The last bell of the school year rang on June 20. My little ones are “released” into the wild. At least, a little more than in the routine of school days in the city. From my room at the chalet, I hear them giggling, (again) asking for a Popsicle, moving some furniture, opening and closing the mosquito nets. Clac-clac-clac… The very bearable summer clicking noises. Bearable because full of promises of swimming (and too bad for the rain!), of food, of arrivals of friends; the youngest ones who must be looked after, the oldest ones whom we secretly admire, who know how to put the fishing line back on the rod, who can bring the paddle board back to the dock when it goes too far, that the tiny muscles are not sufficient for the task. Long live the grown-ups! Long live Cali too, the beautiful golden retriever that Carolina brought and who serves as a comfort blanket for the flos. For adults too…
Above all, long live the Ladies of the Lake. It was the great Julie who decided on the name of our group. This season, we are sharing the rental costs of a chalet that we would all like to own at Brome Lake. We make ourselves believe that he is a little bit ours. We make impossible plans to buy one like this. We’ll never have one like it, but at least we feel like we’re enjoying a bit of a dream. With your fingertips, let’s say. The Ladies of the Lake are resourceful. Les Dames du lac is all the talents gathered under one roof. There are those who know how to count (clearly not my category), those who know how to cook, those who know how to repair things that break, even teeth (still not my category), those who know how to make people laugh, those who know how to console, those who prepare the best cocktails, those who drink more than others, those who smoke in secret, those who dance tipsy to Jean Leloup like when we were 20. My daughter is ashamed of her mother who yells “In Algiers it’s always summer, we have fun on the sidewalks…”. She wouldn’t dare complain. Yesterday with Mia, they played in my beauty bag… I think there is one that would like to please Victor who is starting secondary school in September. Lucky for her, here, it seems that I have more patience for the attitudes she gives me. I breathe better. Especially after swimming which stimulates the senses. The best ones are done in the morning by surprising the great blue heron which flies away when you undo its landscape. No, the best ones are done during the blue hour… Without a swimsuit, those. Without a great blue heron. I certainly wouldn’t want to bother the poor creature who seems so precious.
Gentlemen sometimes come to visit us. We don’t expect them that much. Like in the novel The Ladies of the Lakeclassic of the fantasy written by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Merlin the magician, Arthur and his fabulous sword, Lancelot du Lac and his friends are pleasant company, but here, it is the women who play the leading roles in our epic. We feel like we are sticking to the characters of Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, Ygerne, Duchess of Cornwall, Morgane the fairy, sister and lover of the great king… Moreover, by arriving in Estrie with a box of books, I wanted to give the strong and dignified Ladies something to escape from their demanding jobs. In recent months, they have gone through bereavement, separations, career changes, illness, perimenopause of mar…(de). We are getting a little old after all. My friends are strong and dignified. Seeing the pile of books on the living room table, they made me feel like I was Mother Christmas. Carolina rushed to Run into danger by Sarah Polley, Sonia still hesitates between Olivier Adam or Camilla Läckberg, Julie is called by This desire points me by Claire Legendre. I put aside the two volumes of Paul. Vacation package! from Rabagliati for Amélie, who will join us in a few hours. For my part, I find the words of Goliarda Sapienza, my favorite rebel writer. I interrupt the troupe with a quote taken from The art of joy. The Ladies of the Lake sometimes rely on the words of others to lift themselves up.
— You have two little commas at the corners of your lips, Jo. Or are they two parentheses?
—Those are two wrinkles, Modesta.
— That’s not true! These are two parentheses that add meaning to the sentence about your face.
We’ll talk about our wrinkles again in the fall.