Reverse Hiatus: Back to Los Angeles for Work

Brenna at the fountain in Saint Quentin la Poterie, FranceI feel like I've just started getting the lay of the land around here in the south of France, and now I'm heading back to Los Angeles for almost a month. I'm going home to work Pilot Season - that crazy time of year when all the hopeful TV shows for the next season come tumbling into post-production within a few days of each other, each one hoping to be among the lucky few picked to be added to the network schedule. All of us in Post work very long days, 7 days a week, for a few weeks, and then it's over. It's intense, but the money is good.

By the time I get back to Saint Quentin la Poterie again, Spring will be in full bloom, Ella will finally have a missing tooth grown in, and Owen will probably

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My Boucherie

This is the Boucherie just down the street from me. Isn't it cool! The butcher looks the least French of anyone I've seen here. He's got that mid-west salt-of-the-earth vibe going. No scarf thrown casually round the neck just so. No ancient but perfect sweater that I'd kill to run across in a vintage store. I think the last time I was

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A New Reader Tells It Like It Is

Brenna here. Here's a comment we got today:

Just reading about your trip.

What happened to "Our intention is to spend this year searching for people who are taking control of their lives in these uncertain times. We’ll be bringing you people from all over the world who are finding new opportunity during a time when conventional wisdom tells us to hunker down and sit still. People with enough vision to turn a bad situation into a propelling force that might not have existed for them before all hell broke loose."

It's entertaining reading about your daily lives but why the change? Readers know almost as much about your friends and families as we do about you from all of their words of support after every post. Nice you have such a cheering section!

Good travels - or whatever you are doing! Luck be with you.

Man!! Ouch!  

He's referring to a blog post I wrote before we left. In that post I talked about

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Fun With Poultry

On Saturday we went to the weekly market in Uzes. We bought herbs to plant in the yard, and sausage with thyme and walnuts, but the thing that broke the bank was the chicken. Not just any chicken - a fancy chicken. A Poulet Noir, the French King of the Barnyard. We paid €18 for 5 pounds of poultry!

We brought our precious dinner home, and while Ella and friends dyed and painted Easter eggs in the living room, and Owen disappeared into the tree-house with a book, Bob and I got to work on dinner. Ah - such fun! First we had to cut off head and

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I think I'm Gonna Like It Here

There's something about this little town. I walk slower. I look up. The kids and I had only been in Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie for a week, and already our friendly neighbors had drawn me out of my shell. I'm not usually a very social kinda guy, but around here I'm practically a social butterfly! On Saturday I talked the kids into going to Carnival in town. We met neighbors. On Sunday, Sarah from across the street rang the bell to invite us to work in a friend's vineyard for the day. Ten minutes later we were following a small convoy to Vallabrix, a nearby village to pitch in.

Serge, the winemaker and vineyard owner (and also Postman) is converting his

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