le mistral

In Provence, there is a wind so fierce and cold and persistent. It barrels down from the North of France, through the Alps and down to the Rhone Valley, whipping up everything into a scene of chaos. Le Mistral blows for days under a clear and sunny sky. When you live there, you learn to tie things down. The spices at the market are covered up. Colorfully painted shutters enclose you indoors. If you go out, you learn to wear your hair tied back. You learn to wear your coat, even though looking through the window the sky appears sunny and warm.

There's another wind that blows less frequently. It is a softer, warmer, Southern wind that blows off the Mediterranean Sea, bringing with it a shower of African dust from the Saharan Dessert. It is called the Sirocco wind. It sifts a fine layer of sand over the landscape. It leaves an orange film on the cars. It collects in ochre swirls on the sidewalk. It leaves a pleasant grittiness in your eyes.

It was something like the Provencal wind that blew today in Charlotte, Vermont. It whipped across the autumn foliage, bending trees sideways. Beating the doors in rhythm. Yet the sun shone clear and brightly and serenely high above all the mayhem. Something about the ochre colors reminded me of the Sirocco wind from Northern Africa. But everything else about it was Le Mistral.

It blew for only a few hours. Then it subsided almost as suddenly as it began. And then, there was rain.

Great pumpkin Charlie Brown!

We snapped this photo at the gas station today:

d.i.y. dining room chairs

We finally took the plunge and reupholstered our dining room chairs, which were Emi's before they were ours, and I think big Kevin's before that. We splurged on some beautiful tweed fabric from Rags & Riches, but were able to save money and time by reusing the old cushions underneath. (Who knew? At $29 a yard, foam cushioning is more expensive than the fabric itself. Ick.) So instead of buying new foam, we just padded the old ones with a new layer of batting for a little more bounce. Then we stapled on the new fabric—it's just like stretching a canvas really—while listening to This American Life's episode about the financial crisis.

To be honest, reuphostering chairs was a lot easier to maneuver than the report we were listening to (I had to listen to it twice to really understand it). But at least we feel a little smarter, more enabled, and we have a beautiful dining room set to show for it! So here are the pics.

And if you want to hear more about the moving parts behind the financial crisis, listen to This American Life's first collaborative report with NPR: The Giant Pool of Money. It's eye-opening.

Before:

After:

what's up, saturday morn

I hope Au Lait doesn't hate us forever. We had to bring the cats in for their check-ups this morning. She hates the vet. It was pretty much a disaster. She lashed out at the doctor so badly he had to go disinfect his wound and put quick-stop on it to stop the bleeding. The vet couldn't do the examination and told us not to bring her in again unless she gets sick or needs a shot. And if that happens, they'll have to put her under anesthesia to do an examination. It was that bad. But he was really nice about. "Occupational hazard," he said.

Suki was a doll. She watch the whole disaster take place without blinking an eye. And when it was her turn, she sat through the entire examination without moving or making a sound—even when they stuck the thermometer up her bum. Still, I think I'm traumatized now as much as Au Lait is and I'm glad we don't have to go back for a while.

This has to be one of the most gorgeous weekends we've had in a long time. The to-do list is long, but right now, we're just sitting around, drinking coffee, watching people walk by.

Hannah's coming this week. We're hosting a baby shower for our sis. The count-down has begun. Yay!

buffalo shuffle

Did I mention we went to Buffalo? That's where I've been the last several days. It was Mindy and Bobby's wedding and so we decided to take a long weekend and explore.

We headed out on Thursday morning early—Em, Kev, Col and I. Met up with Brett and Elisa before hitting the road. They had lil Zo Zo too. Stopped over in Utica at Brett's parents' house for an amazing Mediterranean lunch. Finally arrived in downtown Buffalo around 6 p.m. Most of the hotel rooms had hot tubs right in the middle of the room with a waterfall and everything. We were so busy, we didn't use it much though.


The next day, the boys had golf and the gals had plans, so I spent the morning walking around downtown Buffalo. I'd never been to Buffalo before. I was surprised to find a lot of beautiful architecture on my walk—new modern construction punctuated by decrepit brick buildings, industrial spaces, old stone churches on every block and beautiful Victorian mansions. Evidence of a golden age—a once thriving city, then falling asleep slowly, now redefining itself. Here's one of the modern buildings I saw:


The next day, we went to Niagra Falls. I don't have much to say about Niagra Falls. Even with no expectations, I didn't expect what we saw. The falls themselves were breathtaking, but I could barely see them beyond the crowds of people, tacky tourist traps and wacky black squirrels. It was like a theme park gone bad! And on the way back, we almost didn't make it across the border. But Kevin warned the officer at customs that we had to get back for a wedding. In the end, all turned out well and I'm glad we went. Now we can say we did it.


Finally, it was time for the wedding. It was a gorgeous thing. Mindy looked absolutely beautiful in her beaded Cinderella ballgown. Bobby looked absolutely smitten. The music was great; the party was a blast. Here are a bunch more pictures of downtown buffalo, tacky tourist traps, squishy babies and party snapshots. And here's Bindy: