Not too long ago, mentally exhausted and virtually brain dead to think of anything original, I threw myself on the mercy of my readers to provide some inspiration.
And, thanks to the brain trust in my small slice of the blogosphere, I received some very good ideas.
Lest you think that I am ignoring these, today I will multi-task, and not only answer one question from the ever-lovely RiverPoet over at Poetic License, but I will - in usual Baroness fashion - embellish. Ever so slightly.
I was asked to talk about my summer reading list. While I kind of sketched out here what I had devoured and what was on deck, yet once again I have gone off-page. Such a rebel.
As I was grabbing the next book from the pile to take with us on a little 4th of July jaunt to Les Etat Unis avec le French exchange student Julien, I found Marlena De Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" .
And feeling hungry as always, I was mesmerized by the title of the first chapter, "The Gorgeous Things They're Cooking Are Zucchini Blossoms". From that point onward, I was hooked (and grumbly in the tumbly) by this succulent account of the author's stopover in San Casciano dei Bagni.
When she's not talking about food (something she does very, very well), De Blasi's talking of the rhythm of life as a supplanted Tuscan, or about the relationship between her and her husband.
One of the most exquisite paragraphs I have ever read talks about getting into bed on the first night in their new home. Does this seem odd to you? Does it seem odd that I wanted to groan with pleasure at the description, weep for the beauty of the sentiment, and immediately read it to my husband, who would completely agree?
Read it for yourself:
"...How delicious it is to rest after such a day. To lay down blood and bones in a place, almost any place, where someone waits to hold what's young of you and what's old of you. What's just happened to you and that which has happened so long ago to you. All of you."And, thanks to the brain trust in my small slice of the blogosphere, I received some very good ideas.
Lest you think that I am ignoring these, today I will multi-task, and not only answer one question from the ever-lovely RiverPoet over at Poetic License, but I will - in usual Baroness fashion - embellish. Ever so slightly.
I was asked to talk about my summer reading list. While I kind of sketched out here what I had devoured and what was on deck, yet once again I have gone off-page. Such a rebel.
As I was grabbing the next book from the pile to take with us on a little 4th of July jaunt to Les Etat Unis avec le French exchange student Julien, I found Marlena De Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" .
And feeling hungry as always, I was mesmerized by the title of the first chapter, "The Gorgeous Things They're Cooking Are Zucchini Blossoms". From that point onward, I was hooked (and grumbly in the tumbly) by this succulent account of the author's stopover in San Casciano dei Bagni.
When she's not talking about food (something she does very, very well), De Blasi's talking of the rhythm of life as a supplanted Tuscan, or about the relationship between her and her husband.
One of the most exquisite paragraphs I have ever read talks about getting into bed on the first night in their new home. Does this seem odd to you? Does it seem odd that I wanted to groan with pleasure at the description, weep for the beauty of the sentiment, and immediately read it to my husband, who would completely agree?
Read it for yourself:
Ahh. How delicious, indeed.
7 comments:
Wow... Nicely said. Thanks for sharing that!
Countess AG: You are very welcome. I'm sure after some of those amazing hikes of yours, you are ready to lay down "blood and bones" at the end of the day!
That is beautiful...another one to add to my list!
Countess MPM: Read the book - it's full of little treasures like this one!
Aw! Thanks for the kind words, B von B! I'm thrilled to read about this latest book from the stack, and now I'll have to add it to mine! I'll just stick another Post-It on the monitor! :-)
Peace - D
OOH yay. I have not had any time to read this summer because of sports, but now it's over and I can indulge my passion. I've been pining for something really wonderfl to read. Thanks!
Countess D: Can you still see your monitor? You've only got another month and a half, woman!!
Countess BA: Apparently there's a pre-Tuscany book, but I have no desire to know anything more about the main characters other than the snapshot of this part of their lives.
It's just got so much resonance, ya know? Why ruin a perfectly good thing?
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