My daughter Monica has adopted an adorable little dog, in my wife’s words a “mini-Samoyed”. Indeed, the resemblance of this dog to my son’s Samoyed Euclid (who lives in the US) is uncanny, except for the size. Otherwise, many of the photos I took during the week were on the laptop that was stolen in Lisbon airpot on Thursday afternoon, so the blog is relatively short again.
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My friend Lars left early Sunday morning, and after returning from the airport I went for a ride. Even though it is only January, the almond trees are already beginning to bloom. It seems earlier than in previous years:
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On Tuesday evening we had the monthly meeting of our reading club WeRead, discussing “The Summer Book” by Tove Jansson, a wonderful Finnish classic. This picture was taken by one of the participants using a phone. I include it here only because it is a rare photo in which I am included. The other people in the photo are my Finnish colleague Kari (who had selected the book) and Caroline (Dutch) who is the founder and unofficial leader of the reading club:
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As a special treat for the meeting, Caroline had made bookmarks for us, with a drawing and a citation from the book. Something to treasure:
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On Saturday morning, I accompanied Monica on a walk with the new family member Mochi. He is one year old, very playful, and hardly ever barks, something my wife very much appreciated. Monica takes her responsibilities as dog mom very seriously:
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Monica wanted to have coffee at a newly opened place nearby, so I left them there:
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On the way home, I stopped to photograph the morning light streaming through a gate:
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On Sunday, I cycled to Aigues as I often do. The square in front of the church, normally a quiet place, was very lively this time. An arts and crafts market was in progress:
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Given the size of Aigues (population just under 1000), this is the kind of event where everybody comes out:
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Human and canine conversation:
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Aigues is a bit of a quirky village with several artists living there. One can see that in the way people decorate their houses and gardens:
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