, men finder at Billingrs datter har lænket en ubehagelig, aggressiv hund
til sengen. Hunden gører højt, da Odin smutter ind i værelset, og kvinden
trækker forhænget søvnligt til side, for at se, hvad der sker, men jeg
formoder på grund af hendes kropssprog, at hun ikke har lyst til at tage sit såkaldte ”forhold” med Odin til
det næste niveau. Stakkels Odin!!!!
Odin træder ind mod morgen i værelset, hvor Billingrs datter sover,
men desværre har
hun lænket sin ubehagelige hund til sengen.
Stakkels Odin!!!!
14:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven
og klipper resten af vores græsplæner. Jeg skruer plæneklippens højdekontrol op
til ”nr 6” (der giver den korteste klipning) – mere motion for mig, og måske jeg
vil kunne slippe af sted med ikke at klippe græsset igen før vinteren – selvom jeg
synes, jeg bedrager mig selv der – pokkers!
16:00 Lois kommer tilbage
fra kirken. Fran, hendes veninde, sætter hende af foran huset. Hun er meget
træt – de andre kirkemedlemmer ville naturligvis alle snakke med hende om sin
nylige øjenoperation. Vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad
og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet, men jeg er begyndt at blive forkølet –
jeg har ondt i halsen. Og Lois er meget meget træt på grund af sin eftermiddag
i kirken, sin første sociale begivenhed siden sin øjenoperation, da der var en
masse snik-snak.
Vi ser et par
dokumentumfilm, men vi døser indimellem og går glip af programmernes mest
afgørende sekvenser – pokkers! Den første handler om et overvægtigt britisk ægtepar, Dick og Angel, der
er i gang med at istandsætte et gammelt fransk slot og omdanne det til et hotel.
Den anden film
handler om nye opdagelser i udgravningen af en egyptisk pyramide – Lois sover
under 75% af programmet, vurderer jeg. Og jeg har ikke den fjerneste anelse om,
hvad programmet behandler om. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!
21:00 Vi beslutter at gå tidligt i seng. De viser det seneste afsnit af den
2. sæson af ”Victoria”, der handler om Victorias liv som ung dronning. Men
kanalens annoncør advarer os om, at programmet indeholder en pinlig sexscene
mellem Victoria og Albert, og vi beslutter, det ikke vil være en god idé at se
den lige før sengetid, for det tilfælde, vi får mareridt eller lignende.
Vi vil optage programmet på vores Now-TV-enhed i i stedet for: det må blive en anden dag. Zzzzzzzz!!!!!
English translation
I get a surprising mail from blogger.com. A Frenchman has
commented on something I wrote 6 years ago in my French-language blog. On
February 26, 2011, I wrote an analysis of a French short story entitled
"Cet homme et cette femme" (this man and this woman) by Anna Gavalda,
in her book called "Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part
"(I wish somebody were waiting for me somewhere") (nice title,
Anna!).
I still remember this moving story about a French couple
who are forced to share each other's company on a long drive south to their
holiday cottage. The marriage is dead, but the couple are staying together for
financial reasons.
The Frenchman, who commented, said only that "this
analysis is superb". Thank you, Frenchman - and hail to thee! You kept us
out of the war!
I wrote my French-language blog intermittently between
2008 and 20011. At that time I was a member of Hazel's U3A French book club and
Anna Gavalda's book was our group's current project in February 2011.
Nobody has ever commented on my French blog before. Why
would they? !!!! But I feel a bit flattered - I cannot deny that.
It's a bit of a coincidence, but my 91-year-old mother
actually died exactly 7 days after I analyzed Annas Frank's short story in my
blog.
Anna's book: A Frenchman has commented on my
analysis
6 years after I wrote it in my
French-language blog
Anna: Is she not just the world's most
gorgeous authoress?
11:30 Lois and I talk a little on whatsapp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and also with her
4-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica.
We are a little worried about
Sarah and her family's situation: their lives are very stressful at the moment.
Sarah's husband, Francis, has been told that he has nodules on his thyroid
gland and must have a biopsy - to take place on Wednesday. Most of such nodules
are benign, but of course, he is feeling a lot of stress for the time being.
Sarah's job is also stressful -
her boss (the owner of the company) is a difficult person, headstrong and
temperamental. She has been working there for over a year and she is
considering looking for a new job. This has been her first permanent job since
the family moved to Australia in December 2015. Initially, she was just a British
accountant without local experience, but this is not true any more. She thinks
she could now get a better job with higher pay.
The family want to move to a
nicer neighborhood with nicer schools. The twins can start kindergarten in
February as part-time students - the Australian government will pay for it.
Lois and I feel Sarah has to
carry a lot of problems on her shoulders - she is the family's breadwinner,
with a very stressful job, and has to take care of the twins when she is at
home in the evenings and at the weekend. Poor Sarah!
We feel unfortunately we cannot
help her a lot because she is living so far away from home. But we think we can
help a little bit just by listening to her problems. Or we hope so at least.
Sarah's twins, Lily and Jessie,
are so sweet - they love to talk to us. They always say "Granny and
Poppa?" and wait for us to answer "Yes?" before they tell us for
example that they have a nice necklace on or something similar. They are very into toy
jewellery right now. We miss them so much - sob sob !!!!
Lily and Jessica, our 4 year old
grandchildren in Australia
12:15 We have lunch and
afterwards Lois has to go out. She wants to attend a church service taking
place today in the town of Tewkesbury. Her friend Fran, drives by and picks her
up.
I have a little alone time for
the first time in two weeks. I read the first 50 verses of "Hávamál",
an Old Norse poem, because Scilla's U3A Old Norse Group is holding its next
meeting on Wednesday in the town's library.
The poem starts with some very
good advice - when you enter a room, be careful, because you do not know what
chairs your enemies are sitting on. I must try to remember that. Minx, the cat
that our daughter Alison left behind with us when her family moved to
Copenhagen 5 years ago, always observes this rule - when she walks into the
living room, she first slips behind the couch so that she can spend some time
weighing up exactly where the best laps are so she can jump up with confidence.
Later, I read a bit about Odin,
the most prominent god in the traditional Nordic religion. He is often compared
to Jupiter or Zeus in classical Greek-Roman religion, but I sense that Odin had
more trouble seducing women than either Jupiter or Zeus.
For example, in
"Hávamál", I read about Odin's attempt to seduce Billingr's daughter
- he got a glimpse of her first when she was lying in bed and he feels
attracted to her very white skin colour - he decides to come back a little later and
have sex with her, but unfortunately Odin finds a lot of stupid warriors in the
house, waving their burning torches all over the place.
Odin returns towards morning when
the warriors are asleep, but he finds that Billingr's daughter has chained an
unpleasant, aggressive dog to the bed. The dog barks loudly as Odin pops into
the room, The woman pulls the curtain aside to see what is going on, but I
suspect on the basis of her body language that she has no desire to take her so-called "relationship" with
Odin to the next level . Poor Odin !!!!
\It's towards morning when Odin
walks into the room where Billingr's daughter
is sleeping, but unfortunately she has chained her
unpleasant dog to the bed.
Poor Odin !!!!
14:00 I go out into the back
garden and cut the rest of our lawns. I screw the lawnmower's height control
right up to "number 6" (which gives the shortest cut) - more exercise for me
and maybe I'll be able to get away with not cutting the grass again before the
winter - although I think I'm deceiving myself there - damn !
16:00 Lois comes back from the
church. Fran, her friend, drops her off in front of the house. She is very
tired - of course the other church members all wanted to talk to her about her
recent eye surgery. We relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.
18:00 We have dinner and stick
our feet up in front of the television, but I have started to get a cold - I
have a sore throat. And Lois is very tired because of her afternoon in the
church, her first social occasion since her eye surgery, and there was a lot
of chit-chat.
We watch a couple of documentary
films, but we doze some of the time and miss the programmes' most crucial
sequences - damn! The first is about an overweight British married couple, Dick
and Angel, who are renovating an old French chateau and transforming it into a
hotel.
The second film is about new
discoveries in the excavation of an Egyptian pyramid - Lois sleeps through 75%
of the program, I estimate. And I do not have the slightest idea of what the
programme is about. Good grief, what madness!
21:00 We decide to go to bed
early. The latest episode of the 2nd season of "Victoria" is going to be on, all
about Victoria's life as a young queen. But the channel's announcer warns us
that the programme contains an embarrassing sex scene between Victoria and Albert
and we decide it would not be a good idea to see it just before bedtime, in
case we get nightmares or the like.
We will record the programme on
our Now-TV device instead : it will have to be for another day. Zzzzzzzz !!!!!
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