Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Jean Jacques


Jean Jacques - #262/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.
My father-in-law thought I'd be interested in meeting his old friend Jean Jacques because he'd just finished building his own airplane. I couldn't imagine building something so significant in my life and I've always loved airplanes, so I grabbed my camera and eagerly jumped at the opportunity to meet Jean Jacques.

Jean Jacques is 80 years old and after 4 years of construction, has completed building his own airplane. He told me a lot about the difficulty of reading the engineering directions and starting out in his basement workshop. He persevered through the directions and only needs his registration completed before he can take it for a maiden flight. Like many of the projects he's undertaken in his life, he's now rather disappointed the construction is complete, I could see in his eyes he's already thinking of his next project.

After our discussion about the airplane, he took us inside to meet his wife Fleurette. I was immediately impressed by their beautiful wooden home and wasn't that surprised to learn Jean Jacques had built it too.

We talked about lots of different subjects, including languages, travelling, technology and photography. We talked a lot about the 100 Stranger project and I told them many stories about the strangers I'd met. Looking around their home, you can tell Fleurette and Jean Jacques keep up with technology very well for their years - I even commented on their stereo system which had a vertically aligned turntable. Fleurette spends a lot of time on the internet and feels lost if she loses her connection. When I asked where they'd like their picture taken for my 100 Stranger project, she decided that beside her computer would be perfect.

We picked some apples off their trees before saying our thank yous and goodbyes. I really enjoyed my visit with this wonderful old couple and hope to see them again on a future visit to Northern Ontario.

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