The day after election

I hate the stress and agony of an election, but it's worth it on the relatively rare occasion that they turn out well, like this one. We awoke at 2:00 a.m. Clay got up and watched the results on television. I stayed in bed, hoping for the best but I had long since given up expecting it. We're obviously elated, but also realistic. Until Trump himself is removed and replaced with a human being, along with his Supreme Court toadies, I'm not convinced that a lot will change. I also doubt that America can follow up this victory with a comparable one in another two years and every election cycle thereafter until Trump and every living elected enabler of his is removed, tried for their crimes, and replaced. 

Still, the results brought a smile or two to my very tired face today. Elon Musk wasting over 470 million dollars on this election gave me a good laugh, much like watching a SpaceX rocket explode. Susan Collins finally being taken out with the trash was very satisfying, as was winning Miss Lindsey Graham's seat from South Carolina. There were many bright spots, all deserving celebration. As one post put it: "I'm just sorry Mitch McConnell didn't live to see it." 

I'm happy for friends in the U.S., and for the world as a whole, but it sort of feels like an out-of-body experience from over here. France has its own right wing party for sure and they are taking whole pages from Trump's playbook in demonizing immigrants. I just hope that they will be compared to the universally hated Trump in the upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, we passed a major bureaucratic milestone in France today by getting our "carte de sejour." It's a one year residence permit that replaced the one year visitor visa we got when we first arrived. It's renewable annually. Under current rules, after five annual renewals it would be replaced by a 10 year permit, although they are talking about changing that. It's not a path to citizenship, although we'd take it if one was available. All of this to say that although we're happy with yesterday's election, it doesn't change our decision to relocate. 

Fall is in full swing. 

Bailey and Aslan at the dog park. We are entering into husky season but it doesn't get that cold or snowy here.

These are pics from the final days of October Rose, the breast cancer awareness month. Christmas lights are up on many streets but not yet lit. They are beginning to build the Christmas market just down the street from us.

Pictures of the Porte de Paris, from yesterday's afternoon walk. It is a triumphal arch built in the late 17th century to celebrate the victories of Louis XIV. Dream on, Donald. 

The old city wall is long gone, but several of the old gates remain. This is the largest and fanciest of them.

Today's bureaucratic task of picking up our carte de sejour had an unexpected historical element to it. The prefecture (government building) incorporates a restored remnant of one Lille's many canals. This area was originally all marshland and building could only take place on a few raised areas. In a process that I still don't really understand, the land was drained and canals were established. Eventually most of the canals were filled it because it was cheaper than maintaining them and they became less necessary for commerce. I would love to meet an English speaking historian who is also a hydraulic engineer to explain this all to me.

I ran across this Venn diagram online today and instantly grabbed it for my collection. It's a concise explanation of my relationship with Bailey. 

Bailey and friends

It should surprise no one that Bailey has more friends than I do, both human and canine. We are regular walkers at the Citadel and it's rare that we don't encounter some familiar dog or human/dog combination. The first day that we were back into our morning walking routine after New York we had a particularly social walk. We weren't very far along when Bailey spotted Jacopo and went running to greet him. He's a Bracco Italiano and was deeply engaged in sniffing and digging for moles. Bailey joined him in that endeavor, which fortunately proved to be just an exercise in sniffing and digging. Jacopo's owner is a young woman who speaks English very well and we talk whenever we meet. They joined us on our walk and it wasn't long before we picked up two more dogs and their owners who joined us for a pack walk. 

I could tell that Bailey had mixed feelings about the pack walk, and I did too. She was happy enough to have the other dogs go along with us but there were then four humans involved with varying levels of walking ability and interest. The result was that we didn't cover nearly as much territory as we normally do. 

There is a dog park at the Citadel and it's nice but relatively small. We stop there most days, usually at the end of our walk when we are about to leave the park and head home. There is frequently a good group of dogs and people there, at least in good weather. Right outside the dog park is a big open field and it's also a gathering place for dog people and it offers really good running space. Yesterday the shaded dog park was empty because it was a chilly day and the sunny field was the preferred place to be. At one time I counted at least a dozen dogs out there. Bailey didn't run with anyone that day but she went up to and checked out all the dogs as they arrived. She also checked their owners for treats.

Bailey is a bit standoffish with strangers, which has made several of them try very hard to become her friend. She's fairly easy to win over by a woman who offers her treats and even a couple of the men are making progress with her. Lots of people know Bailey's name, few know mine. I'm the same way. I know more of the dogs' names than their owners; we are all dog people after all. 

Jacopo and Arlo

Jacopo, the Bracco Italiano. 

The owner called this guy Scott, but I wonder if she meant Scout. 

Bailey and Arlo

I don't know this one's name.

Arlo is a GSP, German Shorthaired Pointer. There are more of these than I would have expected in Lille.

Aslan is a husky. He actually lives not far from us and is at the park every day.

The mornings have been cool and very foggy. That is the sun at the top of that tree. The fog burns off mid-morning and then we've had some very pretty blue sky on most days.

A cormorant and a common coot.

Morning fog

Bailey and me sitting to watch a barge go through the lock on the Deule canal.

She's not really interested in the barges but I'm intrigued and it makes a nice break on the walk

The whippet on the left is named Ange. That's a borzoi in the rear on the right.

When we meet a mixed breed like the shepherdy guy, rear left, they are almost always rescues brought in from Romania. 

Bailey may meet and engage with the other dogs but she's more likely to play with one if we encounter it on our walk. Apparently that's more fun. She's always very focused on me and that works both ways.

Another cormorant, or maybe the same one, but on another day.

This is Hannah, she's a senior dog. Her owner is Bailey's best human friend in France.

Jacopo, Aslan, and Bailey (front). I don't know the name of the guy on the right, he's a long-haired Weimaraner. 

I don't see Irish Setters around here very often.

I saw this grey heron in flight and he landed in the top of this tree, which gave him a good view.

Bailey saw this tree stump and hopped up on it and sat down before I could even ask for an "up."

New York - 2026

We are back from a week in New York. Clay's mother, Berta, had her 90th birthday last week and the college where she worked (Bryant University in Rhode Island) held a celebration for her. Many of her former students (she worked as an advisor) came in from all over to share memories and say thank you. She had established a scholarship at Bryant that has now been running for many years. The big event was a dinner Saturday evening but we did other things while we were in town as well, seeing a number of Broadway and off-Broadway shows, a walking tour, museum, some shopping, etc. 

Clay's brother, Hugh, lives in New York and we used to visit there fairly frequently, but it's been quite a while since our last time there. What struck me most about New York compared to Lille, or even London and Paris, is how noisy it is. There's a lot of traffic, of course, and drivers use their horns freely. I can't imagine living there, but it's a great place to visit. Love it or hate it, there's really nothing like it. 

Times Square at night

Our first day there I was walking along the water on the west side of Manhattan and came across the Intrepid. I thought about going aboard, but it cost $36 and I wasn't that interested. It was a good reminder that everything in New York is expensive.

This structure is called "The Vessel." It was intriguing, but also cost more than I wanted pay just to climb a lot of stairs.

The Bethesda fountain in Central Park was shut down for repairs but still nice to see. 

We spent a morning in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but really you could spend several days there.

Times Square is entertaining and amusing and busy any time of day.

A wall mural in Chinatown from a guided walk.

Berta Hysell, at dinner one evening.

This was the poster created for the 90th birthday event.

This is the theater and set for a play titled "Downstate." I think it was the best thing we saw all week. Not pleasant, but a powerful piece of writing.

The set of "Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York." It was very good.

We also saw "Schmigadoon," "Good Time Charlie," and "Slam Frank."

One day we happened across McSorley's Old Ale House. It's a classic Irish pub and a New York institution.

Some beautiful mosaic tile work in a subway stop. (I don't remember where.)

John Lennon memorial in Strawberry Fields in Central Park.

Belvedere Castle in Central Park. I hadn't seen this before or at least didn't remember it. Apparently it was originally built as an observatory.

Flowers in the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park.

The horse drawn carriages will soon be a thing of the past, which is for the best. The city council voted to end them while we were in town. We had seen some in Brussels which had been converted to run under electric power. The recent push to end them follows a particularly horrific recent accident.

We flew back to France on Monday night and landed in Paris about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

We took the train home to Lille and got home around noon. Bailey's boarding facility brought her back to us Wednesday morning. She was very tired and very happy to be back home.