A WALK

Happy Saint Lucy’s Day! Here in Sicily we celebrate by eating a traditional wheat dish (that Ignatzia prepares for her family and for us) and we fast from bread for the day. My relatives in the states prepared the same Santa Lucia dish, only without the sugar and chocolate, and we went to church to have our throats blessed by the priest. To do this, he laid two crossed candles against our young throats and mumbled some Latin that was supposed to protect us from sore throats all winter. Sort of like a flu shot, before they were invented. To me then, it beat “vicking up” and wearing garlic poultices around the neck. Both of these practices are still performed on both sides of the sea today.
We had heard that a storm was coming our way, and so we spent most of yesterday outdoors in gorgeous sunlight. We went for a walk and the light was very special, almost magical. I took a million pictures and tried to catch the flavor of the day, but of course that is impossible. A day like yesterday also makes me wish I knew more about photography and that I had a camera that could do justice to this scenery. Or at least, that I take some time and read the manual for my current camera. There is probably a lot of good information there.
Today, between driving wind and rain all day, it is hard to remember what yesterday was like. But our walk was typical of the reason why we like it so much here that we do not mind being without family for Christmas.