Posts tagged: italy

Where May Your Paths Lead You? 7/22/24

Where May Your Paths Lead You? 7/22/24
In searching for a header image for this week's love note, I looked, like I usually do when I'm seeking inspiration, to nature.  Today I found it in a work of art inspired by nature's beauty.

Let’s pause and take a closer look at the exquisite painting above.   The eye is drawn in by those wispy stratocumulus clouds, along with their reflections on the water.  All these vectors seem to lead into a single vanishing point on the far shore.   (You can see this better in a larger image here.)   Say, isn't that what we all want in life ... to have a clear spot on the horizon towards which we should point our bow?   No doubt we'll encounter some obstacles, like those islands in the foreground.  It's likely that at some point, we'll have to tack back and forth to make any headway to windward.  But how do we know where our mark is?  How do we know what it is it that we are working our way towards?   READ MORE

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Arrivederci Venice 6/16/24

Arrivederci Venice  6/16/24
Buongiorno!
I am feeling a little bit like Sybil of the multiple personalities this week.   I'm writing about Venice this morning, while sipping coffee in the garden of the charming Christopher Inn on Martha's Vineyard.    (We are here for a special wedding - the beautiful-inside-and-out daughter of dear dear friends.)    My brain is swirling with Venetian treasures, while here sits a bevy of floral fun and inspiration from the beautiful nuptials of the past two weekends.   Quite an embarrassment of riches!    READ MORE

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Labyrinth of Inspiration 6/3/24

Labyrinth of Inspiration 6/3/24
How to begin to make sense of the centuries of beauty witnessed during my recent trip to the gardens of Venice and the Veneto?  With some jet lag and a full plate of work awaiting me this weekend, it seems like a labyrinth to decipher.    So let's make sublime Italian inspiration a multi-Monday journey, and for today, we'll just start with the spectacular gardens of the Villa Barbarigo.  READ MORE

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Full Color Living 5/1/24

Full Color Living 5/1/24
You know those weeks that just rev nonstop full tilt?  I'm in a stretch of  them.   That's not a complaint, it's more like an embarrassment of riches - life in full living color.   Usually, my garden's peonies reaching peak bloom just about now would be plenty of excitement for one week.

Don't get me wrong - I've also been working non stop.  I'm just enormously lucky in that work often feels like play for me too.   I have some really big drops in today's note, AND I'm heading to Charlottesville today for my annual peony pilgrimage to Pharsalia Farm, AND on Friday, I'm heading to Venice and the Veneto visiting the villas and gardens of Andrea Palladio.  READ MORE

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Be Bold 2/19/24

Be Bold 2/19/24
In December of 2022, I was sitting around the fire before dinner with a glass of wine, my husband, and a good friend who was visiting us.  She (my friend, not the wine) said, "I'm going to Rome next month.  You ought to come with us."  I thought, "oh, there's no way I could possibly go to Rome next month".  And then 

"But what if I said yes?"   In fact, I did.   The trip wasn't a super luxe trip, and January is  a wonderful time to travel to Europe because no one else thinks so.   (It rained a lot and we even saw snowflakes, which is virtually unheard of in Rome.)  And it became one of my favorite trips ever.    READ MORE

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