Page 75 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 3 #1

FALCON 75

2

THE PARISCHRONICLES

HE SECOND DAY. There is a sharp pain against my
chin. Suddenly conscious, I realize that the razor has
cut too deeply and I am bleeding. My first thought is
Tthat I cannot afford to lose much blood. My second is to
place a finger against the wound. My fingertip is red, actually it is run-
ning red, when I look at it. There is nothing I can do, save turn my face
away from the hot water of the shower to minimize the loss of blood. It
is a deep cut. The razor, new and very sharp, did its job well.
I do what I can to press the wound closed. Despite having been
up for nearly thirty minutes, I am still not “functionally conscious” as I
often say. It isn’t jet lag (JD and I were back at the apartment by 11:30
p.m. and in bed around 1:00 a.m.), it has more to do with the differ-
ence between life in Greensboro, North Carolina and life in Paris. Iron-
ically, despite the pressure
In Paris, lunch is an event. A of what we are here for—a
{ designed for letting one’s guard with our partners, DxO
very high level meeting
moment to savor and enjoy. A time
Labs—JD and I are visibly
more relaxed. The pres-
down, for allowing the pressure to
sure of life in the States is
melt away.
not present. As we were re-
minded yesterday, in America, lunch is a sandwich eaten quickly under
the pressure to return to the task at hand. For us, this means we eat in
the car while we are driving—if we stop for food at all. In Paris, lunch
is an event. A moment to savor and enjoy. A time designed for letting
one’s guard down, for allowing the pressure to melt away. Not that it
isn’t intense here. It is. Often.

nyghtvision magazine volume 3, number 1, WINTER 2013