la tempe
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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la tempe (lah tomph)
: temple (anatomy)
la tempe grise = gray temples
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A Day in a French Life... by Kristin Espinasse
"Gaining and Losing Gray Matter: a Story in two Sequences
Première Partie....
At Mas des Aigras (restaurant), where we are celebrating 20 years together, my husband is staring at me over a plate of French sushi. I follow the slant of his glance before reaching up to swat my temple.
"What are you looking at? What is it?! "
"Les tempes grises," says he.
"I quickly tousle my hair, trying to camouflage the white above my ear.
"Je n'ai plus 20 ans," I say, looking away. Next, I notice all of the young women in the room before turning back to my husband, questioningly.
"J'adore tes tempes grises," he smiles, and I realize, malgré le gris, that he is noticing only me.
.
Deuxième Partie....
I am late fixing dinner again. I forage through the fridge to the cabillaud I'd made... I'm not sure when...
I open a can of salmon and add a little to each of four plates. Hungry eyes watch, wondering Will it be bouillabaisse?
"Fish is good for the memory!" I explain, hoping to draw attention away from the sloppy presentation.
The four of us sit down, the last one guiltily so.
"Fish is good for the memory," I point out.
My son looks up, giggles, "Yes Mom, we know...."
Four forks poke and push and pause.
"Fish is good for the memory!" I say, hoping to get my family to eat... and not sit lock-jawed.
Instead they laugh and then it hits me--
What with all this "Fish is good for the memory"...
It sounds as if I were forgetting things...
Perhaps that's true, perhaps it's not.
What is sure is that I've gone gray at the temples
as for "les oublis" I'm giving salmon and cod a shot.
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:: Le Coin Commentaires ::
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Ce ne sont pas les tempes grises. Qui m'empêcheront de t'aimer encore... It isn't gray temples that will stop me from loving you again... (lyrics from George Chelon's "L'Amour C'est Bien Beau")
la première partie = the first part
le Mas des Aigras = hotel-restaurant near Piolenc
les tempes grises = gray (white) temples
J'adore les tempes grises = I love gray temples
malgré le gris = in spite of the gray
la deuxième partie = the second part
le cabillaud = cod
la bouillabaisse = fish soup
les oublis = memory lapses
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A Day in a Dog's Life... by Smokey "R"Dokey
Check out my new thumbnail gallery! You'll see Ma and My's (is my's a word?) morning routine: It's called "keeping little Smokey clean!"
Here I am already 7 months old and Ma can't stop fussing....
Love,
Smokey
P.S.: sorry about the funky colors. Gramma K is "flash" phobic. She tries to use natural light... which might have worked in this instance had she changed her ISO settings...
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For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety