NANO ZEN

What is it about hot drinks like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and gluvine that settles the mind and body at the start or end of the day? Is it simply that it takes time to cool before we can drink; time were we can reflect on the tasks ahead or past; time to just sit and be.

I love thunderstorms. Though when I was a child staying at our chalet in Quebec in summer, we would often experience long violent storms without any power for several hours. It used to scare me when I was very young, but over time I found the sound and display of nature’s fireworks impressive. @ShawnaCoronado tweet though evoked a double entendre of Thor as a plumber complete with butt crack.

photo by @thechannelc and used under the terms of the Creative Commons

As always I never have a camera to capture the scene of my thoughts here in Cannes, but @thechannelc has a beautiful moment she captured during her trip to New Zealand that fits just as well.

A Sunday evening twilight alone and tweeting by candle light and laptop glare; supper, wine, haiku games, and random snippets of on the spot philosophy (in French no less), more wine.

I was a little maudlin by the end of that evening and thinking way back to when our family used to have an holiday apartment in the mountain village of Leysin, Switzerland (tourist office). How at night there are no lights to wash out the vast view of the stars, how air is so clear and fresh, and the water like crystal and sensuous across the tongue.

Of course come next morning, I felt a little naughty, and who better to share a naughty thought with than an online friend I’ve never meet like @amykate. Not sure she caught the double entendre though of the haiku.

I’ve written before about The Grandfather Clock (Tempus Fugit) that came from our former family chalet. Well it stands right next to my desk, ticking and chiming away the moments of each day. This morning while preparing my earlier post and playing haiku games on twitter, I snapped out of a moment of reverie as the clock struck the top of the hour. A flash of l’Esterel and the seasons past came to mind along with a wistful smile.