13.08.2015 Still in Bardou

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Concert. Wondrous beauty of the concert in wondrous beauty spot. And the evening buffet a little later in the house, which is called “The Tower”. The twilight of candles and pale lamp creates a feeling like the air filled with talk, feel and passion. People from around the world are smiling and laughing. What made them all go this far? Probably, the atmosphere that I try in vain to describe in words.

The atmosphere … The others. And events. Everything merges into some stream that fills my veins, brings a sense of great joy, but confuses thoughts.

The next day after my arrival, in the early morning, I went to the house of Jean to ask what I can do, where to attach my hands. She gave me directions to wait for William, who will explain everything I need.

William. The old man, an American who has lived for 16 years in Bardou. Always on his mind, looks angry, but with very big kind heart. He is the only one who lives in the village throughout the year, in addition to Jean. And accordingly he deals with all technical matters of the village. It’s amazing how everything comes into peace when there is no comfort and other things arranged by our new century. All of the “benefits” of civilization, which we do not even think about, here is a matter of every day. Water, for example. There are two sources of water, mountain streams, winter and summer. Both lead to the tanks, which are a kind of buffer. The level in the tanks is necessary to watch, otherwise the village will remain without water. The vagaries of nature …

The first day, and my first task – to clear the shortcut trail to the tanks, which is overgrown with a couple of years ago. Armed with bolt cutters, saw and rake, a hat and a bottle of water, I set to work. Several hours later, the road was cleared, and I’m, pleased with myself, returned to the village to report on the successful completion of the mission.

On the second day, William asked me to deepen the pool for the winter watershed, which I did, climbed up by the bottom of dry creek and waved a couple of hours with a shovel. It was as if I was in the world which is perfect to me. I workv with my hands and do useful things – and it gives me real pleasure indeed. I went down to the village, jumping on the rocks with a shovel on my shoulder, singing a song. Oh, Bardou … You breathed life into me so much that I do not know how to thank you.

On the third day in a small amphitheater company of German musicians gave a concert. Quartets and quintets succeeded each other, delighting the ear. William and I climbed higher and away from the public, and enjoyed the music and beer, which brought William. Beautiful, beautiful moments.

After the concert in the highest building, the Tower, festivities happened over the last concert, which I wrote at the beginning. Lovely food and lots of wine. In one of the moments I found myself in the center of the company, which begged to sing something in Russian. I have a musical hearing, but absolutely do not have musical voice. The performance was terrible, oh, it’s all wine! Strange relationship I have with this drink … However, definitely the party was a success, and I spent quite a lot minutes of fun, telling my story to everyone curious. The people were nice and pleasant, a great evening!

I talked to Jean and her daughter, Elizabeth. At some point they asked me to describe on a paper briefly my story of arriving in Bardou. It was an idea that came to their minds when they met with me. Collect stories that led people in Bardou, and then publish a book about it. Suddenly I felt myself once again identified with Ted Simon, author of the book «Jupiter’s Travels». A lot of thoughts in this book were beaten to the point of my reflections. So this time, I felt like turbulence around my journey inspires other people to great ideas.

The next day I was invited to dine by William. He is the amazing person. I am increasingly convinced that the fate directs me to those who is an amazing diamonds in the soil of our sorrowful world. For dinner, it was a classic American steak, accompanied by gin. Then beer and Cuba Libre with the Caribbean rum. Here, again I do not even know how to describe this evening. In the twilight, in a room full of little beautiful things, to the accompaniment of classical music from a neighboring house, we talked about everything. About the people of the country, about music, about movies … Again, I felt happy, because everything inside me dragged to such kind of people, which can not be found in “normal” life. There is no end to the surprises that I feel in this strange journey. Could I imagine like that, when crossed the threshold of my house? Definitely not. All these thoughts inspire and lead me on, even despite the fact that my finances started to show the bottom of a purse … We will see …

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