Blog Archives - A Cottage by the Sea

Facelift for my blog?

3/31/2015

‘Very Grateful’ is coming along. I hope to hand it over to my husband this weekend for his final edit and then send it to my official editor before flying Florence on April 9th. Not surprising that blog writing has fallen off a little. My desire to blog, however, hasn’t dwindle; just the time, psychic and real, to write.

      Something is shifting. Changes are in order, but I’m not certain what they should be. I am certain that the theme of my blog won’t change: “A blog for those who are looking for silence, solitude and simplicity, and who sometimes like to be alone.” That is still what I desire and what I want to share. You, my readers who also long for this, are my people.

       What about the title? My cottage by the sea days are over but it continues to be a worthy metaphor for getting away and being alone in silence, solitude and simplicity. Then there is the photograph looking out from the cottage to the sea. It’s a good one but maybe the blog need a facelift in the form of a different picture. But what?

     I would love to hear your suggestions. I’m still musing but right now I have to get back to ‘Very Grateful”. Maybe that is the new title? But does that change the theme? Or does it expand it?

Leave a comment or contact me at [email protected]

Interrupted silence at the gas pump~

3/26/2015

I have two stories about silence to share, one good, the other bad, at least as far as I am concerned. I’ll start with the bad.

The other day while getting gas, I followed the usual instructions: credit card, lift handle, select fuel, begin fueling. Much to my surprise and horror, a local news/talk show station was activated, loud enough for my rather imperfect hearing, and I had no choice but to pump and listen. As a ‘spiritual practice I have chosen not to become excessively involved in the news or in the personal opinions/hearsay of others, but here I was, a captive audience. Well, I don’t have to go that station again. I can choose another one, and hope that this kind of news blast is not becoming a trend.

My good silence story comes from All Access where I’ve been going for physical therapy on my hip. NO music is piped in. Sometimes I hear activity from the adjoining gym, but if feels like happy healthy background noise. I will always choose All Access, for the quiet and for the excellent PT.

Silence staying in a convent in Florence~

3/23/2015

While in Florence last month I stay three nights at the convent guest house of the Suore Oblate. Located on Borgo Pinto, it was walking distance of everything. Ring the bell and enter an atmosphere so peaceful. My en suite room was rather small but adequate for a three nights stay; the wifi was excellent; breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, fruit and a roll. Just fine to get me started. I could imagine spending more time in the public rooms. Gardens and chapel, but then they are in competition with the public streets, gardens and churches of Florence.

In 1515 an estimated 2,500 nuns lived in Florentine convents and according to historian Sharon T. Strocchia, by 1552 roughly one in eight Florentine women lived in religious communities. Some women joined of their own volition but many women, especially from elite families, were sent there for economic, social and political reasons.

Suore Oblate is affiliated with Le Oblate dell’Assunzione religiouse missionarie

http://www.sanctuarybbfirenze.com/

http://www.soeursoblatesassomption.wordpress.com

Blogging grounds me~

3/22/2015

I am writing this on the way home from visiting our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in Lancaster PA. It was a weekend of drumming and family conversation: Grandson Colin was the percussionist in the high school musical “Anything Goes”, and we all had many lively meals together.

It occurs to me that when there is little silence, solitude and simplicity in my life, I don’t post on the blog. But now, as I face the next two and a half weeks of relative silence, solitude and simplicity before returning to Florence, I feel the need to reappear. Blogging seems to ground me.

Writing is solitary work~

3/16/2015

Here’s the update on the book. I printed out ‘Very Grateful’ for my husband to read and he has begun, enough so that I now have some of his suggestions to work on. Although this was always the next step, in a sense I am dealing with a new final draft. But it feels different. I’m on my way, or rather the book is on its way. My challenge is to keep the focus on my mother and me, and not wander off into other territories of my life.

Writing is solitary work, in spite of the social aspect of working with an editor, be it husband, friend or professional.

Final draft almost finished--as simple as that!

3/13/2015

Writing spot just a week ago.

In my determination to finish the draft of ‘Very Grateful”, I find myself grateful for something new—the simplicity in this single-minded purpose. Although I have other things to do, my mind is not cluttered with choices. Laundry, cooking, tidying up, all part of the routine. What remains is time to write. My goal is to finish by Monday afternoon. Hopefully my next post will be to celebrate just that.

My rental apartment in Florence~

3/10/2015

I haven’t experienced much silence, solitude or simplicity since I got home, and any that I have had has been devoted to writing Very Grateful. Once again I’m determined to get it finished. As my cousin aptly wrote, “VG might get to be wearisome if you don't finish it pronto. I would think you'd want it to turn out a sparkling, loving dedication to your mother.” Well said. I’m on another final push.

Let me take you back to Florence, where I made progress on the book. As I mentioned, the apartment I rented was directly across from the Duomo. Amazing to look out and realize that I could almost touch the exterior of the nave. Looking up to the left I could see people who had climbed the dome standing around its lantern. Maybe it was the time of year, or maybe it is my hearing, but I wasn’t at all disturbed by the occasional street noises—service trucks, tourists, ambulance sirens.

The apartment was on the fourth floor with lift (essential and something to check on before you rent *); one large room with kitchen facilities, a bathroom, and a loft sleeping area.

* Whether traveling alone or with others, if you plan to stay in one place for more than three nights, by all means consider renting. It’s all on the internet.

No place like home~

3/7/2015

Writing and eating on the plane.

I’m writing this on my flight home after a minor itinerary change. Here’s the short story: Yesterday was too windy for planes to take off from Florence Airport so I ended up on a bus to the Bologna Marconi Airport; flight over the Alps to Charles de Gaulle Airport; missed my flight to Boston’s Logan International Airport by 20 min; obtained a hotel and meal voucher, compliments of Air France; flight this morning to from CDG to London’s Heath Row and now here I am on a Delta flight scheduled to arrive in Boston at noon.
      This is definitely when I want to be traveling alone. For one thing I’m not involved with how my travel companion is coping with the all the inconveniences, which nine times out of ten involves stress and impatience. I don’t have to become ‘the grownup’ in the situation, nor dampen my enthusiasm. You see, I love airports, to the point of admitting that if I were homeless that’s where I’d live. So I was thrilled for the opportunity to spend another day maneuvering about, figuring out what to do and even staying over another night. I walked four airport miles, and at the end of the day, I found the courtesy bus, checked in at the hotel, and was treated to the most esthetically pleasing, gastronomically delicious gourmet buffets ever—worth all the superlatives.
     I’ll be happy to be home, even with all the snow. All good things come to and end for them to remain good.

    P.S. I posting this the following day. Delighted to be home, even with all the snow.

Writing in Florence~

3/3/2015

A few days ago I ‘promised’ that on this trip I would write in all the libraries I could discover in Florence. Well, a promise broken as a different rhythm has developed. I’ve gone to my two favorites, the Guelph and Oblate, but have also discovered a marvelous café on the colonnade along Piazza dell Repubblica.

     Yesterday it was raining but I was cozy and content at the RED Café at La Felltrinelli RED: RED as in Read, Eat, Dream. I was writing, not reading, as well as eating and dreaming, but this place is also a book store, and besides, they have to keep in tune with their RED motif.

     Today is sunny. At the Galleria dell’Accademia I visited Michelangelo’s David and Bound Slaves as well as the extensive gallery of twelfth, thirteenth and early fourteenth century paintings that decorated the churches in the city. Now I’m back writing at the RED.

      So you see, I am fulfilling my promise to write. Solitary travel, especially staying in one place for a length of time, offers no excuse, and so I have been writing at libraries, cafes and my apartment. There is plenty of time to sight see, walk, and of course eat, as well as write. Every hour of the day is mine.

     Along with the blog writing, I’ve participated in what those in educational circles call ‘pre-writing’, which really is thinking about your writing. I’ve done a lot of that as I’ve wandered about Florence, but as we all know, too much pre-writing means not much real-writing. Finally, however, I have gained clarity about the direction I want for Very Grateful, and so, I have opened the screen and begun to write—with the ‘promise’ to finish by the end of the month.

Bardini Museum, a must in Florence~

3/1/2015

A few days ago I posted some pictures of the Bardini Gardens. Today I offer some of the Bardini Museum. To be honest, I ventured across the Arno to this museum today to take advantage of the “Sunday at the Museum.“ initiative. On every first Sunday of the month all state museums in Italy are free. Wow, you should have seen the line at the Uffizi! No lines at this gem of a museum.

Stafano Bardini was an art trader and prolific collector during the second half of the 19th century. (I’m reminded of the Isabella Stuart Museum in Boston.) As the museum brochure states, “In his legacy the ‘prince of the antiques dealers’ left his art gallery, located in Piazza de’Mozzi, to the City of Florence, along with his art collection of paintings, sculptures, carpets and various other Renaissance designed art pieces.”