English-speaking friends of mine sometimes ask why the French are so picky about the gender when speaking. Why does it matter, it just makes it more difficult to learn the language. Voici la reponse!!1 Le français est une langue réputée pour la richesse de son vocabulaire , pleine de nuances et de subtilités……. Exemple… Continue reading Masculine/Feminine – It Does Matter in French
Author: Kathleen Hall
Roanoke Island
Roanoke Island, North Carolina We took off Thursday morning for a week’s trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As someone who grew up in California, I didn’t know much about anyplace east of the Rocky Mountains, let alone south of the Mason-Dixon line. To me, the south-eastern U.S. was all hot, humid, maybe… Continue reading Roanoke Island
Peralta, April 19,20
North of Albuquerque the desert stretches into infinity. Long, low hills of sand dotted with sagebrush is all you see, once you enter the land of the Santa Ana Pueblo Indians just past Bernalillo. Then suddenly there is a faux adobe wall indicating a restaurant and a golf course at the next turn. There are… Continue reading Peralta, April 19,20
New Mexico
*April 16th, Peralta The elm trees are greening up before my eyes, their black and gray branches blurring now to leafy shafts rising towards the sky. The cottonwoods, whose twisted branches form elaborate patterns against the deep blue New Mexican sky, have not yet begun to bud. Barren mountains break the eastern horizon, and… Continue reading New Mexico
Nevada City, California
Nevada City lies in the Sierra Foothills, about 100 miles west of the north shore of Lake Tahoe, and an hour’s drive east of Sacramento. It was settled in the mid=1800’s during California’s Gold Rush, and vestiges of mining are everywhere. If you know where to look you will find old mining sites and tracks… Continue reading Nevada City, California
More North Carolina
I am thinking of making the airport wheel chair experience permanent. My initial reluctance to look like an invalid has been replaced with a crafty glee in by-passing security lines, check-in lines, filing sheep-like into- the- plane lines, and trudging all over the airport. The little electric carts are just fine, and I’ve met some… Continue reading More North Carolina
North Carolina
The night after my arrival in North Carolina I went up to bed covered in red, yellow, green, and purple stars. A tiny red heart was pasted on my cheek. Gabriella placed them there as rewards, and they are valued emblems. When I take off my sweater I am careful not to dislodge them. I… Continue reading North Carolina
IN THE DARK
Pre-dawn dark, silence. Nothing to still my clawing Thoughts in this empty House. Cold stones echo As I descend the winding Staircase. My dog, asleep on her chair Hears me through her dreams, Wags her tail, Knows me. Knows me. She stretches, comes to put Her damp nose against My hand.… Continue reading IN THE DARK
EARLY BLOOMS
A hot house it was, too small For the four of us, who bloomed too early In pots too small, were overfed, Flowering quickly, before it was too late. We struggled to blossom prettily To become the right color and shape Exude the most pleasing fragrance It seems, though, that in the hot,… Continue reading EARLY BLOOMS
PRESENT TENSE
My future was before me, interminable I had the time, I thought, to get it right. Time to become the woman I want to be, So nobody ever again could throw away My secret treasures, or move them So I have to ask where they are. Over and over I tell myself, This time,… Continue reading PRESENT TENSE