One Thing Does Lead to Another

preparing for Easter

Easter is about rebirth, newness, awakening to the reality of a new beginning. It is about forgiveness, hope, rising to the holiness of the moment.
Easter is about change, welcoming change.

Chelsea applied to two University exchange programs for next year and she was accepted to both.
Three months in San Francisco and four months in China.
The reality of change came knocking on my door when I read on her FACEBOOK account:
"Should I wear some flowers in my hair?"
Later she told me she hopes to continue with an internship in Asia as well.

At that moment something dawned on me:
Chelsea will not be in France for several months.
Sacha is thinking about doing a gap year in Willows.
Both our children could be away from home for a year.

musical Easter egg

Late last night, my newest habit, I woke up, and poked French Husband, "Are you awake?"

"You know, why are we staying in France if both our children will not be here?" I
went on to say, "We could go stay with my Mother for several months…"

Easter… a new beginning. Seeds planted. Rebirth. Change….

Who knows what will September bring. Who knew that such wishful thinking might actually turn out to be a dream come true.

Easter setting

Talk about food for thought.

Talk about change.
Talk about little chicks hatching and spreading their wings.
Talk about Mother Hen all a flutter.
Talk about Rooster having something to crow about.



Comments

62 responses to “One Thing Does Lead to Another”

  1. NON ! You are not going to leave us and to leave Provence …..
    Well even if I can understand that actually every member of your cherished family (except french husband) will be in the states and you feel like you want to be with them …
    When are we going to see each other ???I have NEWS

  2. Wonderful….new adventures you can take
    us on…more stories for your book…
    maybe Chelsea can start a blog too…
    would love to hear about her adventures
    in China…
    and I love these Easter photos and the
    white tulips in the blue flow vase
    are beautiful. You are a real artist
    and a treasure.
    Jann

  3. Wow, I feel change in the air…
    I hope that this coming year brings with it all things good.

  4. All my kids are from China. Where will Chelsea be? I may know someone in the area (it’s always good to have a contact.) What an exciting time! I think you and FH should do a house trade…with me:) You can run my shop and I will run yours!

  5. Love you my darling
    Life is a series of new beginnings
    Love you
    Jeanne♥
    Happy Easter♥

  6. Change is good! It keeps us alive and thinking and feeling! We must keep re-inventing ourselves! Your photographs are beautiful….wonderful composition!
    Have a Happy Easter!
    🙂

  7. you are sounding wistful Corey.. it is surely a different life when the children leave home to spread their wings.. it happened to us last year but we have embraced it and go riding lots, walk together and now, we have sold our beloved Inglewood and bought a new[old] house to start the next chapter of our lives.. we are both quite excited.. not moving countries but moving house 🙂

  8. Change, yes,
    and new beginnings!
    I have four children. Changes? Oh, who counts them?
    Enough said. From my perch I’d say: I see a book in there. Somewhere!
    Happy Easter and only happy changes to you and all your loved one,
    Merisi

  9. I should read my comments before hitting the publish button!
    I meant of course that I see the birth of YOUR book in there somewhere! 🙂

  10. wonderful plans! I’m excited for you and your children, Corey. is Chelsea coming to Hong Kong? HKUST has #1 business school in Asia. My son is a student there, so any questions about the school (or life in Hong Kong) are welcome 🙂

  11. I say you’ve been handed a perfect scenario for time to spend with family in your old country.

  12. OOooohhhhhh!!!
    Let me know what you plan to do!!! Gresham is only 8 hours away from Willows ♥

  13. Who knows what the future holds for us? For now I whish you and your family in France and in Willows a very Happy Easter!

  14. Linda C.

    Change…
    I felt it & re-lived it just now.
    My heart is all a flutter.

  15. How exciting. Life is good even on this Good Friday.

  16. Family is everything, and I understand wanting to be near family…. but, I would miss viewing your online brocante each morning 🙁

  17. Willows with a French Twist. Love it!!!

  18. Sounds like a good plan.. I think though if it was my husband he would let me go on my own, if I kept waking him up.. 🙂
    Love your photos Corey!!

  19. Oh Corey YOU have to come to San Francisco too! I want to show you our brocante and all its treasures! F.H. can take a ride on Highway One down the coast in a rented Harley while we play! What do you think? xxoo-Bird

  20. When I lived in England I made several trips back to America to visit family, especially when my dad was ill. And I’m so glad now I did. There is a need in all of us to return to our roots eventually, and often it’s family that brings us to do just that. I hope you have time for a trip to the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire, it’s awesome especially in the autumn, and if you do…stop by for a visit!
    Chris

  21. I have lamented for some years now that I wanted our daughters to be strong and independent – what I really wanted was for them to do it on the next block. Oh well . . .
    My baby chick just gave birth to her own little chick and my heart is filled to overflowing. It is an eight hour drive to be with them, not insurmountable, just a challenge we already met on Monday, and will do again and again.
    We love them and then we let them go when the time comes. You will have new adventures and challenges, and, dare I say, a better appreciation of your own mom letting you go. I know I sure do.
    Enjoy this season of hope and rebirth.

  22. see Msma hen all a’flutter-and mr. rooster
    in a sunrise strut-empty nest here-a new
    nest there!! the resurrection renewed every
    glorious season…k.

  23. Good for you for seeing your “empty nest” as an opportunity! Enjoy your time. Fill it up your way!

  24. Shelley @ decoragain.blogspot.com

    If I could have my mom back for even one month, I’d be stuck to her like glue…go with your instincts….fly little bird fly!

  25. Uh oh, didn’t you meet the man of your dreams in San Francisco? Isn’t that funny! I know EXACTLY how you feel. My only child moved away from home (Phoenix) last September to attend law school in Seattle and I was happy and sad at the same time. She is home for Easter right now so I’m all a flutter. Yes, BRAVO to you for thinking of the opportunities. Oh, good things are brewing, I can feel it. LOVE LOVE LOVE your photos. Probably because I love your home.

  26. HOT DIGGIDY!
    My youngest (16) will go away to school this Fall as well, though only 3 hours away. After a life time of raising six kids I will need to find my way into this new phase of life like you.
    Willows is only a stones throw 😉
    We could share notes.
    Happy Easter Corey!
    Love, Celeste

  27. Claudia Driscoll

    Hi Corey,
    The most brilliant ideas come in the middle of the night! It’s only 3 months, do it! Take the time to be with your mom while you can.
    It will be inspiring and refreshing.
    Happy Easter,
    Claudia

  28. Soooo, who’s staying in your place in France???

  29. Every single thing sounds wonderful. How nice that Chelsea was selected for both of her studies abroad, and I know Sacha really enjoyed his summer in Willows and will no doubt thrive there for a “gap” year. It only seems natural that you and FH would fly the coop for awhile too. Just another adventure!

  30. When Chelsea goes to China, maybe she’ll get to visit the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Gambling industry aside (yuck!), there are still Portuguese architectural and cultural influences there. I once met some faculty members from the University of Macau, one of whom brought a fascinating photo exhibit of the (non-resort part of the) city — how I’d love to visit there someday!

  31. How interesting that you are dreaming of the United States while your readers are dreaming of France….Happy Easter!

  32. Hey Chick-how great for them! I think that it would be great to come visit! Maybe another meeting in Chico! How fun!
    Great Easter Decorations!

  33. Change can be so rejuvenating! I can’t wait to hear of new adventures in the next year. Oh yes, flowers in your hair, how I do remember. I think it is time for a trip to the city by the bay.

  34. I can ‘see’ your heart – we give our children wings, but it’s sometimes so difficult to see them fly…

  35. Then you could Brocante in reverse.

  36. Corey, may all our dreams come true!
    Happy Easter all of you !

  37. Brother Mathew

    I think The Who said it best:
    Out in the woods
    Or in the city
    It’s all the same to me
    When I’m drivin’ free, the worlds my home
    When I’m mobile

  38. Chelsea’s coming to San Francisco? Come on, Coco … cough up the details!
    °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
    Hi F.B.
    Chelsea applied and was accepted. She will spend four months in SF and four months in China. In China she will have four hours a day of Chinese. (!)
    I hope she can live in the dorms in SF. If not she will have to find housing. Possible with the other students from France or sleep on the beach, but not Baker Beach.
    More later.
    C

  39. Oh My Goodness, Corey. What possibility lies ahead of you. Can’t wait for updates.

  40. decoragain.blogspot.com

    wait…how can you do that….?? jobs etc?

  41. husbands, children, moving….oh my!

  42. becky up a hill

    Oh Corey, you would come to Willows. Yea, maybe we can finally meet.

  43. Two finches chattering on a Sunday morning, that’s my Mom and I. The weekly phone call. “Hi Mom, it’s me.” “Hi Laura dear, let me grab my coffee.” Two hours of back and forth about nothing. How I would love to do that everyday in person.Go home Corey. Three months of waking up and having tea with your Mom. How wonderful. As, for Chelsea going to school in San Francisco? This is great news. I’ll have a new neighbor in a city of one million.
    Laura
    SF
    ____________________
    Hi Laura
    I agree! Dreamy true to be surrounded by family.
    C

  44. sounds like dreams are coming true… for all four of you!

  45. (assuming that French Husband will be there in Willows with you, of course!)

  46. Corey: “We could go stay with my Mother for several months…”
    Uh, doesn’t Yann have a job he has to go to? Or can he telecommute from anywhere?
    _______________________
    Hi Kathie
    He can telecommute for the most part.
    C

  47. Yes–Corey–come visit San Francisco. We can all meet up (earlier posts by San Franciscans) at my studio for coffee or wine and show you around our beautiful city!
    Pamela

  48. Natalie Thiele

    What spontaneity! You and your endless imagination. You are unbelievable! Yes, grab the opportunity. Lucky that FH goes right along with any scheme you can cook up. (If Ricky had gone along with all of Lucy’s schemes, there would have been no “I Love Lucy.”)
    I’m wondering what creative plan you will think up for renting your home.

  49. jend’isère

    How exciting if we can all follow you even further west on the journey to China. Best wishes to the multicultural family adding to your international experiences!

  50. Victoria

    Maybe we can visit when you come to Willows, maybe ride up and down the rows on a tractor. Even if it feels like the chicks are flying away, know that they come back. They will never stop needing you.

  51. my son has lived in japan the last three years we spend alot of time on skype but i miss him lucky me he got into a law school in chicago that is only two hours away coming this Aug….I glad he got to travel and see the world but there is a part of me that wants him close….Happy Easter

  52. How beautiful your writing is. A friend just introduced me to your blog. I am American but have longed to live in France for many years. My husband and I were in Nice a few years ago and now, when I look at your photos and read your writing, I weep. My great grandmother was from the South of France and it is almost as if it were in my genes, the desire is so strong to be there. Maybe one day, but until then, I will look forward to reading your posts and looking at your exquisite photographs.

  53. Linda C.

    I think the winds of change have been flowing through your open windows for awhile now.

  54. Bonnie Buckingham

    I chuckled at your last lines!
    SO I had to come here to tell you , way down on these posts!
    Will everyone be in America? Sounds like West Side Story!
    Happy Easter.
    He is risen indeed.

  55. Kimberly

    Corey, your post makes me smile. Adventurous and fun! Blessings, Kimberly

  56. You can count on nothing except change. Go with the flow and do what feels good in your heart. Spend time with your mother while you can. My mom lives in our guest house and we have a blast together. I wouldn’t give up this time with her for anything. Wanna house swap? 🙂

  57. I just went to your “about” page in the hopes I could find out what French husband does for a living… that he could possibly do it from willows. And got side tracked. I’m sure that writing a blog you’d want to know who’s listening so commenting is polite. I read your blog every night from my iPhone so commenting isn’t always easy or fast which is why I rarely do (sorry if that’s rude). Please know that I look forward to this time of night, kids and American husband asleep, house quiet, when I get to read and dream of life outside of my life. Thank you Corey!

  58. Ellen Cassilly

    You could do a house exchange with anyone on the blog – the only bad thing for them is that you wouldn’t be there and the only bad thing for you is that you wouldn’t be at the brocant. Keep breathing.

  59. “One thing led to another” is probably my favorite phrase right now.
    All the things you talk about, change, risks, the possibility of the next, resonate with me over 1000 times!
    Corey, you must go to China. If you go, I’ll meet you there! We’ll have our own 4 hour of Mandarin Chinese lessons a day.
    There is something very Chinese about the way the French are, and there’s something very French, the way the Chinese are. I’m not kidding.
    J

  60. loved your white tulips so much that I went to the tulip farm nearby and bought myself a bunch. I never buy flowers just for me. I think that will change, I didn’t know how happy this small thing makes me. Glad Ester to you.

  61. Victoria Ramos

    Many sincere congrats to Chelsea! Hopefully your son won’t be too bummed if his parents showed up during his gap year ;-). What a perfect plan! I am missing my darling daughter all the time now that she is away at UC Santa Cruz – only 3 hours from here, but at times seems like 12. Go for it Corey!

  62. joanne nixon

    oh go for it !! how wonderful for you and your family! my children are all grown…most live here in the area, but a couple of them have flown off to different locales…one in europe, one in the state north of us….it is so easy to keep in touch since the computers and cell phones are so easy. i once read that goldie hawn’s father said to her…..”.wherever you are, the umbilical cord reaches there”….never forgot that…your children will always be close because that is how you raised them…close to the heart….have a very happy day!

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