Axis Mundi

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We are hiding out today. Our reprieve from the heat wave is over.  At 7 PM it is still 32 degrees celsius, which for you in the States translates to too darn hot. Nothing to do but wait it out. 

This is a good place to do that. This is the first floor landing, the center of the house. You can sit in that tired but comfy chair and sense both the horizontal axis of the house, front to back, and also the vertical, along the staircase. On this floor there is even a secondary axis, along the length of the house. So even though you sit four or five meters in the air, you have a sense of being anchored, of being right where you should be.  It is a good place to read a book. Right now I’m reading Edmund de Waal’s “The White Road,” in which the Dutch potter takes an elegiac pilgrimage “of sorts,” as he puts it, to the sources of porcelain clay. He is in no rush; today that suits me just fine.

As decor goes, the landing could use some. A side table would be good, and a lamp. I need a picture on that wall. For the most part though, the things that I can actually see from here are in good shape. Nothing calls for attention. So I’ll finish the day by doing a little reading. Jacques and I will enjoy the view.

10 thoughts on “Axis Mundi”

  2. here in the States, when it is too darn hot, we use a/c – do you have that feature in France? 🙂

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    1. Hahahaha. Air conditioning? Garbage disposals? Are you serious? I’d love for you to visit again but maybe you might want to think in terms of fall or spring. More in a later post — assuming, of course, that I can get that garbage disposer actually installed.

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  3. Maybe it does need a little furnishing but my eyes alight covetously on that glass newel ball with glee …. Houses that retain them are fortunate indeed 🙂

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    1. Yes, I am fortunate. This was produced as a surprise gift at the closing. There was only one, which means one was missing. I replaced it with a new, flashier one from a workshop on the Ile de Brehat, in Brittany. On this floor, flashy would have been all wrong. I am most grateful that the seller gave me this. It tells me a little about how much he cared about the house.

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    1. Thank you. It is. At first I just wanted to park some furniture until I found them a “real” home. Almost immediately I realized this was the real home. I love being there, more than I would ever have imagined.

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