Au Cochonnet Marin

The French say  « Loin des yeux, loin du cœur. » Literally “far from the eyes, far from the heart”. But it is not always true.

Our dear friend Colette Van Der Meulen who followed her husband to New Mexico a few years ago has never been far from our hearts. She is a delightful person, with an ever-ready smile and a hearty laugh. You feel good just standing next to her.

We are saddened to learn that her husband just passed away at age 47 from cancer complications. He was not a pétanque player and we seldom saw him on the field, but as Colette’s husband, he was part of our pétanque family. Our heart goes out to Colette and her loved ones at this difficult time.

I didn’t know much about the man and I have always deplored this gap about the people we know. It is often after he/she passes away that we learn more about a person we have known for years. Few people knew for instance knew that my friend Jack Rosenstein (who passed away 10 years ago) was a sergeant in the US army, an outstanding telegrapher and a Morse code virtuoso during WWII.

Toward the end of the war, he was summoned to Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, France, and was asked to contact the Germans (through his Morse “bug”) to invite them to surrender. After a few rebuffs, they responded positively and my friend was one of the first people in the world to learn about the German surrender.

He witnessed the official signing marking the end of the hostilities at a Little Red Schoolhouse in Reims, when on May 7, 1945, German general Alfred Gustav Jodl formally surrendered to the Allies.

When somebody joins our club, it might be a good idea to ask him/her to provide a few notes outlining his/her life and career. I was delighted for instance to learn yesterday that Lamorinda’s Eddy Pay was for 27 years a San Francisco cable-car operator. One of my earliest memory, when I came to the city, was of course to hitch a ride on a cable-car. It might even have been a car operated by Eddy!

You will find a few pictures of Colette in “My Photos”.

Enjoy, and if you have a chance, let her know that she will always occupy a warm place in our hearts and that we often think about her.

Alain

Laugh while you can, because the minute you stop laughing, you start dying.
Today. the world is begging for a Covid-19 vaccine… and a good laugh. And not necessarily in this order.

Never mind the politically-correct naysayers. Laugh at nothing and everything, it is good medicine. Laugh at death, religion, politics, race, sex, disease… There is no taboo anymore; laugh at everything instead of wallowing in sorrow.
Laughter is universal and more powerful than the coronavirus. It is more contagious and even if you wear a mask, it will get to you.

Laughter is also highly versatile. It can seduce or destroy. When used skillfully, it can breach any wall and drive people to surrender.
The best way to seduce a woman for instance is to make her laugh. If she laughs at your jokes, she likes you and will be putty in your hands.
Marylin said it before I did.

“If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything.” ― Marilyn Monroe

Laughter can also be weaponized. Make people laugh at somebody’s expense, and he/she will be hobbled for quite a while. Can you take seriously, somebody who has been mercilessly ridiculed? The present occupant of the White House ought to know.

“It has not been easy for me … My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars.” October 26, 2015, on NBC’s “TODAY” show.

This clearly demonstrates that the only way to make a small fortune is to start with a big one!

A great part of anybody’s charm is an easy laugh. Regardless of how you look, if you can make people laugh, they will take you into their hearts. If handsome (but obviously dull) Christian de Neuvilette could have made Roxane laugh, he would not have needed Cyrano.

Let’s conclude with some more laughter:

A little more determination!
One morning, a man pinched his wife’s buttocks, saying: “If you tightened that up a bit, we could get rid of your girdle and your compression stockings”
She was miffed, but she said nothing.

The next morning, he woke her up by pinching her breasts and said: “You know if you tightened that up, we could get rid of your bra.”

That was too much. She turned around, grabbed him by the penis, and said:
“You know if you tightened that up a bit, we could get rid of the gardener, the postman, the pool washer, and your brother…”

Alain

I just voted, and I consider this undertaking as one of the most important decisions of my life. I voted, no need to wait, and I mailed my ballot as soon as I received it. No need to wait a single minute to fulfill my obligation as a citizen and make sure that my choices are recorded. Too many important issues are at stake in this Presidential election to neglect an essential civic obligation.

Being a good citizen does not mean waving flags and parading with guns. It means being informed, responsible, and willing to uphold the law.
This year, due to many alarmingly declarations by the occupant of the White House, there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety concerning the elections.
If on the losing side, the incumbent never formally agreed to a peaceful, orderly transfer of power. Before the votes are even tallied, he pledges a “major investigation into voter fraud.” Nothing to inspire confidence into a smooth, orderly transition.

Looking back at history, 2020 bears many frightening similarities with 1933.

1933 was the worst year of the Great Depression and unemployment peaked the world over. 2020 is so far the most damaging year of the Covid-19 pandemic and millions are out of work and demoralized.
In Germany, during that period, there was a lot of unrest and exaggerated fears about Communism. Alarmed people demanded Law and Order.
In the US, increased turmoil and inflated fears about fictitious QAnon and the “Radical Left “compels many people to side with a man who preaches confrontation rather than appeasement.

In 1933, a certain Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany, and immediately enforced his own version of Law and Order. He fiercely clamped down on dissenters… and opened the first concentration camp at Dachau. Beware of stern law-abiding headmen!

Giving a second chance to a man who is an inveterate liar, is like giving carte blanche to Ivan the Terrible. He is as flighty as a bedbug and disposes of friends and allies as easily as emptying a garbage can.
This is also a man who has constantly downplayed the severity of the pandemic. After 210,000 victims and being himself infected by the virus, he still persists in denying the severity of Covid-19. Wearing a life-saving mask seems to be for him and his supporters, a pesky option rather than a mandatory obligation.

The most powerful democracy in the world deserves a better candidate than a fraudulent businessman. His opponent is not flashy, but he is an experienced man with a sense of decency and compassion. As displayed recently on TV, he is also a gentleman who has much better manners than his boorish opponent. Manners worthy of a President of the United States, not of a carnival barker.

Vote early and be counted!

Alain