Inspired by Camille Pissaro (1830 – 1903) – Hoarfrost – Oil on canvas – 10,63 x 13,78 inch

Louis feels tired, so tired. Another winter once more. He doesn’t stop aging, year after year. He really can’t take it anymore. He is like his grand-daughter saying “throughout her life”!

His friend and neighbor who happens to be a farmer made it clear that this winter will be a tough one. And we are talking about global warming? He would like it. That would mean he wouldn’t have to go to the woods, to his woods, far, so far away from home. When he bought this piece of land in his youth, he hadn’t thought about it. It hadn’t even considered it. Of course, walking that distance at 20 years old is pretty cool, you can even run if you feel like doing so. But adding sixty years to the first twenty ones, it’s totally different. And frankly, even a little bit more than 1 mile on foot, bundles on your back, a cane on your right hand and getting dizzy without warning, no way. One day, he will eventually end up bottoms up, half stunned by a stone on the edge of the road. And no soul to rescue him. Or he could well be found the next morning by Marcel walking his dog, a golden retriever. And he would be dead, frozen by the pungent and intense cold of December. Moreover, it could be happening on Christmas Eve. What the hell!

Meanwhile, Louis keeps going back and forth at least twice a week. He lights his fireplace with the small wood picked up sparingly. He doesn’t intend to go there too often. Tonight, he is happy, he is invited to his young neighbor who has promised to treat him with a stuffed carp, he loves eating it since he is a very young boy. He has already put a good bottle of white wine in the fridge. A bottle of Chablis, the beautiful young lady’s favorite wine. He also bought the dessert from the baker coming every two days by truck in his street. The butcher also drives this way the following days. A good thought for old people feeling so lonely otherwise. In a few years, his town will hace become be a poor and small ghost village in France.