Many of you are going to be shocked that I got a woman's phone number today.
So, I met Annie when I sat down for a beer and some lunch after a long morning spent walking, climbing stairs and steep hills. She is from Australia. In that way travelers have of opening up to each other, we quickly shared why we were in Italy and then got down to business. She came here to do something she'd always wanted to do after her 35-year marriage broke up.
I told her about Dick and we mused about how the sudden, complete open-ended-ness of life is so disorienting, when suddenly there are so many choices and it really is just up to oneself. (Makes me think of my mom confessing that she splurged on Pepperidge Farm bread because she *could* !!)
We talked a bit about good trips and I mentioned the trip Dick and I took to French Polynesia and New Zealand, and how we met the wonderful Julie and Trevor on the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea when Dick took it upon himself to correct Jules' pronunciation of Moorea. God, I remember so distinctly wanting to pull my hat over my face while he did that but the next thing you know he and Julie were swapping stories and it was clear we'd made new friends. I told Annie how Jules had shocked us with her generosity in taking us around Auckland 3 days straight, and that it was all because Dick was .... Dick.
Well, we talked a bit more, and Annie pulled a card out of her wallet.
"Here: this has my address and phone number. Give me a call when you come to Melbourne. Just say you're Jim from Assisi. I'll remember you."
Another "why I love traveling" story: so at the same place I met Annie, I met a couple from Scotland. We talked about Andy Murray's chances at Wimbledon, the real possibility Scottland could secede from the UK, and they mentioned there was a choral concert tonight at One of the churches. I headed over to tourist info and got the church and time. Well, it was beautiful. Works by Orff, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Tsaichovsky and others performed by four different choral groups.
They did a few chestnuts (the Randall Thompson 'Alleluia' for example) but most things I'd never heard before. The end of the concert was all four groups singing a piece together, 7 parts -- a four-part SATB and a 3-part SAT counterpoint. I was literally in tears at the end. It was the music, the realization of place, the amazement that I was in Assisi walking streets St. Francis walked, the amazement at how rich life is, what a blessing to be able to hear this music, to be able to make music myself in my humble way, the beauty that all these people were combining voices to make ... this.
Beautiful. Grateful.
So, I met Annie when I sat down for a beer and some lunch after a long morning spent walking, climbing stairs and steep hills. She is from Australia. In that way travelers have of opening up to each other, we quickly shared why we were in Italy and then got down to business. She came here to do something she'd always wanted to do after her 35-year marriage broke up.
I told her about Dick and we mused about how the sudden, complete open-ended-ness of life is so disorienting, when suddenly there are so many choices and it really is just up to oneself. (Makes me think of my mom confessing that she splurged on Pepperidge Farm bread because she *could* !!)
We talked a bit about good trips and I mentioned the trip Dick and I took to French Polynesia and New Zealand, and how we met the wonderful Julie and Trevor on the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea when Dick took it upon himself to correct Jules' pronunciation of Moorea. God, I remember so distinctly wanting to pull my hat over my face while he did that but the next thing you know he and Julie were swapping stories and it was clear we'd made new friends. I told Annie how Jules had shocked us with her generosity in taking us around Auckland 3 days straight, and that it was all because Dick was .... Dick.
Well, we talked a bit more, and Annie pulled a card out of her wallet.
"Here: this has my address and phone number. Give me a call when you come to Melbourne. Just say you're Jim from Assisi. I'll remember you."
Another "why I love traveling" story: so at the same place I met Annie, I met a couple from Scotland. We talked about Andy Murray's chances at Wimbledon, the real possibility Scottland could secede from the UK, and they mentioned there was a choral concert tonight at One of the churches. I headed over to tourist info and got the church and time. Well, it was beautiful. Works by Orff, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Tsaichovsky and others performed by four different choral groups.
They did a few chestnuts (the Randall Thompson 'Alleluia' for example) but most things I'd never heard before. The end of the concert was all four groups singing a piece together, 7 parts -- a four-part SATB and a 3-part SAT counterpoint. I was literally in tears at the end. It was the music, the realization of place, the amazement that I was in Assisi walking streets St. Francis walked, the amazement at how rich life is, what a blessing to be able to hear this music, to be able to make music myself in my humble way, the beauty that all these people were combining voices to make ... this.
Beautiful. Grateful.
1 comment:
Hi Jim - I wanted to catch up with you and see how you were doing...and I had your blog bookmarked on my phone...and here you are in Italy. :). Sounds like a lovely trip. Your writing is so beautiful - very conversational - I can feel your emotions and experiences. Take care and safe travels. Don and I are well & things here are as good as they have been in a long time - we are on the same page in so many ways. I will tell him about your blog and pull it up and read it with him together. We love you, buddy. Sandy & Don
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