Monthly Archives: October 2014

This is the way two novels (and one quick trip) end

25 Saturday Oct 2014

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Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

APRIL 26. Mother is putting my new secondhand clothes in order. She prays now, she says, that I may learn in my own life and away from home and friends what the heart is and what it feels. Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life, I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.

APRIL 27. Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead.

Dublin, 1904

Trieste, 1914

TriesteJoycePlaque

Ulysses

… and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

Trieste-Zurich-Paris 1914-1921

TriesteJoyce

In Between, Two Domes and a Buried Cathedral

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

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At the Far End of Corso Garibaldi

20 Monday Oct 2014

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As Unpredictable As Ever

18 Saturday Oct 2014

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The weather, yes, again.  But the Chiesa di S. Pietro proved to be full of surprises as well.

In the lore of European travel, the acronym “ABC” expresses a contemptible attitude toward the usual parade of churches visits arranged by tour groups. Understandable enough, in many cases.

More than most exterior architectures, that of S. Pietro has its Romanesque charms:

Yet once inside, the renovated interior could hardly keep pace.  Except for the rare anomaly, old and new somewhere juxtaposed in an arresting contrast, mostly disappointing.

Until, suddenly, Rebecca and I come upon the same smile at the same moment, seeing these chairs at the beginning, beside the pew, and then this sign at the end, in explanation of a sort:

Only there was much more in between left to ponder, from the obvious, to the still somewhat mysterious:

A prayer and a Bible story, child’s play.  But the itemizing of individual talents and interests, united under the banner of an “Orchestra,” such is the stuff that dream’s are made of.

As Predicted

18 Saturday Oct 2014

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Yesterday clouds threaten all day, never to deliver more in Spoleto than flashes of sunshine breaking through the haze, like the one that drew the cat to a third-story window to bathe.

We would have taken the photo, but our salads had our undivided attention.  Picture an old building—almost by definition—worn stucco, with shutters open and curtains revealing a feline outline.

For Whom the Bell Tolls (Yesterday Morning, 7:00 am)

18 Saturday Oct 2014

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The rains have arrived.  (Fall reigns, we wonder.)  About a week later than last year, but still a week too soon to suit our plans.

Return to Assisi will have to wait, it seems; as, increasingly, a return to the Ponte delle Torri–whence a walk to S. Pietro (a new adventure through the woods for us).

Rain predicted to follow us Monday to Firenze, and all throughout our brief stay there. Clearing perhaps by Thursday in Treviso.

Though as for that, the chances of a truly reliable weather report around here are about as likely as a Ouija Board foretelling bad fortune.  So who knows?