Thanksgiving night after we returned from our wonderful meal at Le Petit Tour, there was an email from my old friend Chris Madison that his daughter Melodie had gone missing in Paris and that he wanted me to call him in Denver where he was on leave from the State Department visiting his parents. After speaking with him we found out he was arriving in Paris early Saturday morning and of course we volunteered to host him here for however long it took to find his daughter and provide him with a modicum of serenity in an otherwise pretty insane environment. Chris and his now ex-wife Christine who I traveled down south here with last Summer have an amazing talented daughter who has musical talent bordering on prodigy levels and who is currently 16 which is a tough age for anyone. Melodie's mother Christine is an independent journalist who's beat is usually Western Africa most specifically Senegal, and due to that, has to be gone a lot to pursue her stories which of course leaves Melodie here with either part time nannies or friends looking out for her. In hindsight, perhaps other decisions probably should have been discussed and considered regarding Melodie's needs. Suffice to say, after Chris arrived Saturday morning he showered here, grabbed my cell phone and headed over to Christine's apartment in the 17th and as he was walking into the building, Melodie was walking out so she was found almost immediately much to everyone's relief and joy. Much as transpired for all since that day but that story is not one for me to tell in these pages. Melodie is going to be fine.Chris stayed with us for a little over 2 angst filled weeks for just about everyone and during that time he and I renewed an old friendship that dates back to 1976 when Chris and I and our friend Mark Patrick used to play in the Metro here in Paris while Chris and Christine were both here in college. Chris was a huge influence of mine as a guitarist and also with his taste in music that I adopted very quickly and I learned many many important things from him not only as a musician but also in his kindness to me and openness and generosity. We hadn't seen each other since 1977 and Cassie got to witness and participate in our musical reunion. We all also got to witness Chris and Melodie play music together and jam with our other musical friends here who all closed ranks behind Melodie chatting her up and making her feel like she belonged with them which was a very special moment for us all...... Chris's smile watching his daughter play with professional musicians and hang in with them was worth the price of admission any day. It was great hosting Chris in our home. His next posting with the State Department will be in Khartoum, Sudan. Chris is a "military attache'" who's somewhat in the terrorism interdiction biz. To say I'll worry about him there is an understatement.
After Chris's departure we prepared for a quiet Christmas and New Year which has been accomplished even thought we had invitations to spend time with other friends some of which would have been in the Black Forest. Cassie needed the down time and we were all very happy to oblige. It's been a crazy year and nobody here knows what the New Year will bring. Many many things are up in the air and major decisions that should have been made by others have gone to the place where all of their kindred always reside which is nowhere doing nothing. Perhaps these things will change soon but we're still in Paris so what's not to like?
Lastly no blog entry would be complete without a French home improvement quandary. Over the last 6 or so months I've been endeavoring to keep the toilet seat in our main bathroom together but earlier last week it finally gave up and came apart. 6 months ago I tried to get it off with the rudimentary tools I had here but I was unable to get it off as the bolts that held it on had no edges to grab plus everything was rusted together. I called one person named "Moussa" out of an English language periodical here who'd advertised as a handy man and he came by, took a look, told me he'd come back the next day and then disappeared. Yesterday, we called another person recommended to us by an American electrician we met here last summer who's an Irishman named "Sonny" who speaks with a "brogue" a mile long. Sonny came and had to use a hack saw to cut the bolts off the old toilet seat after which he proclaimed, "must have one too many bums on that one".........Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I'd purchased a plastic toilet seat set for an absurdly expensive price in the neighborhood here last Summer that he installed for us while regaling me with stories of how he'd been taught to make "petrol bombs" to hurl at the British Troops in Belfast when he was little.........* Wow...... but all that being said he was a great guy...... Still amazing the folks we meet here and brought to mind my favorite running buddy here Johann Sebastian Bach and his dog Sture............
Life is good here in Paris and we're all ok..........it's been a momentous and tumultuous year but a great one none the less.
Love to all everywhere!
Sid
