Focaccia Bread on Silver Plate

Look how beautiful. This more than 1,944 year old fresco from Pompeii appears to depict a round focaccia bread (and not a pizza) on a silver tray serving as a support for various fruits, including a pomegranate and possibly a date.

 P.S. Source: here.

Don't Stop Headin', Headin' South

 

 

P.S. 'Heading South' (2017) is a song from Zach Bryan: here. The painting is from Lauren Dunn: source.

Reflects C’s Layered Culture

Let's visit the library of Bayt Yakan in Cairo, Egypt. 

A house dating around 1640. The house was restored and reflects Cairo’s layered culture, which has been influenced by both colonial occupation and multi-ethnic immigration. Now it houses a library with 20,000 rare books focusing on architecture.

I would love to visit it. To smell. To see. To have you near.

Source: here.

Alm Wise

Yesterday evening I watched the movie 'The Eight Mountains' (2022) based on the book from Paolo Cognetti with the same name. The book is originally written in italian: 'Le Otto Montagne' (2016).

Nice movie.

Quote from the book (in the Dutch translation):

"Misschien is het waar, zoals mijn moeder beweerde, dat ieder van ons een favoriete hoogte heeft in de bergen, een landschap dat op ons lijkt en waar we ons goed voelen. Het hare was ongetwijfeld het bos op vijftienhonderd meter hoogte, met schaduwrijke sparren en lariksen, waaronder bosbessen, jeneverbessen en rododendrons groeien en waar de reebokken zich verschansen. Ik voelde me meer aangetrokken tot de bergen die daarna komen: alpenweiden, bergbeken, veengronden, hooglandgrassen en grazende beesten. Nog iets hoger verdwijnt de vegetatie, is alles tot het begin van de zomer bedolven onder de sneeuw en is het grijs van met kwarts dooraderde en met geel korstmos ingelegde rotsen de voornaamste kleur. Daar begon de wereld van mijn vader." 

My favorite hight in the mountains is without doubt the grassland in the high mountains (German: Alm) where the animals graze in the summer. Meadows everywhere, groups of houses, views all around and the light brighter. The promise of summer. 

P.S. This is the renovated barn (in Brusson, Val d’Ayas, Italy) in which Cognetti wrote his book 'Le Otto Montagne' (source pictures). It was renovated in 2021 so he must have written his book in the old barn.

Distinct Yet Survive

 The Amish's way of life and their Ordnung rules fascinates me:

• Personality: reserved, modest, calm, and quiet.
• Values: submission, obedience, humility, and simplicity. 
• Jewelry is not to be worn, not even wedding rings.
• Children are to attend school through the eighth grade. After that, they are expected to work.
• Some Amish youth do separate themselves from the community, even going to live among the "English," or non-Amish Americans, experiencing modern technology. Their behavior during this time does not necessarily prevent them from returning for adult baptism into the Amish church (Rumspringa).
  
• Word processors are only allowed for school and church administrative use. Cellular phones and voice mail, may only be used by a business to compete.
• Prohibited are central heating in houses, computers, televisions, radios, and using tractors for fieldwork.
• In general a slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. The degree of use of technology differs per Amish affiliation. What is striking is that they all (better: 97%) use a motorized washing machine! See the table below.
  

All in all. "Amish practices evolve over time. As modernization takes place, the Amish negotiate to what degree they will accept and utilize technology and other practices of the outside world. This cultural compromise has allowed the Amish to remain a distinct group, yet survive economically."

P.S. They fascinate me but for me it's a no go because they indirectly reject books and science. Curiosity and wonder are not one of their core values. Such a shame.

Not Necessarily A Tragedy

Quote from the film (source): The marsh knows all about death ... and doesn't necessarily define it as tragedy. Certainly not a sin. It understands that every creature does what it must to survive. And that sometimes, for prey to live ... its predator must die.

Quote from the book (source): The tide was coming in, and a wave flowed over his feet, taking with it hundreds of seashells back into the sea. Kya had been of this land and of this water; now they would take her back. Keep her secrets deep.

And then the gulls came. Seeing him there, they spiraled above his head. Calling. Calling.

As night fell, Tate walked back toward the shack. But when he reached the lagoon, he stopped under the deep canopy and watched hundreds of fireflies beckoning far into the dark reaches of the marsh. Way out yonder, where the crawdads sing.

The artist of the featured watercolors in the film is Alice Ravenel Huger Smith (1876-1958).

P.S. Watercolor on top: 'Iris in Swamp' (around 1925-1935). Watercolor below: 'Lotus in the Great Blake Reserve' (around 1926-1936). Source: here.

Three Cities in Three Days

 

Should Ya Ask Me For The World

 

"Tell the sun to leave the sky
It's just impossible
It's impossible
Ask a baby not to cry
It's just impossible"

Song: here.

P.S.  Art: 'Cerchio Sulla Sabbia' (2023) from Gi Bernulia.

Western Discontentment

Last week I heard on the radio in my car someone telling a story about indians. I can’t remember if he mentioned the name of this “tribe” or a “country”. This tribe moved every time (? months/ years ?) to another place. At first the researchers thought that they moved because there is a lack of food in the place they left. Then they realized that there was more than enough to eat. No lack of natural resources! Follow up research proved that the tribes keep on moving because the old and wise men learned that it’s not wise to stay too long on one spot. Why not? Because it makes people lazy, moody, and restless – I can’t remember the exact words and metaphors - when they are too comfortable. In other words, organize that people are not too comfortable. 

Is this the solution of “our” Western discontentment?

Unimpressed

For me it's true. I am unimpressed by a lot! I can't find the source of this quote on the internet :(

The following quote (source) from Haruki Murakami, in his book '1Q84' (2009-2010) is of a different level. It's about loss and pain. In my words and terminology: it's about learning to accept (bejahung) that nothing ever 'is' (rocksteady and eternal) and always floats and keeps on floating:

"Once you pass a certain age, life becomes nothing more than a process of continual loss. Things that are important to your life begin to slip out of your grasp, one after another, like a come losing teeth. And the only things that come to take their place are worthless imitations. Your physical strength, your hopes, your dreams, your ideals, your convictions, all meaning, or then again, the people you love: one by one, they fade away. Some announce their departure before they leave, while others just disappear all of a sudden without warning one day. And once you lose them you can never get them back. Your search for replacements never goes well. It’s all very painful – as painful as actually being cut with a knife.” 

P.S. I wrote about Bejahung before in blogpost 'Y..E.S' (5-2018): here.