Saturday, July 14, 2007

The Glorious Fourteenth of July - Harvesting and Bastille Day

As I look out the window (it's 22:30 local time, I can see two sets of lights.

One is from the headlights of a combine harvester in a nearby field. With the graun ready to be harvested, and the weather rainy until yesterday, the farmers have been working all day - and will continue all night - to gather in the now dried out grain. And with the weather due to break in southern Switzerland on Monday or Tuesday, there is a real deadline to meet.

The other set of lights is from across Lake Geneva in France. Fireworks being let off in towns up and down the coast to mark Bastille Day. Red sparks exploding in front of the pinpricks of light coming from the distant coast. (We nipped across on a boat from Nyon (Switzerland) to Yvoire (Franice) this afternoon - and they were setting up the outdoor disco.)

Two different sets of people celebrating. One marking history, the other thankful that this year's crops have survived the rainy weather.

PS: Fort Boyard is on the Swiss TV tonight - same set, some of the same characters too!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello Alan I hope you are having a lovely holiday. Get back soon so I can get my fix of lovely sky photos taken on your frequent plane trips and posts about the Hack and Belmont!