Dinant Ensemble

Au Revoir

Today is the last night that the French guys will be sprawling out on my living room floor, passed out with a myriad of sights dancing in dreams inside their exhausted brains. I know how it is to be a stranger in a new place, to get around in a country in which you do not speak the language, when you listen very hard to catch just a fraction of what is said.

I feel that I was born to facilitated understanding between cultures. English was the second language of both of my parent's, and my life's work has been making connections between their country and mine. Travelers are my kindred spirits, because all journeys bring about the same sort of self-awareness and knowledge. It comes from leaving your home and all traces of what had been familiar to discover what you are capable of in entirely different situations and environments, how you fare and roll with the punches as things come up. 

Tonight I plan to send them off with a Chicago style house music dance party. It will be a celebration of everything that they picked up in the last month in the city of big shoulders. I will make sure that the soul and vibe of my hometown is not lost on them.

Moving Forward

The deep parts of my life pour onward

as if the river shores were opening out

It seems that things are more like me now,

That I can see farther into paintings.

I feel closer to what language can't reach.

With my senses, as with birds, I climb

Into the windy heaven, out of the oak

In the ponds broken off from the sky

my falling sinks, as if standing on fishes.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Frenchies En Force!

Corinne, Cristophe and Didier have been covering some ground during the four weeks that the french guys are in Chicago. I've spent the past week hanging out with them, rising in the morning with croque monsieurs and cycling around town. They live at a good pace, taking time to converse and unwind at the end of each day. Sharing meals is a great pleasure with this crew. I met up with them when I came back from Wisconsin - turns out, they had been there on a road trip also to Prairie du Chien where they saw the Mississippi river. They had also visited Milwaukee Indiananapolis, Detroit, Toronto (where their aunt lives), and Niagara Falls. They'd been to three of the Great Lakes, five states and thousands of road miles. 

They are super excited to celebrate the national holiday while they are here. It is a lot of fun for me to share their perspective and see my home city through their eyes. The past few days have been a rolling party, from the skatepark to barbecues, parties and fireworks on beautiful summer days. When they return to Paris, they will be arriving home in time to celebrate the French national holiday with a renewed sense of appreciation for their country.

Stormy day going up to Spring Green, Wisconsin