Reply To: The spirit of the Three Pines community
Everyone has picked the moments that stood out for me as perfect examples of the Three Pines spirit. One other passage that stood out for me was when LP describes the nature and wildlife in Three Pines. It’s in the dramatic moment where Gamache thinks he’s about to die and he envisions his backyard in Three Pines. “As David Lavigne shouted at him, he conjured up the backyard in early evening in the height of summer. Sitting with Reine-Marie. Listening to the rustle in the woods as a chipmunk scurried or a deer strolled by. On its way home. As he took Reine-Marie’s hand, he heard birdsong and the unruly cicadas, their call comforting now. And all around them fireflies danced. How lucky he’d been. To be of a last generation that believed it would last forever. The forests and clean rivers, the fresh air. His was the last generation, as it turned out.”
It’s wistful and emotional and I thought it was sad, like an elegy. Gamache is acknowledging the beauty of the natural world of Three Pines, but knows that it’s a world that is disappearing. Yet Three Pines is a haven for wildlife and the residents care and tend to nature. So I’m not sure it’s inspiring per se, but there is maybe some inspiration to be found in remembering to recognize the natural beauty around us, to be aware of it and cherish it.
