Nonsense/Cat Sense
Often this time of year when the light fades and mornings are very dark, my mind wakes up with songs or ideas already formed. This morning it was Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussycat.”Years ago, when I first awoke … Continued
Close Connections
Italy’s regions hold fiercely to their cooking. Polenta made of corn in the Po Valley, region of immense corn fields. The Veneto influenced by French, wine-based meat sauces. Olives and bread in Sicily. Cheeses throughout, especially cheeses made from goat’s … Continued
Wedding 2010
It’s not mine or even my daughter’s, but my step-daughter’s wedding that suddenly appears over the horizon like a glowing ball of tendriled flowers. We will sit down with thirty-five others who love her and the adorable groom. What to … Continued
Loot or Museums in New Worlds and Old
Recently, two excellent Minneapolis Institute of Arts docents guided my writing class from Metro State through a “City and Country” tour, with an added stop in the African rooms. I’ve followed this practice of taking writing students to the MIA … Continued
Country and City in Italy
Food and the countryside–two topics my Italian friends never tire of discussing. I think of their food fascination as “lingua” which means tongue as well as language, or as in the name of a nice family-run restaurant on the other … Continued
ltaly: Where They Talk of Walls and Sun
My last stop in Italy was with my wonderful friends, the visual artist Patricia Glee Smith (born in Savannah, Illinois) * and her Italian husband Giangi Poli. Giangi used to create documentaries on science and politics for Italian public television; … Continued
The Land of Eels
In Ferrara, Italy, not far from the Adriatic Coast, my friend traveling with me recounts the eel festival in Commachio. In Ferrara, the streets are paved with small stones worn smooth by the huge Po River which brings agricultural wealth … Continued
The Moon’s Fingernail
Hanging in the night sky and scratching at the window, the moon’s fingernail insists upon entering. What exactly it brings–fear, loathing, cold distance, even a brief respite from self-absorption with its reminder of a pearl, a shell–the moon links me … Continued
Facebook, Twitter, Social Change and How to Save the Planet, etc.
Yesterday I read a startling article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker about “weak” and “strong” connections (Oct. 4, “Small Change”). According to Gladwell, the young African American students who started the wave of lunch counter sit-ins in 1960 … Continued
Correction & Mrs. Gaskell
Spelling isn’t my strong suit: the author from Ferrara is Georgio Bassani. Title of his work correct: The Garden of the Fitzi-Continis. Other wonderful writers I’ve encountered in Italy sometimes have nothing to do with Italy. Their books sit on … Continued