The brochure for the Lilly endowment sabbatical grant proposal simply said, "What will make your heart sing?" I took that as an invitation to let my imagination go wild, so I spent the next several weeks, with the counsel of wise friends, dreaming up a five week trip to Florence. It was a warm Texas May, and I was imagining a cool Tuscan autumn.
To have received this wildly generous grant is an incredible privilege. I am grateful beyond words to the Lilly Endowment and to my parish for their support, but what I imagined and what is real have turned out to be two different things. Not to worry...my heart is definitely singing.
First of all, there was the time at home before I left. Well, suffice it to say that it turned out to be a mite busier than plan A. There were three good trips in that time...two to see sons and their families, and it doesn't get better than that, and three days in Minnesota, which were admittedly work days. Add to that our home remodeling, aka chaos.
But as I reflected with my spiritual director, it is all so right. I had no idea that the first creative step for this time had to be a dismantling of the old order. And since the kitchen and my study are the symbols of creativity for me it is entirely appropriate that they are both being recreated in this time, and it's ok that they took up some of the energy I thought I'd be using reading books at a lakeside coffee shop. It was too hot to sit outside anyway.
I thought I'd be blogging daily as well. Up to now that hasn't happened. Why? It turned out that sister time trumped blog time. Score another point for things turning out just right. Betsy just turned sixty (she's my little sister) and in all these years we have never before had ten days together without parents, husbands, or children. It was quite a bit of Lucy and Ethel do Italy. We laughed and walked and ate and drank cappuccino and just a bit of wine and laughed and cooked and read and looked at a lot of art (I think I overdid that for her) and totally enjoyed each other's company. I do not regret the posts that didn't get written. There is still time.
I also envisioned wonderful pictures both here and on Facebook. Well, my tech arrives on Saturday, so they will be coming. I have been taking wonderful pictures, just can't figure out how to get them posted. What worked at home is not working here.
So it's Tuesday and I woke up to rain, which is an invitation to stay home for at least a while. Home is a delightful flat on the fourth floor of a building that ovlooks the Arno, where rowers row in the morning and evening. The Ponte Vecchio is just to the left, very photogenic but sort of the Bourbon Street of Florence, lined with junky jewelry stores and crammed with tourists. At night various sorts of musicians play there, and since our air conditioning is our open window, we'd rather they didn't. But our neighborhood is quirky and full of treasures. I'll walk maybe a quarter of a mile to the Pitti Palace in a while to hang out with a couple of Annunciations I want to see. Pay a little extra for my cappuccino so I can sit at a table all afternoon if I want to, stop by the wine bar for a focaccia or a salad. Or maybe I'll find that there is another plan for the day.
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