7 h 30 en route vers le caf\u00e9 du village
\nCe matin, en quittant la maison, j\u2019ai tout de suite \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9blouie par le spectacle de la neige. Un \u00e9pais brouillard blanc me donnait l\u2019impression que le ciel s\u2019\u00e9tait transform\u00e9 en immense salle de bal o\u00f9 des milliers de gros flocons valsaient avec de magnifiques compagnes en crinolines de lin blanc. \u00c0 mi-chemin de la descente vers la route principale, j\u2019ai immobilis\u00e9 la bagnole. \u00c0 ma droite, les branches d\u2019un majestueux sapin exhibaient ses immenses meringues de neige. Le pied solide sur le frein, je cherchais mon cellulaire pour capturer ce trop-plein de beaut\u00e9. Clic, clic, clic. L\u2019hiver n\u2019a jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 aussi beau qu\u2019aujourd\u2019hui.<\/p>\n
Oui, oui! M\u00eame plus beau que dans la fameuse balade en tra\u00eeneau du Docteur Jivago (interpr\u00e9t\u00e9 par Omar Sharif) avec son amoureuse Lara (Julie Christie) dans le film inspir\u00e9 du roman de Boris Pasternak et r\u00e9alis\u00e9 par David Lean, Docteur Jivago, sorti en salle en 1965. J\u2019avais alors 18 ans et je me souviens encore de chaque d\u00e9tail de cette magnifique histoire d\u2019amour. J\u2019entends encore aujourd\u2019hui, en vous \u00e9crivant, l\u2019immortelle musique et la chanson Lara du compositeur Maurice Jarre. Allez sur YOUTUBE et \u00e9coutez la chanson. C\u2019est presque aussi beau que la plus belle temp\u00eate de neige!<\/p>\n
Mes quatre roues bien agripp\u00e9es \u00e0 la route 117, je roule vers le caf\u00e9. Sera-t-il ouvert? Je demeure tr\u00e8s proche, que cinq ou six rues \u00e0 traverser pour y \u00eatre. Je roule \u00e0 pas de tortue et ne peux m\u2019emp\u00eacher d\u2019admirer une dizaine d\u2019hommes-enfants jouant avec de gros camions poussant la neige sur les trottoirs. \u00c0 travers la bu\u00e9e de leurs longs parebrises, j\u2019entrevois leurs joues rouges et leurs sourires fendus jusqu\u2019aux oreilles. Ils s\u2019amusent comme des enfants, j\u2019en suis certaine. Sont-ils au moins raisonnablement pay\u00e9s pour autant de plaisir hivernal?<\/p>\n
Les anciens d\u00e9neigeurs de mon entr\u00e9e ont ferm\u00e9 boutique l\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re. Je les aimais beaucoup, surtout le pelleteur \u00e0 la main qui gardait ma galerie et le devant des deux portes de garage spic and span tout l\u2019hiver. Je sais d\u2019exp\u00e9rience que lorsqu\u2019on doit remplacer une bonne personne, on est toujours un peu inquiet, comme s\u2019il s\u2019agissait de remplacer un vice-pr\u00e9sident des finances. Faut donc se calmer le pompon et avoir confiance en l\u2019humanit\u00e9. Personne ne veut mal faire; surtout pas ceux qui ont \u00e0 c\u0153ur de passer l\u2019hiver au froid, dans la tornade, et bien souvent avec des doigts \u00e0 moiti\u00e9 gel\u00e9s. <\/p>\n
7 h 58
\nJ\u2019arrive enfin dans un espace presque vide avec quatre employ\u00e9s accoud\u00e9s sur le haut comptoir \u00e0 viennoiseries. Deux d\u2019entre eux s\u2019\u00e9lancent vers la machine pour me faire un latt\u00e9. Le caf\u00e9 est un endroit magique. Je m\u2019y installe quasi toujours \u00e0 la m\u00eame table sauf lorsqu\u2019un inconnu arrive et s\u2019y assoit avant moi. C\u2019est plut\u00f4t rare, car je suis presque toujours la premi\u00e8re arriv\u00e9e. Sauf ce matin.<\/p>\n
J\u2019aimerais quelques fois dessiner une carte g\u00e9ographique de ma vie avec tous les noms des \u00eatres qui me sont chers, imprim\u00e9s en lettres blanches sur des petites pancartes vertes bord\u00e9es de blanc, comme les noms des villages de ma GASP\u00c9SIE natale. Chaque personne n\u2019est-elle pas un village en soi? Une histoire \u00e0 raconter? Des talents \u00e0 exploiter? Des paysages \u00e0 admirer? Je planterais aussi des panneaux d\u2019affichage fluorescents annon\u00e7ant tous les bons conseils que je n\u2019ai pas \u00e9cout\u00e9s; toutes les limites de vitesse qui m\u2019ont jadis rendue folle d\u2019impatience; tous les oui qui auraient d\u00fb \u00eatre des non, et tous les non qui auraient d\u00fb \u00eatre des oui.<\/p>\n
Je calligraphierais volontiers \u00e0 l\u2019encre rose des pens\u00e9es inspirantes \u00e0 afficher dans les parcs, dans les cours d\u2019\u00e9cole et les pourtours des universit\u00e9s. Dans les grandes rues commerciales, sur les gros panneaux rouges, j\u2019\u00e9crirais ARR\u00caTE DE CONSOMMER. La consommation inutile n\u2019est-elle pas la plus grosse d\u00e9pense du logis, surtout ces ann\u00e9es-ci?<\/p>\n
9 h 15
\n\u00ab Tous ces c\u0153urs, tous ces visages \u00e9blouis devant \u201cMadame Butterfly\u201d, de Puccini \u00bb. Ainsi parle la copine d\u2019Estrie qui adore l\u2019op\u00e9ra. Moi qui n\u2019y suis encore jamais all\u00e9e! C\u2019est un accroc majeur \u00e0 ma culture et \u00e7a devrait \u00eatre ma premi\u00e8re r\u00e9solution de l\u2019An nouveau. Voil\u00e0, je vais y \u00eatre! Je viens de demander QUAND \u00e0 l\u2019ami Google. Wow! MADAME BUTTERFLY en personne \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al du 6 au 16 mai 2023. J\u2019ai amplement le temps de me renseigner sur cet op\u00e9ra de Puccini.
\n\u2014 \u00ab Google, s\u2019il te pla\u00eet, parle-moi un peu de cette Madame Butterfly \u00bb.
\n\u2014 \u00ab Une jeune geisha de Nagasaki, nomm\u00e9 Cio-Cio-San, devient Madame Butterfly en se mariant \u00e0 Pinkerton, un officier de la marine am\u00e9ricaine. La jeune femme lui voue un amour \u00e9ternel et attend patiemment son retour avec son jeune fils, jusqu\u2019au jour o\u00f9 Pinkerton revient avec sa nouvelle femme am\u00e9ricaine \u00bb.
\n\u2014 \u00ab OUACHE! Cette histoire est pire que mon mauvais mariage! Mais j\u2019ai envie d\u2019en conna\u00eetre tous les d\u00e9tails, car j\u2019aime encore les histoires d\u2019amour; m\u00eame celles qui tournent au vinaigre. \u00c0 Montr\u00e9al, du 6 au 16 mai 2023 \u00bb.<\/p>\n
Hier soir, lov\u00e9e bien au chaud sur mon divan rouge, j\u2019ai visionn\u00e9 un magnifique film sur NETFLIX : Hector et la recherche du bonheur du r\u00e9alisateur Peter Chelson, sorti en septembre 2014. Il s\u2019agit des aventures rocambolesques d\u2019un psychiatre nomm\u00e9 Hector (jou\u00e9 par Simon Pegg), fatigu\u00e9 d\u2019entendre les bla-bla de ses clients, et qui d\u00e9cide de partir en voyage autour du monde pour d\u00e9couvrir ce qui rend les gens heureux.<\/p>\n
Pendant presque deux heures, j\u2019ai voyag\u00e9 avec Hector, visit\u00e9 plusieurs pays et recueilli une douzaine de bonnes raisons d\u2019\u00eatre heureuse. C\u2019est un film absolument magnifique et je vais vite le revoir, car je veux noter chacune des raisons d\u2019\u00eatre heureux. Je vous recommande chaudement ce film rempli de sagesse.<\/p>\n
Nous voulons tous \u00eatre heureux. N\u2019est-ce pas la principale mission de notre vie? Au-del\u00e0 des al\u00e9as du quotidien, ne devrions-nous pas tous finalement mourir content\u00e9s? Pensez-y un brin. Devrions-nous, comme Hector, chercher de nouvelles raisons d\u2019\u00eatre heureux? Peut-\u00eatre avons-nous oubli\u00e9 celles que nous pensions avoir?<\/p>\n
La vie change la donne tellement souvent et les tracas tombent dans nos chaumi\u00e8res comme des pommes trop m\u00fbres dans un verger. Sans devoir, comme Hector, ratisser la plan\u00e8te, j\u2019ai moi-m\u00eame besoin de d\u00e9sherber mon jardin, d\u2019assouplir mon discours et de m\u2019ouvrir \u00e0 de nouvelles exp\u00e9riences, rencontres et aventures.<\/p>\n
Cora
\n\ud83d\uddfa<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
7 h 30 en route vers le caf\u00e9 du village Ce matin, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":16155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"7:30 a.m. on my way to the coffee shop\r\nThis morning, as I left the house, I was instantly dazzled by the splendid wintry sight: A thick fog made the sky seem like it had transformed into a grand white ballroom where large snowflakes waltzed with magnificent partners dressed in white linen crinolines. I stopped the car halfway down the hill to the main road. On my right, the branches of a beautiful pine tree were decorated in huge snowy meringues. With my foot on the brakes, I searched for my cell phone to take pictures of this extraordinary sight. Click, click, click. Winter has never been as beautiful as it is today.\r\n\r\nI\u2019m telling you! It\u2019s even more beautiful than in the famous sleigh ride with Doctor Zhivago (played by Omar Sharif) and his lover, Lara (Julie Christie). The eponymous movie was produced by David Lean and adapted from a novel by Boris Pasternak. I was 18 when it came out in movie theatres in 1965 and I still remember each detail from this incredible love story. I can still hear, as I write today, the immortal soundtrack from the movie and strains of Lara\u2019s Theme, composed by Maurice Jarre. Go to YOUTUBE and listen to it! It\u2019s as beautiful as the most beautiful snowstorm.\r\n\r\nI drive towards the coffee shop with my four wheels tightly gripping Highway 117. Will the coffee shop be open? I live nearby, maybe just five or six streets away. I drive at a snail\u2019s pace and I can\u2019t help but notice the dozen or so workers playing like kids with their big trucks, clearing the sidewalks of snow. I see their rosy cheeks and big smiles through the foggy windshields. I\u2019m certain they\u2019re enjoying some youthful levity. And to think they are getting paid for having this much winter fun!\r\n\r\nThe snow removal company that used to do my driveway closed its doors last year. I liked them a lot, especially the man who shovelled my porch and kept the space in front of the two garage doors clear all winter long. It\u2019s natural to get a little worried when you need to find a replacement for someone who was good at their job. It\u2019s as stressful as replacing a vice-president of finance. You simply need to calm down and put your faith in others. After all, no one wants to do a bad job, especially those who spend the entire winter in the cold, in storms even, and very often with half-frozen fingers.\r\n\r\n7:58 a.m.\r\nThe coffee shop is almost empty when I finally get there, with the exception of four employees hanging around the counter where the pastries are kept. Upon seeing me, two of them make a start for the coffee machine to make me a latte. This place is magical. I always sit at the same table unless someone who\u2019s not a regular gets there before me. It doesn\u2019t happen very often because I\u2019m usually the first one to arrive. Not this morning, however.\r\n\r\nSometimes I think of drawing a map of my life with the names of all those who are dear to me printed in white lettering on green signs outlined in white, just like the names of the villages in my native GASP\u00c9SIE. Isn\u2019t each person a village unto themselves, with a story to tell, talents to be discovered and landscapes to admire? I would also plant fluorescent signs in the ground announcing all the \u201cgood\u201d advice I never listened to; the speed limits that once made me impatient; the yesses that should have been nos; and the nos that should have been yesses.\r\n\r\nI would write inspiring quotes in pink calligraphy to display in parks, in schoolyards and around university campuses. On major commercial streets, I would write \u201cSTOP BUYING STUFF\u201d on big red panels. Isn\u2019t unnecessary consumption the biggest expense in a household, particularly now? \r\n\r\n9:15 a.m.\r\n\u201cAll those hearts, all those faces enraptured by Puccini\u2019s Madame Butterfly,\u201d as my friend who lives in the Eastern Townships exclaims. She loves the opera, and I have never been! It\u2019s a major shortcoming in my cultural knowledge and it should be my first resolution this year. There, you have it: I will go! I just asked my friend Google for the show dates. MADAME BUTTERFLY will be in Montreal from May 6 to 13, 2023. I have more than enough time to discover this popular opera by Puccini.\r\n\u2014 \u201cGoogle, please tell me more about this Madame Butterfly.\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cA young geisha from Nagasaki, named Cio-Cio-San, becomes Madame Butterfly after she marries Pinkerton, an American naval officer. The young woman truly loves him and patiently awaits his return with their young son. One day Pinkerton does return with his new American wife.\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cYuck. That story is worse than my bad marriage.\u201d But I still want to learn all about it because I love stories, even those that turn out badly.\r\n\u2014 \u201cIn Montreal, from May 6 to 13, 2023.\u201d\r\n\r\nLast night, happily nestled on my red couch, I watched a wonderful movie on NETFLIX: Hector and the Search for Happiness, directed by Peter Chelson in 2014. The story is about the incredible adventures of a psychiatrist named Hector (played by Simon Pegg), whose patients never seem to get any happier. He decides to travel the world in search of what makes people happy.\r\n\r\nFor nearly two hours, I travelled with Hector, visited many countries and found a dozen good reasons to be happy. The movie is wonderful and I will watch it again soon because I want to write down every single reason. I strongly recommend this movie, which is full of nuggets of wisdom. \r\n\r\nWe all want to be happy. Isn\u2019t that what lies at the core of our life\u2019s mission? The burdens of everyday life aside, shouldn\u2019t we all leave this world content? Think about it for a while. Should we follow Hector\u2019s example and look for new reasons to be happy? Maybe we simply forgot about the reasons we already had?\r\n\r\nLife deals out a new hand so often and worry drops on us from above like overripe apples in an orchard. I won\u2019t travel the world like Hector did. However, I need to weed my garden, soften my speech and be more open to new experiences, encounters and adventures.\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\ud83d\uddfa"},"yoast_head":"\n