Skin Deep
The lesson is an olive branch. Something so simple, so everyday here in Provence, yet to paint one requires skill. How to mix the paint to capture that powdery green of the leaves? And those olives still attached, past their prime but still firmly holding on? Their thick skin is no longer black, nor is it a deep purple; the students must look beyond their knowledge of what an olive is in their mind, and discern what paint mixture can best represent. “Lastly, don’t neglect the
Pass Sanitaire
The plane arrives on time from Munich. From above we are awed by the beauty of Marseille, the historic French port city near Aix-en-Provence. Up close it can be a gritty place, its 200 year old buildings crumbling and in desperate need of facial cleaning. It has an incredibly diverse population, but lurking in the shadows dark deeds are done. The Corsican mafia hubs out of this city, for example, setting the tone. It is not uncommon to see hot tempers flare at home soccer mat
SERENDIPITY
It all coalesced with a string of pearls and a train car numbered 7. My head had been reeling with happenstances that seemed to belong to the same cloth. On our 2-day visit to Paris, connected elements kept popping up and I never made too much of them individually, but the storage shelf in my mind was keeping track. The initial “whoa, that is so cool!” came as we checked into our hotel. The front desk clerk explained the wifi how-to’s, where to find the elevator, the breakfas
LUCKY
New Year’s resolutions came early for me. I have felt for several months now that this is my year. The year where I shore up the weak links of my life and finally, finally live as I should. People are always marveling at my job, my life, just how “lucky” I am. While I am flattered, I also want to shout “it’s not luck, its the result of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice!” I mean, who in their right mind would bat aside the parental instinct of creating a home, raising a fa
