By Ira Katz
April 10, 2025
My apartment in Meudon is about 7 km away as the crow flies from the Eiffel Tower. On the fourth floor of my building the tower is easy to see. Yet for centuries Meudon was in the countryside, not a suburb of Paris like it is today (the suburban train to the tower takes 15 min). There were several large estates around the village. Almost all of them have now been carved up into individual lots for houses or converted into apartment complexes like mine. While Meudon has many vestiges of its past one could argue that the relics that most invigorate the town are its trees. The French have a thing for trees.The great 19th century French writer Stendhal published notes about his Travels in the South of France in 1838. He mentions the trees he finds on almost every other page. Here is one example.
At Cuers, I ate cherries for the first time this year. This little town would be rather ugly if it were not for the plane trees. The gorgeous plane tree planted in front of the town hall is definitely an armament. Magnificent sound of the bell. I went into the church, nothing could be duller, Gothic feathered arch, nave shaped like a tennis court. The square is not bad because of the great trees.
My apartment complex is named after a tree, Residence du Sequoia. The beautiful specimen was obviously there for decades before the construction of the apartments in 1960.
In the morning I sit on my couch with a cup of coffee and look at one of those marvelous French plane trees (related to a sycamore). But what makes the morning view more interesting is a pair of pigeons that I call the love birds. I don't know very much about bird biology but these two are obviously French due to their public displays of affection.
Out of our bedroom window is a much more domestic scene. I often see a very busy magpie tending her (or maybe it is his) nest while I begin to doze into my luxurious afternoon siesta.
The stars of this avian spectacle are the parakeets. Presumably escaped from captivity, these darlings of the tree tops have brilliant plumage and are exceptional flyers.
The trees and birds, everyday sights, bring me regular delight yet most people do not have the time nor inclination to pay attention to them. What a pity. It is at some level a question of attention (see my previous Believing Is Seeing - LewRockwell). For example, recently I was in Burgundy with my wife. We had an excellent, yet simple, meal at the bistro affiliated to a Michelin starred restaurant in the wine village Fuissé ( L'O des Vignes · Restaurant étoilé Saône-et-Loire, Fuissé). The next day on the road back to Meudon we stopped in Semur-en-Auxious for lunch. We ate outside on the terrace on a beautiful late winter day in this lovely Medieval town. Nonetheless my wife was paying attention to the meal; I agreed it was not nearly as good as the meal from the previous evening. I even agreed with her that it was poor. Eventually I was able to convince her that we cannot have the excellent everyday and to instead enjoy the exceptional setting. I try to live by a simple maxim, appreciate what is excellent, but do not demand it.
This orientation toward the beautiful and the good holds for people as well. The following quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is important and often cited:
"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years."
But the next line of the quote I also find critical to keep in mind. "And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained." Attention to the good in individuals helps to control the line between good and evil within. Resentment for any reason is poison. I am blessed that resentments rarely come to mind. However, if I ever think about insurance companies, like the crooked Mass Mutual Life Insurance company, a sense of bitter resentment can sour my mood for an instant.
The substance of this discussion is common wisdom. And it should not be mistaken for a Don't Worry, Be Happy attitude. Not in this world can anxiety and difficulties be avoided by me, nor can I imagine anyone else. I do not intend to suggest any kind of moral or psychological superiority on my part to have this orientation to life. Furthermore, I do not want to suggest that this is a gift only through my religious belief. That is, maybe it is more likely dumb luck, like picking a long shot to win at the track because you like its name. I have done nothing, have no practice, read no book, taken no course,... nada. Can it be found through the Christian God, Zen woo, Hindu karma, new age mysticism, or psychological therapy, (e.g., A Debt of Gratitude - Taki's Magazine)? I won't speculate. I take it purely as a gift, perhaps the greatest gift one could receive, to see the beauty in spite of the ugly; to see the good in spite of the bad.