My Life On Line.... 5.30pm "in town" ! Dead silence ! empty... Night and day ...(the tune is reassuring though !)

 

 

Nov 14th in Pertuis at 5.30pm .

 5.30 pm in a city of 20.000 souls at the foot of the Luberon, 18 kms from Aix-en-Provence: Saturday  end of afternoon Nov 14th.

Silent city with hardly any people walking around although it's rather warm for nearly mid November

 Sunset must have set the sea ablaze. I watched the last rays of the sun in the distance gazing at what it must have been by the Sea in Marseille. 

(Frioul from Malmousque Nov 19-The photo was taken last year same period : I was there for "Les Rencntres d'Averroès and Opera, I also met my friends from Paris and Karine Deshayes my favourite Mezzosoprano !)

The main central alley which was a garden in the heart of the small city center  not long ago, is now paved and young children can cycle or  ride scooters. (But hardly any flowers grow in huge 'jardinières' which ,look like graves).

But there was no one around at 5.30pm. Not even a dog-walker.

I feel sorry for children, youngsters, and the young generation in general.

 Not only they have to stay isolated  but the perspectives or either studying or finding jobs are getting worse every week as the pandemic is spreading.

The silence around this alley  we call 'le Cours de la République' not far from our house, seems ghastly to me. The angel seems to hide as the water drips gently, sweet noise, the  only noise if you go near around it.

It is not even night time. 

Saturday night somewhere on the earth where living conditons seem somehow okay?

In our hospitals nearby it is chaos again, like hell,  trying to keep people having the necessary care in order to breathe under reanimation. They are struggling in worse conditions than during the 1st Covid wave. 

I admire all the people who have been working in such appalling conditions for so long, and I feel so sad about the poorer conditions of our Health protection and yet I have the feeling that poeple like us with good jobs and decent wages have always contributed through taxes to the benefit of all, which is the basic solidarity cement of our Health protection. We have discovered the collapse of our hospitals in this pandemic period. I have tonight a deep feeling of being useless.

And yet there is solidary around, Food collecting for students and every one who needs help, is this sufficient in these days of increasing poverty? 

I did my second outing of less than an hour just to feel some freedom in moving around even breathing in my mask which is a compulsory item these days until December. Then,  the Governement will appreciate the situation again. 

I will not go to Marseille on the 19th.

 Les Rencontres d'Averroès are cancelled.

No conferences and music  on the theme of the "drifting" cities around the Mediterranean coasts. "Decaying cities" is probably also a concept which goes along with the drifting process in the long term. These ancient cities like Marseille are under a double effect of decay because of the poverty sticken areas with poorer conditons for migrants, and the gentrification of districts around the port plus  the  huge enrichment of neighbourhoods by the sea. I would have liked at this time of my life to follow these conferences about Marseille and all the cities around our Mare Nostrum.

 Back to my tune which I had on my mind in that silent small town so near bigger places, being so empty these days...  'Night and Day 'Cole Porter wonderful fox trot with Fred and Ginger for ever dancing under the moon, who can  compete with as much talent and grace?

 They fill  for a while my feeling of emptiness.