Author: M A Clarke Scott

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Tuscany: Remixed

ON THE OTHER HAND

In a recent blogpost, I was celebrating the joys of staying close to home, and enjoying the simple pleasures to be found in a small, rural island community, where:

“There have been community meals, live performances by local and visiting musicians, a readers and writers festival with recitations and readings of both world class and local poetry and prose,  and even beer tastings. A bike ride down a quiet country road, overlooking pastoral views of farmland and the sea, swims in small lakes, weekly visits to community and farm markets and satisfying yard and garden projects that rival any expensive holiday abroad.”

Which of course got me reminiscing about the last time we went to Europe. Just about this time last year, our family was returning from a spectacular two and half week holiday in Tuscany, Italy. Just for fun, here’s a recap of the highlights of our trip. Hang on for an armchair tour!

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FOND MEMORIES

We were fortunate to have a tiny apartment in the village of Iano to use as our home base in Tuscany. From there we were able to take day trips to see a wide variety of wonderful Tuscan cities.

A RICH TAPESTRY TO EXPLORE

This is truly one of the things about Europe that I love the best – the way the landscape forms a rich tapestry filled with a hundred thousand cities, towns and villages, each with its own fabulous history and unique treasures. We even made a marathon commute to Rome just for one day. Then near the end we drove north to Bologna, from which we explored both Ravenna and Venice before flying home.

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PISA

One of our first excursions was to Pisa, only a hour’s drive away. Despite the major heat wave Europe suffered last year, did climb the leaning tower. It was very hot, over 40. We were near cardiac arrest, dripping with sweat. The view from the top of the tower was pleasant. However, we couldn’t linger there. We had to come back down in search of cold water and air conditioning quite quickly. We didn’t have much stamina to explore beyond the Basilica, Bapistry, Tower, etc.

 

dsc0695LUCCA

The architects in us were drawn to the town of Lucca after reading that it was home to a perfectly elliptical piazza, which it turned out was nice (better on paper) but no big deal, framed as it was by rather shabby, nondescript buildings. The town itself was charming, however, and after strolling the pedestrian zones, eating a lovely dinner at a family restaurant, on our way out of the city we were delightfully surprised by a marching pipe and drum band dressed in Renaissance costume, followed by a leisurely stroll around the ancient walls.

 

SIENNA

A stately and history-rich city, Sienna boasts many fine buildings and piazza. Il Campo, the huge piazza dominated by the civic building, Palazzo Publico, was already being set up with the tufa track and bleachers in anticipation of the July 3rd Palio. The Palio is a historic horse race between ten of the 17 local districts who compete for prominence, as they have done since the middle ages. The horses are specially bred and trained and pampered for the big day, which locals anticipate all year. Thousands of spectators file in early in the morning, and the city and square are profusely decorated with banners and flags.

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A highlight of the Sienna cathedral was the Picolomini Library showcasing several gorgeous illuminated manuscripts and antiphonium from the middle ages, the detailed flooring with red, white and black marble inlaid and carved, and the striking black and white banded marble walls and columns both inside and out.

 

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SAN GIMIGNIANO

One of our favourite towns, San Gimigniano, is a complex city with tiny walkways through it, and so many shops they are uncountable! In addition to the many towers that were built during the Renaissance (13 surviving!), San Gimigniano has several different museums. One of our favourites was the Museo 1300. This wonderful find is a ceramic scale reconstruction of the town of San Gimignano exactly as it was in the year 1300, the year Dante Aligieri visited and spoke to the governors. It is constructed of ceramic by a group of artisans who have conducted and compiled exacting research.

 

dsc0507FLORENCE

Nearby Florence required two visits, and still there was so much we didn’t have time to see. We did tour the Uffizi Gallery which contains many, many beautiful sculptures and painting from throughout the ages, from Ancient Roman to Medieval to Renaissance, which were initially collected by the famed Medici family. It’s a stunning collection of valuable art. Perhaps the extraordinary heat made me over sensitive, but I was shocked that the museum was not air conditioned. I worried about the proper preservation of all those Medieval triptyches and Renaissance paintings. But I suppose they know what they’re doing.

VOLTERRA

Volterra was an unexpected find during a back country drive one day. It’s another lovely small town perched on a hilltop, with origins dating back to the Etruscans and Romans. One of the things we loved best about Volterra was the sense of its being a very much alive and current community, despite the ample evidence of tourism.

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Ambulance attendants sat around on folding chairs, shopkeepers stood outside chatting with passers-by. Every street was populated with locals, many of them elderly, standing around and visiting with their neighbours. We had to laugh when two very elderly Italian gentlemen approached each other and attempted to greet with a `high five`. They lifted their arthritic hands and revved up several feet apart, and then shuffled at full speed towards each other, in obvious trepidation at being knocked on their keesters, laughing the entire time. Before leaving, we had to sample the local gelato.

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Back in Iano, where we spent our down days relaxing, there was something special to look forward to, as a hand drawn poster in the central piazza had announced a live concert one night. In anticipation we reserved dinner at the adjacent restaurant, whose food we quite enjoyed.

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The band arrived early and started to set up their sound system hours before, and someone set up rows of chairs, so many we wondered where everyone was supposed to come from. That’s the funny thing about these tiny rural communities in Europe. You feel like you’re in the boon docks, but in fact you’re in the midst of a rich cultural community. People move around from town to town, and stuff is going on all over the place. As the hour approached, people appeared to come out of the woodwork and fill the seats. We lingered over our dolci and espresso as the concert began.

There were four women and five men, with two guitars, a percussionist who seemed to be banging on an apple crate, but was also a decent ‘harmonicist’. Although it was clear they were a group of aspiring amateurs, every one of them had a phenomenal voice, and they launched into a two hour concert including songs ranging from old 60′s favourites, through blues to traditional Italian folk. Their harmonics were excellent, and the solos quite exceptional. Of course they didn’t leave out everyone’s favourite number by Andrea Boccelli.

Some days later, the night before we left Iano, we wanted a special meal so we went on a tiny adventure. We discovered a little convent past San Vivaldo that served the best food we have had in Italy yet. We were the last customers to leave, and sat in a quiet, monastic courtyard enjoying our deserts as the dusk gathered around us.

dsc1394ROME

As mentioned above, we made a crazy one day trek to Rome, requiring an early start, and a fast commuter train south. It was even hotter there. After a parched tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum we walked to the Pantheon. This remains in my opinion, the most beautiful space in the world. We learned that Michelangelo Buonarotti (Il Divino) said of it, that it was created by the angels themselves. We also managed to visit the Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona and have a quiet dinner before riding home again. It was quite the whirlwind day trip.

 dsc1584RAVENNA

Byzantine churches, being rather old (c. 500 AD) are  nothing much to look at from the exterior. They are constructed of rustic flat bricks, the windows are small and plain, and there is no adornment whatsoever. Upon entering though, it was clear whyI had dragged the family here. Everyone was duly impressed by the spectacular mosaics on walls, arches and domes, as well as the lovingly, devotely rendered stone capitals and gorgeously book-ended marble panelling.

It was interesting to see how focussed the early Christians were on devotion, and how little on ostentation, like the later western Christians. After the great schism in the Catholic church around 400 AD, Ravenna became the capital of the Eastern Holy Roman Empire for quite a while, before it moved to Constantinople.

dsc1904VENICE

After the Uffizi and the churches of Ravenna, we had no interest in standing in any more lines, or seeing anymore Medieval paintings or Renaissance sculpture, but really Venice is more about being outside, enjoying the canals and the simple but charming architecture that lines them, and sometimes spans them. What I can tell you is that in fact we were all very impressed with Venice, and despite the heat of Piazza San Marco, we were able to escape into narrow shady  lanes cooled by canal breezes, and we wandered around, sometimes fighting summer tourist crowds to join them in window shopping, other times escaping the crowds to explore quieter zones

And there you have it, a tour of Tuscany in a nutshell. And now I have had my summer at home, and a little taste of Europe as well. What did you do this summer? Stay at home or travel somewhere exotic? Do you have a special place somewhere in the world where you dream of traveling? And when traveling do you prefer to visit one large city, or like me, do you like to have a small town base and make excursions?

 

 

 

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A Hurdy-Gurdy Tale

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CONSOLATION PRIZE

Long ago, when I was just a child, I desperately wanted to learn to play the piano. But because we didn’t have one, and couldn’t afford one, and somehow nobody in my family had the imagination to arrange for practice time in a church basement, I was offered a consolation prize. Accordion lessons from the teenager who lived a couple of doors down. I was not overly thrilled. Back then, in my part of the world, accordion music epitomized old bald Ukrainian guys at three-day drunken weddings,  German oom-pah bands playing polkas, and other things that were not cool in 1970. However, I agreed to give it a try (not as though I was given any alternatives). And I was good, really I was. But the humiliation was just too great to bear, and I couldn’t relate to the music, so I soon gave it up.

Ironically, many years later, an older cousin’s husband passed away and bequeathed to me a beautiful old Italian accordion that had been in his family forever. Although it needs a part or two and a tune up, I still have it. (Seriously, what would you do?) It was also in my mid-20’s when I was at university that I was introduced by a roomy to the music of Stefan Grapelli and Django Reinhardt, and I’ve adored every kind of French cafe music ever since.

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REBIRTH OF THE ACCORDION

Thursday night we went to see the Sostenuto Duo, made up of Anna Lumiere on piano/accordion and Serena Eades on violin at the Denman Island Front Hall, in an intimate piano lounge setting.

They played a range of music from traditional French Bal-Musette to Brazilian Tango to Jazz to Morrocan music to several songs that they had written themselves. It was a great evening of music provided by two very talented young women.

My favourite songs were the ones with the accordion.

Here is a definition of Bal-Musette for those who, like me, didn’t know the term. Though I’m sure you’ll recognize the music when you hear it. Here is the sexy Alexandra Paris in her sparkly black lycra cat suit playing a medley of traditional Bal-musette music on her shiny white accordion. I love it. Just think, this could have been me!

Here is a link to one of my favourite mid-century French cafe singers, George Brassens, singing one of his most popular songs, a tribute to the Auvergnat (see Wiki definition above):

And here is a Youtube video of Brazilian composer Astor Piazzola playing Libertango, and you’ll see YoYo Ma there jammin’ with him.

Who knew accordion music was so cool? Certainly not me, though one could have wished that the serendipitous appearance in my life of accordion lessons might have also coincided with a cultural context more favourable to my sustained interest. But, though I suppose the option is still open to me, it’s a little late now. So tell me, did you learn to play an instrument when you were a kid, hate it and give it up? Do you wish you hadn’t? Or if you play now, are you glad? And has your taste in music changed over the years?

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Half-Blood Blues: Book Review

AUTHOR ESI EDUGYAN

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Earlier this month I had the pleasure of meeting Esi Edugyan, the author of Scotiabank Giller Prize winning Half-Blood Blues at the Denman Island Readers and Writers Festival, and to hear her read excerpts from her latest novel. At that time I had only just begun reading it, and as of last night, I am done. When we spoke, I asked her about the used of dialect in her book, which is populated by a mix of jazz musicians hailing from Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, Montreal, Germany and France. The use of the Baltimore”black” vernacular of narrator and protagonist Sidney Griffiths, in particular, as well as his motley crew of compatriots, is important because it contributes greatly to both the development of character, as well as to distinguish between one and another, and also plays a critical role in painting the mood and experience of that time and place: World War II Berlin and Paris. Several of the books reviewers, and several of the commenters at the conference, referred to the rhythm and tone of the language, and how it animated the story and lent it the musicality and feeling of the jazz music of the era. While I don’t disagree with this, and I very much enjoyed the language of the novel, this was not my main focus.

USE OF DIALECT IN FICTION

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As a writer, I was principally interested in how she had researched the dialects she used, and how, as a writer she had decided how much, and which elements, of vocabulary and syntax she decided to use and which to leave out. This is what I asked her about. She answered that she had sourced and listened to recordings of spoken word by contemporary jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong who is a minor character featured in this novel. She also said she had to use a lot of discretion to find the right balance between illuminating character and culture, and keeping the language clear enough to not alienate or confuse readers.

I dealt extensively with this problem in one of my own books (The Aviary) which features a Canadian woman in Yorkshire, who is surrounded by characters who all have an accent of one kind or another (to her ear), and finds herself quite challenged by the famously difficult Yorkshire dialect. I have received a fair bit of feedback from editors and beta readers about this at various stages, and made many changes to try to find the right balance.

Esi agreed, stating that she believes it was the extensive use of dialect that initially made the novel difficult to sell, and she did make changes accordingly in response to her editor’s feedback. Certainly there are many examples of excellent novels that use dialect to varying degrees. I find it hard to believe that so many readers find it so impenetrable as to limit an author’s creative freedom (unless you happen to be Peter Carey, but even he gets flack, apparently). The sound of language is so important to one’s experience of a story, I would think those in the business, and those who love to immerse themselves in a good story, would be more flexible and tolerant, and willing to do that tiny bit of extra work that it takes to become familiar enough to overcome any initial challenges. But apparently not. Or not often enough for publishers to take the risk.

CHARACTER, EGO, AMBITION, FRIENDSHIP AND VALUES

As a reader, I have to say the element of this story I found most compelling was the flawed main character and narrator, Sidney Griffiths, himself. Sidney is a sensitive guy with big dreams, too sensitive we and he think, for some of the company he keeps, including his life long friend and companion Chip Jones, a hard edges, big mouthed and often crude character whose friends seem to tolerate him because he’s sometimes funny and also a great drummer. Too sensitive, we also think, when Sidney’s disappointments, sense of betrayal, and lurking mistrust of others ends up alienating him from them. It is his own frailty as a human being that ends up doing him the most harm, as he lashes out and behaves in less than admirable ways simply because of his own frustrated ambition, or desire. Sidney, however, and I have to think Esi did this quite consciously, seems a bit more ordinary that the other characters in the book. He is neither an eccentric nor a genius, nor terribly damaged, as it turns out, neither a coward nor a hero. It is this very ordinariness that makes him sympathetic, and helps us to step in his shoes as he and his friends are tossed about by the winds of fate.

Without spoiling the story for those who haven’t yet read it, I will only say that it raises several questions for me, such as: When should we acknowledge that our youthful dreams of greatness will never be realized? Perhaps we haven’t been given the talent, the determination or the luck to make it happen. Is it more important to do a thing exceptionally well, or to do a thing because it brings you joy? Is any sacrifice or choice justifiable in the pursuit of excellence? Of success? Even when it hurts others? When our life is over, will we value our accomplishments more, or the people with whom we shared the journey, for better or worse?

EXCELLENCE VERSUS JOY

Near the end of the novel, there is an exchange between Chip and Sid about whether and why they continued playing the jazz music throughout their lives. Sidney says, “It was supposed to be this joyful music. And I just couldn’t find none of that joy in it no more.” And Chip’s reply is interesting. He says, “I don’t understand that at all…The music is the joy. That’s how you find it again. By playing.”

In some ways, it seems to me that Sid deprived himself of the joyful music because of the pain and sense of loss and guilt he suffers, because of other decisions and actions he made in his life.

What do you think? Is it more important to do a thing exceptionally well, or to do a thing because it brings you joy?

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Creating a Wasp-Free Summer Oasis

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SUMMER PROJECTS

One of the advantages of making landscape improvements in a rural area is that usually we don’t want or need to tame all of it the way we do with a city lot. It’s also more suitable to take a relaxed approach, so that from our deck chairs, we can sit back and appreciate the wild beauty beyond the boundaries of our territorial interests. Instead we carve out little usable outdoor rooms around the house and try to ameliorate their comfort and design with subtle, low maintenance improvements.

Furthermore around here we try to use as many found materials as possible and do most of the work ourselves. The Project underway at the moment is a long overdue little deck in a shady area between the fishpond and the fence which happens to be in shade from morning until mid afternoon. This is a huge boon on a hot and largely treeless property like ours, especially during a summer like we’re having this year. (Or maybe this is the new Mediterranean. We’ll see.)

This project required some cleaning of junk and hiding of concrete rubble from a demolished concrete block wall, a bit of grading to level the elevations, and removal of a few scrubby unwanted plants. For the main structural elements we decided to re-use a variety of 4 x 4 posts that were laying around the property including an old fence at the top of the driveway that had fallen over some years ago.

 

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Photo from National Geographic

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
photoAll seemed to be going well until several members of the family started getting attacked by wasps. We discovered their nest in a crevice in the dry dirt immediately under the entry door to the garden shed which sits right beside our deck-to-be. Not a convenient location for cohabitation with stinging insects.
This set off a flurry of internet research about wasp varieties and their nests and how to get rid of them as well as how to treat their stings.

 

photo of goldfish and papyrus plants in a pondSHARING SPACE WITH WILDLIFE, OR NOT…
It turns out that wasps are highly beneficial to humans (e.g. by eating other nasty insects like mosquitos) and so destroying their nests is not a desirable thing to do, if you can avoid it. However since we’ve disturbed their peace we’ve had none of our own. They attack constantly and aggressively, invade every meal on the (other) deck and seem to be threatening the comfort and safety of our family.(Hubbie seems to have a slight allergy as his arm is red and swollen like a blimp for the second time this summer.) While we’re sad about it, unfortunately this nest had to go. After installing a few wasp traps to neutralize the remaining, rather cross survivors of this apocalypse, now we can get back to finishing that shady reading/meditation/sunset cocktails deck by the fish pond.

While I prepared a special concoction of sugar syrup, blackberry jam and dish soap for an old fashioned, fill-your-own wasp trap, Hubbie came home from the hardware store with Tanglefoot wasp traps (I think he had revenge on his  mind.) Anyway, I can tell you that in the first few hours, the score is Homemade Goo: 0, Tanglefoot Trap: 20+.

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For the Love of Animals

KILLER IS ON DECK

We awoke this morning to find a scrawled note stuffed under the gate that separates the upper from the lower floors of our summer house. An advance warning, it read: “KILLER IS ON DECK”.

note: Killer is on the Deck, M A Clarke Scott, Writer, Blog post

Beware!

I’M PISSED

I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would say I was crazy, but I spent the last couple of days dealing with the fallout of one of my cats, Zu, having pissed on the futon sofa at our cottage. Usually (here and at home) it’s on one of the beds. This is not something she does often, but often enough that we have resigned ourselves to covering the beds with a plastic sheet after they are made in the mornings. I have washed enough duvets and mattress covers to last two lifetimes! This new challenge was far worse. When I discovered her “faux pas” I groaned. Would we even be able to save it?

IMG_0806After an initial spray and scrub in the evening, the next day I peeled off the futon’s cotton cover and put it through the wash, then dragged the futon out onto the deck. After some discussion about which cleaners might be most effective, my sister suggested using her new steam cleaner. I thought this was a brilliant idea, as the hot steam would hopefully sterilize, deodorize and annihilate the residual cat piss that had soaked into the fluffy cotton filling. Well, that was the theory, anyway.

I steamed that spot for quite a long while, until all I could smell was clean wet cotton, and then left the futon to dry in the hot, hot sun all afternoon. Unfortunately, though it dried quickly, I felt I could still discern a slight odor. Very slight. Maybe it’s just in my head. But, rather than write off the futon, we replaced the clean cover and put it on upside down, so as to avoid a repeat performance if she detected a familiar smell.

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FELINE PSYCHOLOGY

Not that that is what motivates her. You see, she’s just a little temperamental. Certain things seem to upset her. Sometimes it’s the presence of a strange cat, which there has been a lot of lately. In the first instance, we are sharing the house with family, and although they have separate ‘zones’ our cats and their cousins are aware of each other and have occasional tense encounters. Secondly, there is a neighbour cat with some boundary issues, who insists on climbing the wisteria trellis and invading our house. She just seems to want to visit, but she’s surprisingly stubborn when we chase her away, and returns with fair frequency. If we use any of the usual “feline territorial” behaviors to scare her away, such as hissing, she turns and attacks quite aggressively. Thus her nickname: “Killer Cat” (ref. above note).

But what set Zu off this time was the arrival of my husband, whom she adores, who came to join us for the week. She got fairly excited, one would deduce. She has “issues” with suitcases, and “comings and goings.” These seem to be what sets her off the most, as we’ve had episodes before and after family holidays and business trips in the past. The rest of the time, she’s a lovely, affectionate, mellow cat, who is fairly needy as far as attention goes. She wakes us in the morning with a paw on the face, harasses us playfully if we oversleep, talks a blue streak through the day just to let us know what she’s thinking, and is always game for a hug and a kiss. Okay, a bit of a Prima Donna, really. But she loves us (we have proof!) And we all love her and her sister dearly. We would never for a moment consider getting rid of her.

A LIFETIME COMMITMENT

And yet I know there are plenty of people out there who wouldn’t hesitate to do so. Therefore, there are hundreds and thousands of abandoned pets in our communities, large numbers of whom have to be put down regularly because of abuse or space shortages, often for no greater crime than that they became an inconvenience for their humans. (Speaking of Prima Donnas) And trust me when I say that having a cat pee on your bed is INCONVENIENT. Still. She’s family. When I adopt an animal and bring it home, that’s it. I’m committed for life, no matter what happens. For richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, etc. etc. ’til death do us part. It breaks my heart to see those animals with no homes, no  families and no hope. I want to adopt them all, but of course, we’ve got our hands full.

And I just want to point out that as a designer and an artist, I’m not immune to the appeal of a beautifully appointed home. I love good design, excellent craftsmanship and a well-appointed room as well as the next person. This is one of those things that I’ve just decided to accept. I chalk it up to the virtue “Renunciation” (See my previous post: Living with Chronic Pain). Although I think it’s supposed to refer to renunciation of sensuality, I toss everything to do with the material world into this same basket.

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Zu’s sister Patches. We can’t leave her out!

I adopted my first cat when I was just four years old. My sister (the same one) was walking me home from the local playground, down a little lane. And there, on a humble lean-to, was a sign that said “Free Kittens.” Inside, on a bed of hay, was a mother cat and her litter. A short time later we were heading home, a new black and white pibald kitten tucked into my sister’s shirt. We named her Alexandra, after the street where we found her, beginning a lifelong tradition of naming cats after streets (except for Zu and her sister Patches, but we had a 3-year old then) and a lifelong love affair with cats.

 

IRREPLACEABLE COMPANIONS

Portrait of Zu, photo credit, A Clarke Scott

I cannot imagine a house without a cat. It just wouldn’t be a home. I’ve always had at least one through most of my life, and find that I enjoy their company often more than humans. My cats greet me, delight me and make me feel loved and important no matter what else is happening in my life. They understand intuitively what I need. They entertain me when I’m bored or lonely, comfort me when I’m ill or stressed, console me when I’m sad. They understand, and they know just how to be there and exactly what to offer to make everything better. And it’s not just your imagination. There is now scientific evidence that shows that cats are good for your health. You’d be hard pressed to say that about most people. Or furniture. So, I’ll take the bad with the good. It’s an easy trade-off in my world.