New York City, Sep-Oct 2001 and later

After my father died in the mid-1970s I started to visit my mother in Paris, France, more often. (He had been badly injured in a head-on collision with a drunk driver.) I usually would travel in March and September for a couple of weeks during the off-peak seasons because Paris, being a very touristy city, the airfares were expensive and the low fares difficult to obtain in summer. Going home was to keep company to my mother who had Parkinson's disease and to help with the purchases that she needed. But while I ran errands in Paris I could still visit the big department stores, eat in a favorite small restaurant, catch a new exhibition in a museum or find some books in second-hand bookstores or at the "bouquinistes" along the river Seine.

My husband would rarely come with me because my mother did not speak English and I spent most of my time with her. Instead his vacations were often in the fall for ducks and Canada geese hunting. He would drive non-stop from Atlanta to either North Dakota or Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, with his cousin. But my late husband and I would take small vacations, no longer than a week or so, in various southern cities such as Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, and Key West, Florida, or to my favorite cities New Orleans and New York.

While in New York we would buy books at The Strand Bookstore and other second-hand bookstores. We would try to see an opera or a show, visit a museum and walk in Central Park. One year, I believe it was in January 2000, it was so cold that I was happy to find a furry hat in a flea market and was warm walking in Central Park in the snow. I had my film camera then so the photos are average.

We went to the World Trade Center a couple of times but did not go up to the top observation deck as there were too many people waiting in line to go up. We thought we would do it next time we were in the city. We just walked into the lobby and gift shop and I would buy postcards, of course - I have some from the late 1970s to 2000 and beyond. In the 1980s I even bought a 6 postcard set ot the Twin Towers.(Click to enlarge.)

For my September 2001 trip to Paris my late husband was going to accompany me because we were going to stop in London and do some traveling. We were to fly out on Wednesday September 12, 2001. I was going to leave the office at noon on September 11 to go home and finish packing. But of course we never left on our trip. I wrote about it in my post of September 10,2011 "A cancelled trip" - you can read or reread it here. -- Paintings in heading is The Ferries, 1905, by Colin Campbell Cooper, American, 1856-1937. Below is The Flatiron Building in 1919, New York, by Samuel Halpert, American born in Bialystok Russia, 1884-1930, followed by Central Park, 1940, by Frank Moratz, American born in Germany, 1912-1990.

No one will forget watching the horrifying tragedy of the destruction of the WTC Twin Towers that day on TV. After the Government encouraged us to travel to New York to show support, stay a few days, go to a show, eat in restaurants - I did just that. I flew to New York on October 26, 2001. I still remember the dust around Ground Zero - I had a cough all the time I was in the city. Near the site, also referred to as "The Pile," people were watching silently as the large trucks moved steel beams away. I could see Ground Zero from a street close by. A worker came and sat near me, he was exhausted.

Looking at the pictures of the missing pasted on the walls was heart wrenching. There were still flowers and mementos on walls and in front of fire stations. A chaplain, two paramedics and 341 New York City firefighters lost their lives on 9/11 as well as 72 emergency workers from the city - there were 2977 victims in all. Now up to 75% of those who worked among the toxic Ground Zero rubble have some type of long-term illness. The NYC firefighters and first responders saved 20,000 people from the Twin Towers that day.

We went almost every year to New York City after that until 2014. In October 2011, ten years after the attack, we visited the 9/11 Memorial when it opened. It was not quite finished then. I wrote a report on it in my post "New York - visiting the 9/11 Memorial" - you can read or reread it here. I had a new digital camera by then.

The 9/11 Memorial reflecting pools are located in the exact footprints of the Twin Towers. The memorial has been sensitively designed. It is a somber experience to see and read the names of the victims inscribed in bronze on the railings of the memorial pools and hear water cascading down into the recessing pools; it brings peace and reflection. (They are the largest man-made waterfalls in the United States.) September 11, 2001, was a particularly tragic day for the United States. This understated memorial is a fitting tribute honoring the victims who perished on this day.

My late husband and I usually visited New York City in September and after 2001 we would see the "Tribute of Light" - two blue beams of light projected over the city each year from sunset on September 11 to dawn on the 12th. These twin lights represent the original Twin Towers and echo the orientation and shape of those towers.

In the new WTC complex the 104 floor tower also known as One World Trade, One WTC and Freedom Tower was completed in 2013 when the spire installed on the top gave the tower a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m) in reference to the US Declaration of Independence in 1776. It is the main building in the rebuilt WTC complex and is the tallest building in the US. The One World Observatory opened in May 2015. We had planned to go that year and for sure wait in line to ascend to this observation deck. Unfortunately my husband's Alzheimer's disease had progressed and we could no longer travel. (Photo courtesy One WTC.)

In September 2020, my eldest daughter and I had planned to go to New York to celebrate her September birthday but had to cancel because of COVID-19, instead we thought we'd go in September 2021. Now, because of the Delta variant we have decided not to travel there again. I read about the rebuilt World Trade Center complex on the Internet. The 9/11 Memorial museum has been finished. The Oculus building was opened in 2016 as a shopping mall and as the WTC transportation hub in Lower Manhattan providing access to commuter trains and subway lines. It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava to symbolize a dove released from a child's hand. The 335 foot long skylight allows light to shine overhead and the sun to move across its axis exactly on Septembr 11. (Photo courtesy CBS.)

The New World Trade Center has several more buildings being built. It will be complete when the 900-feet (270 m) tall 5 World Trade Center skyscraper is finished in 2028. I hope we can travel back to New York next year, maybe. I still have my little souvenir keychain that I bought there (benefitting the NYC Firefighters) and the little WTC Memorial magnet.

I see both daily, one on my refrigerator door and the other to hold my garden gate key. But as everyone, I don't need these mementos to remember. The harrowing pictures of 9/11 cannot be erased. The new World Trade Center complex with its graceful and strong buildings reaching towards the sky, the sun and the light renews our hope. I also hope it renews a national purpose for unity within our diverse society and a purpose to stay committed to our common good.

Books in the mountains

This past week the weather has been so very cold that it has dominated the news.  It was colder in the state of Wisconsin than in Antarctica.  The wind chill factor in Chicago, Illinois, plunged temperatures down to -54 F (-47.7 C.)  Below are some photos of frozen Lake Michigan in Chicago, courtesy The Evening Express.

In other news, the US Government was reopened temporarily for 3 weeks with funding through  February 15, 2019.  Another news item which would have been known, if it had happened to the royal family in the UK, was hardly mentioned because it concerned France: Henri d'Orleans, Count of Paris and pretender to the defunct French throne, died on Monday 21 January, 2019; he was 85 years old.  The royalty was abolished during the French Revolution of 1789.  French King Louis XVI went to the guillotine on the same day but 226 years earlier - 21 January 1793.  Henri d'Orleans' funerals will take place at the Royal Chapel Saint-Louis of Dreux on February 2, 2019.  He was a direct descendant of the Duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV (after whom New Orleans, Louisiana, is named.)  Henri d'Orleans's son, Prince Jean de France, inherits the title.  However another pretender to the French throne is the descendant from the royal house of Bourbon, Louis Alphonse de Bourbon.  A third pretender is Jean-Christophe Napoleon, or Prince Napoleon, descendant of the Bonaparte family.  But not to worry, I don't think the French people will vote to recognize a royal throne in France and nominate one of these three men ...

Reading about the government shutdown and Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, I realized that she is my date of birth sister.  Nancy Pelosi was born on the same day, same month and year as me - 26 March 1940.  I like to have strong birthday sisters.  I checked to see if any other strong women were born within a couple of days of March 26 and found Gloria Steinem, the feminist and journalist and Aretha Franklin, the singer and civil rights activist were both born on March 25 (1934 and 1942.)  Lady Gaga, also a singer and songwriter, was born on March 28 (1986.)  Another birthday, sad this one, is of my late husband as he was born on February 2nd.  He was proud to have been born on the popular holiday Groundhog Day.  On February 2nd, when the groundhog comes out of his den, if he sees his shadow, it is believed six more weeks of winter will follow.  Below is a groundhog.

 But my post is about books.  I have been an avid reader since I was a wee-child.  In France, in primary school through high school, kids were rated monthly according to grades: if there were 28 kids in a class they were rated 1st of the class to the last one (am not sure if it is still the same.)  My mother would give me two new books if I was the first of the class, one book if I was second and none after that.  So I tried very hard to be first and was most of the time.  I accumulated many books, mostly from the green book series "La Bibliotheque Verte," red and gold series "La Bibliotheque Rouge et Or" and pink series "La Bibliotheque Rose" created in 1856.  As a child my favorite stories had been written by the Countess of Segur, born Sofiya Feodorovna Rostopchina in St. Petersburg, Russia (1799-1874.)  I think I still have some of these books.  I just checked and some have become "rare" I guess.  The green book Melle de la Seigliere below is worth more than 20 euros, and my Little Lord Fauntleroy in French is worth more than 35 euros in France, both from the 1940s.  I guess I'll have to sell them back in France rather than donating them to Goodwill here.  Below are samples of my old books plus an illustration from Countess of Segur's "Les Petites Filles Modeles" (Good Little Girls) written in 1858.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

When I arrived at the port of New York in 1961, I remember the US Customs officer asked me if I was a student because one of my steamer trunks was full of books.  I had taken many with me but not all of my French books.  When I married my husband he brought his book collection and I brought mine - we had many books but hardly any furniture.  Through the years we collected another large amount.  We placed them in bookshelves in each room of our house.  He loved to go to second-hand bookstores.  I don't think a week went by that we did not buy at least one book for us or later on for our daughters.  Once, in New York City - I think it was back in 2007, we walked by the St. Agnes Public Library on Amsterdam Avenue at West 81st Street (an old library branch opened in 1906.)  They had a sign saying there was to be a library sale the next couple of days because the library was going to be renovated.  The next two days we were supposed to go out of New York to visit West Point, but instead my husband insisted that we stay for the sale ... we did buy quite a few books then had to get a large cardboard box and mail it to our house.  Below pictures of the renovated St. Agnes Public Library in New York City, courtesy NYPL.

Toward the end of my husband's illness he would constantly count his books and place the numbers on little yellow stickers.  He also would hide documents, money and what not in the books, so now I have to carefully go through them.  I bought many second-hand books at estate sales, library sales and through Amazon and ABE Books.  My husband would love to walk down to the mailbox and if there was a book there he would take it, look at it, place it somewhere without telling me then quickly forget.  I still find many old books that I ordered and never had a chance to see or read, such as those below I found last week.  I just realized that I had bought the second-hand book below "Dinner at Belmont" by Alfred Leland Crabb (published in 1942) some years ago before I knew I would move to Nashville, just a few blocks from Belmont Avenue.  It deals with Nashville's most eventful years, 1858 to 1865.  I am pleased that I re-discovered it.  There was also the book "Elizabeth and her German Garden" by Elizabeth von Arnim, published in 1901, that I could not find on the shelves as well as the writings of Thomas Paine, book published in 1945.  They were behind his western books.

I also found more lost books that he had placed in weird places.  I show them under my lamp in the heading photo.  Below is a close up so you can read the titles.  I have never read "For Whom the Bells Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway but am not sure if I want to read this paperback published in 1949, with yellow pages and tiny print.  I think I had bought it at an estate sale about 5 years ago.

If we drove through a small town and went by a second-hand bookstore, we had to stop.  I had found a route through the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia to avoid going through Chattanooga.  I mentioned it on my post On the Road Again in Tennessee and Georgia in 2011. The little town of Trenton, GA, located at the border of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, had one second-hand bookstore.  We stopped several times but their inventory was not extensive.  A while back I remembered that bookstore and called them to see if they would be interested in purchasing some of our books.  It turned out that the store had been sold and the new owner was eager to buy books to replenish his stock.  Last September I brought 100 western paperbacks to Trenton from my husband's collection.  I brought more books in November, December, and last week in January.  Below is a picture of the bookstore with a view of the town around it (Trenton population is approx. 2,500.)  Trenton is in a valley in the Appalachian foothills surrounded by mountains: Lawson Mountain, Fox Mountain, Windy Mountain, Little Cedar Mountain, Raccoon Mountain, Lookout Mountain and more.

I watch the weather when I drive to Trenton on my way to Nashville because the road, SR136, meanders through hills and hollows.  It has many curvy turns and steep hills through the canyons and mountains.  It is scenic.  You can see the beautiful landscape while on top of one of the mountains but can't stop (or might fall down the cliffs!)  My husband used to take pictures from the car while I drove.  Bottom right picture is Trenton in the valley, taken from Sand Mountain.

When I am back in Georgia I go through all my late husband's books to select those to bring to Trenton (next will be my books, later on ...)  They are scattered throughout the bookshelves.  I had already donated about 1,000 books to the Cobb County Library in GA and the Goodwill there.  I am not sure how many books there are left, maybe 8000 or more.  The shelves are not in order.  Also the shelves in Nashville need to be re-arranged.  Some of the books were placed in moving boxes and taken to Nashville before I had a chance to look at them first.  My eldest daughter tried to help by placing many on the shelves, but one of top of the other, two rows deep, and it is difficult to see their titles - some are my husband's books, some are mine and some I did not want any longer.  I took some western paperbacks back from Nashville to Georgia already to bring back to Trenton (those books are traveling...)  Below I show three bookshelves in GA and one in Nashville to illustrate what I mean (there are many more.)  The top left bookshelf below has more western paperbacks on the top, and two rows behind it.  The top right bookshelf is the way they are stacked here in Nashville, two rows deep, one on top of the other.

Just before I left Georgia early last week, I found a box in the garage and, surprise ... more western books.  They are part of my late husband's Louis L'Amour collection, at least 90 books there.  That will be for my next trip to Trenton up in the North Georgia Mountains.  I have plenty of work to do with all his books and mine, and for a long time to come.  But I also found one of my favorite books written by Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang (1895-1976) "The Importance of Living."

There are many quotable passages in this book.  The jacket says: "Playfully serious, cynically kind, shot with comedy, and backed by science and the thoughts of the sages, the medicine Lin Yutang prescribes is the Chinese philosophy of life: Revere inaction as much as action, invoke humor to keep life sane, let others struggle for power while you bask in the joy of existence."  Here is one quotation from the book:

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.  The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials."

I know my late husband would be pleased to have his books brought to the North Georgia Mountains where interested readers would have access to them, but I also know that he would approve of my taking a needed rest from all the book sorting.  Here is another quote from Lin Yutang:

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

I certainly can stop as of an afternoon, relax and have a cup of tea while perusing an old book, of course, before deciding what to do with it, and not feel guilty.  Below is "Quiet Pleasures" painted by Gustave Max Stevens, Belgian 1871-1946.

Clouds, the friendly skies and more ...

In my last post I explained why our trip to Orange County in California and back had been a challenge; click here if you wish to read it.  What was upsetting to me was that I did not remember the name of the person at Southwest Airlines who helped us find our lost luggage.  That made all the difference for our attendance to our daughter's wedding, the next day.  When we came back to Georgia I wrote a letter to Southwest relating our experience and asking if they could locate their staff member who had found our luggage and give her our warmest thanks.  A week or so later I received an email from Southwest acknowledging my letter with a reference number and a telephone number.  A couple of weeks later I did call the number, curious to see if they had found the luggage person.  I am not sure whether they had found her or not, but the SW employee told me she was sending me two vouchers for $250 each to be redeemed on their airline before August 2017.  Then another couple of days later, I received an email, from another PR Southwest employee, giving us 50% off saver coupons good on any of their flights, and valid until the end of January 2017.  Yesterday, I received another email from an executive in Southwest PR with profuse apologies about our challenging trip and an offer for reimbursement of any extra expense we incurred on the trip.  I had not even sent a letter of complaint, just a letter to express our gratitude to one of their team members ...

After all this I guess we have to get back on a trip in the friendly skies, -:).  I am checking Southwest's route for a possible destination for a short winter trip - somewhere warm.  I would not mind going back up in an aircraft to watch the clouds from above.  Looking at my photographs I noticed that I have a very large number of cloud and sky pictures, both from above and below.  Habits that one started in childhood are often kept throughout adulthood.  When I was a wee child in Paris - I am talking 4, 5 years old, during World War II, my mother and I would look out of the living room window (pictured below) to see if any German planes were flying our way.  Then later, every morning my mother would ask me to look out of that window to check the weather.  The habit was formed to look at the sky.  We would often walk up the 15 minutes to the Sacre-Coeur of Montmartre in Paris.  The view of the sky from the hill was striking.  When my parents bought the house in St Leu la Foret, a Paris suburb, I would hike to the forest top with my dog.  If the sky was clear I could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.  Here in Georgia we are close to Kennesaw Mountain with a great sky view to Atlanta from the top of the mountain.  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

As I was looking often from the window mother would ask me: "Are you seeing some cumulus? Or nimbus? Or nimbostratus?"  Then she would add "You should know, you always have your head in the clouds ..."  My favorites are the cumulus clouds.  They are fluffy, look like cotton candy or even look like a nice head of cauliflower.  I also thought they resembled little sheep in the sky.  Below are the different types of clouds (courtesy US and French Wikipedia.)

I really was surprised at the number of cloud and sky pictures I have accumulated.  My husband looks at clouds every time we go shopping, or anywhere.  As I drive, he will tell me to look up at a nice cluster of clouds.  Often I have to stop, park the car and look up - then I take a picture.  I found many pictures of lovely cloudy skies from the trips we made.  It is difficult to choose from some of the pictures I took on our coastal voyage from above the Arctic Circle to Bergen, Norway, as the Norwegian fjords were breathtaking under any sky, any weather, as shown below.

Even if one is not of a poetic inclination, it is difficult not to become lyrical while looking at these beautiful clouds and skies from Norway.  A quotation from the Prince of Roeulx, of the Royal House of Belgium, comes to mind: "Clouds are fantastical dream machines - wondrous and magical, and in touch with infinity."

For about 26 years I worked in an aircraft manufacturing plant here in Marietta, at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Air Force Plant No. 6.  It is a huge facility containing about 4.2 million-square-feet.  There, I was the Customer Liaison in the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft division for about 15 plus years.  Then I worked for about 11 years as an Analyst in the C-130J Super Hercules' Supply Chain Management for one of our customers, the Italian Air Force.  The production floor is huge, with no windows, just two grand openings at each end of the building.  When I drove the trainees or customers to the various labs, such as the Avionics lab, or Power Plant lab, the first thing I did was to look up at the sky, always.  There could be one of our C-130s flying, or a C-5 ...

"There is a certain feeling of courage and hope when you work in the field of the air.  You instinctively look up, not down.  You look ahead, not back.  You look ahead where the horizons are absolutely unlimited."  Robert E. "Bob" Gross, Lockheed's Chairman/CEO 1932-1961.

I also like to look down at clouds while flying.  I never get tired of watching clouds, as long as there is light, rather than watching a film or using a laptop or iPad.  All these ethereal clouds let you imagine that you are in the land of dreams, with no stress or constraints, with infinity ahead.

Pictures must be taken quickly when flying over a group of clouds.  They pass by in an instant or change shape, from transparent to fibrous or silky.  They can be soft looking with opalescent colors or have a somber aspect, with menacing dark shapes.  They can form a halo or be quite dense, thin or semi-transparent.

Clouds have inspired painters.  Below are two such paintings.  On top left is Cloud by John Constable, English (1776-1837) next to Study of Clouds by Simon Denis, Belgian (1755-1813.)

They have also inspired poets and novelists.  Below is an excerpt from Marcel Proust's school writings, 1885-1886.  I'll translate it below. 
« Dans tous les temps, dans tous les pays […] les nuages ont dû séduire l’imagination de l’homme par leurs formes changeantes et souvent fantastiques. Toujours l’homme a dû y deviner les êtres imaginaires ou réels qui occupaient son esprit. Chacun peut y trouver ce qui lui plaît. […] Il peut découvrir alors dans les nuées […] toutes les fantaisies brillantes de son imagination exaltée. […]Ces belles couleurs de pourpre et d'or donneront à son rêve un éclat magnifique et grandiose  […] Puis, se laissant aller presque involontairement à une rêverie qui l’absorbe, l’homme oublie peu à peu les objets qui l’entourent ; ne voyant plus rien, n’entendant plus rien près de soi, il prête à son illusion le caractère de la réalité, donne la vie aux formes qu’il a devinées et assiste à un spectacle grandiose que lui-même il a créé. »  (Les nuages).

Translation:  "At all times, in all countries [...] the clouds had to capture the imagination of man by their changing and often fantastic shapes.  Man had to always guess in them the real or imaginary beings that occupied his mind.  Everyone can find in them whatever he wishes. [...]  He can then discover in the clouds [...] all the brilliant fancies of his exalted imagination. [...] These beautiful colors of purple-red and gold will give his dream a magnificent and grandiose radiance.  Then, almost unwittingly indulging in an absorbing reverie, man gradually forgets the objects that surround him; seeing nothing, hearing nothing close by, he lends to his illusion a character of reality, gives life to forms that he fancied and attends a splendid spectacle that he himself has created."  From "The Clouds" Marcel Proust, French (1871-1922.)

I just also realized that for a heading, when I started this blog, I selected a photograph of clouds over Newfoundland, Canada - I did not think about it until just now as I looked up.  I like to take pictures of cloudy landscapes whenever I see them.  Below are 3 pictures taken in Hawaii, (starting with the palm tree) then on the left column is Long Island, NY, above a bridge over the Mississippi in Memphis, TN.  On the right column, below the sunset in Honolulu is a beach at St Pierre et Miquelon, French island near Canada, then all the rest are pics of New York City.

We flew to New York City numerous times.  I was there for a visit in October 2001 - see post here.  Then we were there again in October, 2011, to visit the 9/11 Memorial, see post here.

 As I am writing this post, it is past midnight now, and it is September 11, 2016.  We remember that day with sorrow but also remember that we all came together in this nation, and many other countries joined us, people of all religions or no religion, to stand together to mourn the victims and to stand against hate.  It has been fifteen years since this horrible tragedy, but we will never forget, we still grieve.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Addendum -  We live close to Kennesaw National Battlefield Park.  This afternoon as we were driving around the north side of the mountain, near the visitors' center, we saw a multitude of flags.  

It was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze.  We stopped and sat under the shade of an ancient tree and watched the flags waving in the wind.  They are there to remember and honor those who lost their lives on that fateful day.

Christmas in 1845 at Bulloch Hall

We have not been back to Bulloch Hall in winter since 2012 when the theme that year was "Christmas in the White House at Bulloch Hall." In 2010 I had written a post entitled "Bulloch Hall in the Festive Season" because the theme that year was "The Symbols and Traditions of Christmas at Bulloch Hall."  This year the theme is "Christmas with the Bulloch's 1845."  (We also made several trips to Bulloch Hall in the spring for their quilt shows.)  Bulloch Hall, now owned by the City of Roswell, GA., was built circa 1839 for the Bulloch family and their eight children (4 were from previous marriages.)  Each year there is a living history re-enactment of the December 1853 wedding of Mittie Bulloch with Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.  When Mittie had visited her sister in Philadelphia she had met Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (Thee) there.  Thee fell in love with Mittie, a beautiful Southern Belle, and they were married in the Dining Room of Bulloch Hall.  Re-enactment picture below with pictures of Mittie and Thee in black and white, courtesy Bulloch Hall.

Before I continue I'd like to thank my blogging friends who commented on my two part post, Chalkfest 2015 in Marietta, part two, and the story of US violence.  I appreciate each comment.  Before this Chalkfest post my blog had 290 followers but immediately after it went down to 282.  I guess eight bloggers disliked my post so much that they decided to "un-follow" me.  Earlier I had been advised not to talk about anything that could be taken as a negative about America.  A British friend who has lived here since 1959 told me that if you don't say the US is exceptional people will get upset and think you hate the whole country.  I remember asking him about my blog "how if I research and only state facts?" No, no, he said - no good, they won't like you the messenger, have contempt for you and they'll take it personally, above all because you are a foreigner.  But, I replied, I am not a foreigner, I am a US citizen and have been here since 1961 - or 54 years.  Forget that, he replied, as long as you were not born here and have an accent, and a French one at that, you are and always will be considered a "foreigner."  I certainly did not write the post to upset anyone as I enjoy research, wherever it leads me, and thought people with open minds might enjoy it as well.  I did not think it would make anyone mad at me.

Our house has no decorations or Christmas goodies because for the last week I have been battling a miserable chest cold.  It is a kind I never had before - constant short but hard coughs (as when you clear your throat, but it does not clear) total exhaustion, and lack of appetite.  I was told it is "going around" and usually lasts a couple of weeks or so.  Christmas will be quiet here this year as no visitors will come by, but it is better this way as I would not want to give anyone a gift of a miserable cold.  Eldest daughter, Celine, will be visiting her fiance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Younger daughter, her husband, and the four grand-children drove to New York City to admire the beautiful holiday decorations there and stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on the way.  Here is a picture of New York at night my daughter sent me via her cell phone.  She said it was very crowded.

This morning, December 23, they arrived in Paris where they will stay 5 or 6 days, and then they will fly to India to visit relatives.  I am happy that the grandchildren will have a chance to see all the great animated windows of the large Paris department stores like the Galeries Lafayette and Le Printemps.  I still remember my mom taking me to see them when I was a wee child.  I think they will remember this, too.  Below are pictures of Les Galeries Lafayette in Paris (Blvd Haussmann.)  (Click on collage to enlarge.)

Le Printemps department store is celebrating their 150th Christmas anniversary this year and their windows are bringing a Christmas fairy tale (written for them in 1909) - a frozen nature awakened by adorable articulated dolls.  Eleven windows, decorated in cooperation with prestigious brands, present idyllic pictures with game illusions, optical effects and blooms.  Click twice on collage of windows below to see better.   Photos courtesy Le Printemps.

Back to Georgia - yesterday, Tuesday December 22, we drove to Roswell to visit Bulloch Hall.  It had been raining that morning and was very foggy, but warm.  We parked by the Museum and Gift Shop and walked up to the main house.

I love taking pictures outside and inside the house.  By now we know the house so well that it is like visiting an old friend.  I remember each room with its furniture and it is fun to see how it has been decorated anew.  Entering the great hall I feel the home is welcoming me back, and the owners are steps away, in the parlor.

After we entered, the docent gave us a page of information about this Christmas.  It said "Welcome to the World of 1845 .... James K. Polk is the President of the growing United States.  Florida has joined the Union as the 27th state and Texas as the 28th."  Well now, when we drove to Columbia, Tennessee, to see the doctors for my knees and foot, I remember seeing a sign directing us to the James K. Polk ancestral home, a couple of blocks away.  James K. Polk (1795-1849) was the 11th President of the United States, a Democrat.  He was born in North Carolina and died in Nashville, Tennessee.  Now for sure when we go back to Columbia, we will visit his home - that is really exciting (I get excited by things like this ...)  Below is a photograph of President Polk.  He was the first President of the United States to be extensively photographed during his tenure.

The leaflet went on "the village of Roswell in Cobb County has one church, one store, and one male and female academy ... residents include the Bullochs, Kings, Dunwoodys, etc..."  "And at Bulloch Hall ... James S. Bulloch, age 52, and his second wife Martha, age 46, are busy raising their blended families.   ...the younger Bulloch girls, Anna, 13, and Mittie 10, are excitedly wrapping gifts for their siblings and the sound of three year old Irvine's feet echo everywhere as he is swept up in the excitement."

The narrative on the page said "In Europe, Monet, Renoir and Rodin are challenging the traditional world of art."  Hmm.  Well, now, I don't want to be picky, but having shown many paintings of Monet, Renoir and sculptures by Rodin on my blog I know that both Monet and Rodin were born in 1840 and Renoir in 1841.  How could these men (?) challenge the traditional world of art in 1845 if they were just toddlers?  Last night, I told my husband that I should call Bulloch Hall so they could correct this error.  No, he said, they won't like it - people don't like to be told they made mistakes and they will be upset with you.  OK I said.  Then as I was writing this post I read this page again and thought that I needed to do something.  I called the contact listed on Bulloch Hall web page and left a message.  A few minutes ago someone called back and said they changed the names of the artists to J. M. W. Turner of England, I believe, and they thanked me.  Maybe they were upset, I don't know.

Going on with our tour - in the Parlor, refreshments are ready for the Bulloch's guests - tea or punch.

Passing into the Dining Room, we see that the table is set.  A couple is talking close to a Christmas tree.

Each room has one or more Christmas tree, from very small to large.  All of them decorated with natural ornaments, candles, corn, fruits, nuts and garlands.

The Pantry has food and drinks waiting.

A sumptuous array of food and sweets is waiting also in the cellar.

Then we went up to the bedrooms - two of them were decorated.

Back down again, we entered the children's bedroom/playroom,

then the Master Bedroom.

A Santa Claus was standing next to a Christmas tree in the Library.  A game of card, with glasses of Port by each player, was started in front of a roaring fire.

Our tour was finished.  We could sit on a bench in the hall and recall all the pretty decorations we had just seen.

Goodbye Bulloch Hall - we'll drive back home now, in the fog.

Now is the time to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays.  However, I think that this video showing the US Navy Band in Washington, D.C., last year, says it better ... and with a French twist.  Below is the Christmas Can-Can.

 

 and a Happy New Year!

See you next year ...