i’ve been disassembling an old book of postcards i picked up at a parisian flea market years and years ago.
thinking i will make something from them and from the old crumbling book cover.
in fact i’ve been thumbing through all of my old old books. somehow the more dilapidated the more appealing.
the pages are like onion skin. each cover, a miniature door into an intricate, rich past.
at art from scrap in santa babs i found an old leather bound book of poems by ruben dario.
ruben dario! nicaraguan poet i wrote about here.
when i was in nicaragua! wait.
was i really there?
or was it all a dream?
my mind is already hopscotching forward to december where it is again thinking of a tropical christmas.
hmmm…
and in between those vague travel reels that are always rolling, i’m also imagining just a quick little jaunt to paris.
no no no
it’s naples i must return to.
carol & i drove through naples 10 years ago. by that i mean i was driving and she was studying the map. it was chaotic and frightening and terribly exciting. especially when we rounded a bend and the bay of naples was spread out below us. a turquoise mirror. we gasped. we screamed. i was having a nervous breakdown. she took over the wheel.
now i’m spending more time there via the pages of the book, MY BRILLIANT FRIEND. oh it is so so good. i’m listening to it while driving, folding laundry, doing the dishes, chopping onions, sitting at my kitchen table in a trance.
more more more!!!
i’m going straight into book 2 of the series. when i’m finished. i musn’t be deprived of one second of the story of elena & lila. not one!
i had some trouble getting into MBFriend, but now i’m hooked.
I dug through the old photo archives on my computer and found a few pics from our drive …
we pulled over as soon as we could and took this pic:
bleary-eyed, straight off a plane. no sleep. why were we both wearing white?
if anoyone ever says, “hey let’s fly to rome from LA, rent a car, and drive to the amalfi coast all on the same day!” then if they say, “it’ll be a piece of cake!”
RUN! fast and far.
okay…back to my book! happy sunday & see you soon & all that jazz.
Hello MAM–Three things, wait, no, four: 1) I have serious vintage ledger envy re: that stack of papers. 2) Did you go to the Blue Grotto? 3) I have MBF. My mom gave it to me. I keep picking it up, looking at it, and putting back on the “to read” shelf. With your recommendation, I will read it–wasn’t sure before. 4) I am just finishing up my second London journal inspired by your Ticket to Venice class. I never knew how much fun it would be to journal in something I made myself, and how enjoyable it is to pick out papers, etc.
OK, five things: Paris is on my bucket list.
we didn’t go to capri…next time!
another london journal! fab!
Beautiful words. Beautiful photos. Beautiful post. I love this eye (and mind) candy. Could read it all day…especially when I’m following you on your travels! Thanks.
why thank you madame!
Art from Scrap in Santa Barbara is inspiring. Walking those cluttered aisles makes the creative juices flow! My sister lives just a few blocks away and we always try to squeeze in a visit when I am up there. You have a knack for making my feet itch to travel MAM, wish my dear husband felt the same, but he is a jewel anyway. I thought of you last Thursday working away in your classroom…..I was on jury duty (1 day only, hooray) downtown. Keep on inspiring us; it’s always a treat to see DLA in my mailbox.
so close yet so far away!
I think someday I will listen to MBF. That image for the front looks much much more attractive than I imagined the girls. Oh the poverty and the poverty of the souls.
I am very curious as to the age of those French postcards. My father was in the WWII mop up through France and the Low Countries into Germany. He took a photo of the cathedral in Rouen but nothing else so that building amazes me. In Googling that street it turns out that it is right behind the cathedral and I realize my father may have walked that street. The buildings are either still the same or reconstructed.
btw, even in my 20s and 30s I made the decision that we would not drive the Amalfi coast. PCH in 1975 up near Carmel nearly gave me a stroke. When my then husband turned to me to point out the Hearst place I was sure we would end up in the Pacific!
there was a handwritten date on the front of the album “1928”
that is so cool about your dad being in Rouen!
good thing about hwy 1 is there are no honking busses or cars whizzing by..
also it’s 2 real lanes versus 1 big lane in amalfi coast. ha ha ha ha!!!
You probably know this, but I read that HBO is committing to an 8 episode series based on My Beautiful Friend.
Thanks, as always for your garden tours, travel jaunts, creative vibes & mind trips.
i read that somewhere and it THRILLS me!
I am flying to Rome tomorrow afternoon and then going to the Amalfi Coast! But sleeping one night in Rome first. Too old to do the crazy thing you did — but that sounds way more exciting! (We’re also taking the train and bus to get there — too old to drive, too!)
– Tina
what and deprive yourself of navigating through naples? of driving that crazy amalfi road?!
wise decision
bon voyage!
you’re gonna love it.
Just arrived in Positano after a harrowing bus ride with crazy hairpin turns just inches from plunging into the ocean! Standing room only! But what I wanted to tell you is that I have no doubt in my mind that the Relief Band on my wrist kept me from losing my lunch! Thanks again for that tip! Worth a million!
oh so exciting!!! yes that road is CRAZY and has to be experienced to be believed. i will never forget the sound of the SITA busses and their wailing horns. just hearing one when driving the car would strike fear in our hearts!!! enjoy your holiday v.v.v. much
those relief bands saved my life in guatemala & nicaragua. i get motion sickness v.v. easily. which is why i did all the driving once we had hunkered down on the amalfi coast. being a passenger…too sickening.
In your last post you mentioned the book My Brilliant Friend, and it sounded oddly familiar. Turns out that I had started reading it and it didn’t captivate me right away so I started another book. Tonight I picked it up again and am giving it another try, since you said it took you awhile to get into it too. I will get back to you on it.
Those old books and postcards are fabulous! Can’t wait to see what you do with them!
I don’t get out to travel much, and live vicariously through you and others. BUT I do have a herd of elk in the pasture right behind my house, and I have three deer around my pond, and three duck species and herons in my pond, so I will have to be satisfied right here, which doesn’t suck😀 The peacocks are still alive, and the Mrs is nesting, which prompts the male to call for her over and over, in a very loud caterwauling kind of way. They are used to me now and when the male is all floofed out with his feathers and not aware of anything but himself, I can actually walk up and touch his tail feathers. I think he is flirting with me. He thinks he is all that…and he pretty much is.
20 days left until offspring wedding. Now I am in official freak out mode! I am more freaked out about that than North Korea. Until it is over, and then I will be more freaked out by North Korea.
Naples sure sounds nice. Doesn’t everyone wear white to Naples? Seems appropriate! Adventure on, dear woman!
i had more patience to stick with MY BRILLIANT FRIEND because i’m listening to it rather than reading. not sure if it makes a difference…
you’ll let me know…:-)
Awesome, MAM! I love every word & every pic from this post! Yes, wonderful travel! 😄
Much journal love,
Sheila in Denver
formerly from Oregon
formerly of Denver
(and points here & there)
aw thanks sheila from denver & oregon and back again 🙂