March 2022 Challenge
Precious Memento
It was another morning when the raindrops seemed to be violently pummeling the red tiles of our house, as if they absolutely wanted to penetrate my room. The noise was so regular and persistent. Our house was nestled in the middle of a medieval village. It is with this noise that during the spring and summer months, I often woke up in the morning. In eastern France, winters can be very harsh, which means that spring and summer are always ready to show the best that nature has to offer. The fauna, the flowers, the bushes, the trees, everything came to life, almost simultaneously for a great celebration that we knew would not last.
Sometimes, it was also the crowing of the rooster of the neighboring farm that brought me out of my dreams. It was with happiness that I stretched out in my bed because the crowing of the rooster was synonymous with good weather and therefore with walks in the forest, walks in the fields, asking cows that were peacefully grazing if the fat grass they were eating was to their taste. These peregrinations occupied the great majority of my day.
Those summer days when the rooster seemed to “speak” only to me, filled me with a joy and excitement that I could hardly hide.
- Why are you rushing, my mother asked?
- Because Jean Claude is waiting for me ....
I would never lie, but I had enough arguments to disguise a situation and turn it to my advantage.
As usual, when I arrived at Jean Claude's house, he was still sleeping and I had to wake him up under the indulgent and malicious gaze of his father who was called Constant. His mother's name was Helene. Strangely enough, they were a couple who looked alike physically. Just as strangely, one would have liked to have become attached to only one of these two good-natured characters.
It was the call of nature with its promises of discovery, wonder and communication with magpies, crows and other thrushes. These "trips" helped me a lot.
Once on our playground, Jean Claude and I were pretty calm and focused.
- Did you see that? Look at that under the hazel tree!!! he would tell me from time to time. He was happy to share what he was experiencing. I loved these moments of exchange where only curiosity and wonder were enough to let us know that we were living a great moment, far from the adults world.
I remember those precious moments spent with Jean Claude.
I was 12 years old, he was 11. We built this network of memories, of images, but unlike today, these images were only in our heads... which gave us a great margin of interpretation when we told our stories in September, at the beginning of the school year.
These stories of our naturalist adventures were a kind of projection into the future... Our wildest dreams became reality when we shared them with our classmates.
Later, Jean Claude began a successful career in the military, which suited him perfectly...he loved the outdoors.
Today, as I drive the endless roads of California's Mojave Desert, my observational instincts always surprise me. I have this ability to spot a bird of prey circling in the sky. A Road Runner hesitating to cross the hot asphalt, here I am slowing down in case this Geococcyx californianus decides to cross the road
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