APRIL "FOOLS", French for Dummies & "Me Talk Pretty One Day"

Let's all be Fool's for a day!

Rosita & Freya at Burning Man - Black Rock, Nevada - Photo E.Thiermann

"To change one's life"

1.  Start immediately

  2.  Do it flamboyantly

 3.  No exceptions      

                - William James

Rosita (Dottie) Konya,Turkey - Twirling at the Dervish Brothers

This week I heard my first spring Cuckoo & saw the first slugs of the season...had to "set fire to the rain" again -

I realize I never finished this Blog, started April 1, 2014, still sitting here in draft form, while I'm still trying to learn how to speak French! The joke's on me...

One of my classmates in Ronsenac - Karena Lowman's French Class

April Fool's Day - Let's Wash the Lions

"Poisson d'avril!" and "pesce d'aprile! - in France, Italy, and French speaking Canada, kids and adults run around tacking paper fish to people's backs (without getting caught) & then shouting April Fools!  No one stuck any fish to my back today, but I did have a delicious meal, of "Cabillaud", which is le roi de la mer (King of the sea) in France and known as Cod in USA.  It is a fish that has been eaten in Europe since the Middle Ages. The fishing boats leave from La Rochelle and search the cold, salty North Atlantic waters where the schools of Cabillaud migrate. The dried Cod is called Morue and is often preserved & sold salted within an inch of its life. Once I made the mistake of purchasing the Morue, preparing it lovingly (without rinsing it)=  April Fools!  

In 1508, French poet Eloy d'Amerval referred to a poisson d'avril, literally "April Fish", and in 1539, a Flemish poet, Eduard de Dene, wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on April 1st. Seems as though the French &  Flemish poets had quite a sense of humor!  One of the first British references appears in the 17th c., writings of John Aubrey, who called it "Fooles holy day" -- on April 1, 1698, on a not very holy fooles errand, several people were tricked into the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed".  

 

Trying to guide us thru the syntax - Ronsenac

All of this "foolishness" makes me think of one of my favorite Tarot cards:  "The Fool"

RaRa - Toujours un Imbécile

The Brilliant David Sedaris

Watch out for paper fish & don't fall for that Lion washing gag again!