Can't See the Forest . . .

It was one of those shining, radiant, luminous moments of being a parent . . . This past August while vacationing in Brittany, one Sunday morning my two daughters came scampering into the room, obviously quite excited about something, and cried out, "Papa, papa, come quick and see ! Hurry, bring your camera, you are going to love this !" As I'd been quite comfortable with a good book in a cosy chair, and the weather was rather grey and gloomy that day, I wasn't thrilled about being dragged out into the elements, but there it was, who could resist the energy of two girls with bright shining eyes and expectant giggles on their lips, urging me to hurry up, hurry papa, you have to get pictures of this for your blog . . .
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Yes, over the past several months, even my daughters have begun to understand what an integral part of my life this blog has become, and they want to help, being the kind young souls that they are. So I had no idea what they wanted to show me with such rambunctious enthusiasm, and after a little prodding, and feigned disinterest, they finally let on that they had seen a shopping cart up in a tree whilst returning from the market.
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"A shopping cart in a tree ?", I said, "That can't be, shopping carts don't climb trees, for heaven's sake, you must be pulling my leg. !" But they insisted that it was so, and off we went . . . From a distance, at least I could see that they were not fibbing about the tree in question, for there it was . . .
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And as we drew closer . . . Why, there it was ! A shopping cart perched precariously well up in the large lower branches of this lovely old pine . . . What a mighty heave it must have taken to loft it clear up there !
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In this third image lies the clue that probably explains more than anything else the presence of the shopping cart well up in the branches of this pine tree, the fuel, as it were, that had been consumed the night before, that had inspired the artists' minds, as this was surely a group exhibition of situational artwork . . .
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Just a very short distance away from the base of the tree these purple "Whatevertheyares", a rare botanical species rarely seen outside Brittany, were quietly flourishing in the sun's bright spotlight, doing their best to gain the attention of people passing by, but for the most part were being ignored, the shopping cart in the tree was by far the more intriguing entertainment that day. (my apologies to those of you who don't care much for blogs festooned with scads of flower pictures)

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And just up the street in a side alley rarely visited someone had decided to decorate the side of a house, although that too was being ignored for the most part, because even if you really hunted for it in Carantec, you'd have to make an effort to find it. . . up the obscure alley where it is, though not far from the world famous Hotel de Carantec that I wrote about a few posts down here. (well, I'm assuming that it is world famous now that I wrote about it. Ok, that's a bit pretentious of me, it was already world famous, and surely wasn't waiting for me to come along to make it any more so. . . :-) (And I may have to scale that wall some night with the help of a ladder and paint a shopping cart into the tree to complete this image.)

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