The State of Things

No pictures today, but some talk about gardening and travel.

I'm just about ready for my upcoming trip to Italy.  It's hard to believe that I depart in a little more than 2 weeks!  I'll fly into Zurich and see the black madonna in Einsiedeln.  You can google this and see her.  Than I ride the train down through the Alps to Milan, and go see the black Madonna in Oropa.  Then it's on, on, on to all the black madonna sites I can reach in about 2 1/2 weeks.  I've got a tentative itinerary done.  I've got my map.  The main book I'm using is Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum's book, Black Madonnas: Feminism, religion, & politics in Italy.  She includes a great map with what she says are the "25 significant sites" of black madonnas in Italy.  It was a great starting point.  I've discovered maybe 5-10 others that I want to see; I'm sure there are more.  Her book is still available, if anyone's interested.  I'll admit that I'm not all that interested in the political movements in Italy, but that's really only one chapter of 11.  What I'm really interested in is the map, and her theories about the origins and popularity of the black madonnas, most particularly in Italy.

I chose Italy because I was there in 2005, so I know Italy a teeny bit, love it passionately, and have the tiniest bit of Italian to work with.  The number of madonnas there seems manageable, unlike southern France, where there are dozens, if not hundreds (see Ian Begg's book, The Cult of the Black Virgin, which includes maps of France).  Sorry, I'm not even doing hyperlinks tonight -- how lazy is that?  Google is your friend.

I'm going alone.  This is not a "store bought" pilgrimage or study trip, though it will be both for me.  I'm making it up as I go.  When I get back, I'll share what I saw and learned, and you can do it yourself -- or I might just lead a pilgrimage myself!  The climax of the trip will be Sicily, where there are 10 sites.  I intend to spend 6 days.  But my plans are very fluid.  I've been sick, and due to allergies, am still not 100% well.  I will do what I can do.  If I get slowed down and only have 2-4 days in Sicily, so be it.  If I get there and am not happy there, I'll come back to the mainland and spend more time in Naples, or Rome, or Florence.  Win/win.  I'm not one of those people who has to be locked into a schedule and reservations, being a certain place on a certain date.  In fact, that seems really distasteful to me.  I want to be able to stay in the places that call to me, stay with the madonnas that call to me.  And then move on.  I'm so excited I can barely stand it.  It's like Christmas Eve as a little kid, multiplied by about 12, till I'm actually leaving for the airport.  I know what clothes I'm taking and wearing.  I do not think my rolling, carry-on knapsack will be nearly full.  Plenty of room for souvenirs and icons and pictures, even though I've also packed an extra duffel if I buy too much.

But as I said, I've been sick.  I'm over the bronchitis that I came home with a month ago, but I'm still working on managing allergies.  I never had allergies till I came to Tennessee.  Now I do.  In previous years they took the form of stuffed up nose and sneezing marathons that could go on for 15-20 sneezes.  Occasionally I had to take an antihistamine to calm them down.  This year, they've decided to live at the back of my head -- in the form of post-nasal drip and a tendency to cough.  I have to talk a lot in my job, so the coughing has got to be managed, somehow.  Antihistamines and decongestants seem to do the trick, but working out the right combination is no mean feat.  But by George, I think I've almost got it.  But it has left me tired and drained, and still with a pain in my side (from a pulled muscle, people tell me) that responds to ibuprofen.  So my energy has been low.  I've learned something about not being 25 again, when I recovered from anything in about 5 minutes (or 5 days).  I've learned about just submitting to the time it takes for my body to heal, and to be gentle with myself (even though part of me feels I should be at least back to 100% now, if not more).  I've learned about accepting the kindness of others to bring me stuff, or just to give me permission to be sick for a while.

My spiritual director is also a reiki practitioner, and Friday she gave me a treatment.  I don't know exactly what happened, but by yesterday I felt so good that I did 2 hours worth of gardening (which was, of course, like stuffing pollen directly up my nose).  My back walk looks fabulous, and I learned some stuff about what I want to do back there with the runaway, invasive bamboo that my predecessor planted.  The answer to that is: nothing.  Cut it back a couple of times per season, transplant any other things I want to save, and just give the bed over to (trimmed) bamboo.  It's hopeless.  I've heard that burning and digging out and herbicides are powerless against bamboo.  Resistance is futile.  But it actually looks nice if I keep it cut back off the sidewalk, out of the boxwood, and from around the hosta.  So even though I was all choked up for most of the day (not a good thing on Sunday, with 2 services), I've learned some stuff.  And there's such great satisfaction in seeing the difference my two hours' labor made.  I've decided to do just a bit each week that pleases my eye, and I'm slowly encroaching on the borders of the big beds that my predecessor planted (with the help of 3 assistants -- I have NO gardening assistants), making them just a bit smaller on all sides.  Six inches or a foot smaller on each side can make them easier to maintain.  Just when I get the jungle of yard conquered, it will be time to retire, or to leave this parish!

I've also been enjoying my tiny back porch.  I sit out there in the morning when I can to enjoy the birds and plants, and to write my morning pages.  Yesterday I went around looking for leftover perennials, but could not find the coreopsis I was seeking for a pot.  So I bought a big pot of yellow mums at Walmart.  Not bad for 5 bucks.  Five dollars for a pot of pure sunshine.  Yellow-gold mums (not the eye-shocking bright yellow, but a golden color), big pot, beautiful with my gold marigolds with the deep red edging.  Sunshine every morning.

So that's my last couple of weeks.  I hope to post daily or so when I'm traveling -- I'm taking my mini-notebook with me, which has a card-reader for photos, and wireless capability.  So if I can access wi-fi, I'll be able to show you what I'm doing and seeing.

Comments

[mompriest]

How will you manage finding places to stay without a fixed itinerary? There must be some flexibility in the hotels or wherever you are staying....Sounds like a fabulous trip!

Glad you are feeling better.

[Ann]

Rick Steves, as well as people I know, say that for the most part, it's no problem to find a place to stay. I am checking some monasteries and convents, as well as a list of hostels. Apparently it's also not hard to find homes with a sign in the window, where they provide a bed and breakfast (family homes, though -- not formal b&bs). Of course, if you want to go to Assisi on October 4 (St. Francis Day), it can be a problem -- but barring major festivals, there are always rooms available. Hotels will be a very last resort, as the rates are so very much higher than the other resources.

[Ann]

I'm really not trying to "pad" my comment numbers here, but I did forget to say that the train station in every major city also has a traveler's info desk where you can get a map and reservations for the night, most often at "last minute" rates. Hotels want to fill their beds, and if they have empty beds that night, they're often willing to give a hefty discount. Some money is better than no money, I guess!

[Fran aka Redondowriter]

I know you are almost ready for your trip. That's so exciting. I'll reply to your e-mail privately.