they measure the rainfall here in southwest france in millimeters. when we left minneapolis, we were already over 400 mm, and it was still june. by our standards this is a dry and parched place. and yet, the abundance of fruit and flora makes us re-examine our assumptions.  this is not desert. moist air from the mediterranean blows across the plains to the foothills just behind our village.  it is dry enough to make the olives and grapes suffer, and yet moist enough to nourish kitchen gardens and orchards.  there is so much humidity in fact, that the local charcutier must be located up over the foothills so that his sausages will properly age.  so we all drive 20 minutes up over the hill to buy his dried sauasages and salamis. i suppose you could call that an inconvenience. but we don’t.

dried mudcracks

laurens, france