Around the corner from where I live, there’s a coffee/wine bar called the Blue Bar. Down in the valley, there’s also a Green Bar and somewhere there’s a Red Bar, aside from a couple of others with names like Obelix and Asterix. The one I frequent is Blue Bar, which is not very large. ThereContinue reading “Blue Bar”
Author Archives: Erika Bizzarri
Wheels and Words Part II
Sometimes a phrase, a word, read or heard, remains with us throughout the day, or week, or more. This is certainly the case with Shakespeare or Robert Frost. My love affair with both goes back to the 7th or 8th grade. What impressed their words on my mind? The sound, or the idea? When orContinue reading “Wheels and Words Part II”
Words and Wheels Part I
All depends on chance – or does it. We talk. We read. We are constantly playing with words. Sometimes our introduction to an author, to a character, to a book, depends on chance. Although perhaps that is generally the case in most encounters, real-life or on the printed page. Sometimes though, what sparked my interestContinue reading “Words and Wheels Part I”
Unpurchasable Memories
There’ll be a box somewhere in your house – in the movies it’s often under the bed or up on a high shelf in the closet – with treasured letters and cards, keepsakes (nice name). I have several packets of letters, but I’ve written about them before. They and the cards are part of peopleContinue reading “Unpurchasable Memories”
Person to Person
Person-to-person is best, you say. I answer, sometimes, but not always. Perhaps it depends on what you are used to, best at ease with, grew up with. You can exchange ideas, like batting a ball back and forth in a ping-pong game. On the other hand if it’s a chess game, you need time toContinue reading “Person to Person”
Joy
Laughter means contentment. It means happiness, perhaps fleetingly, but for those few moments when we laugh, we are happy. There are synonyms and antonyms to happiness. Joy, delight, elation. It’s opposite despair, tribulation, misery, unhappiness. All of which seem rather drastic. There must be some kind of middle ground. Take joy. Use with joy itContinue reading “Joy”
Postscript
It certainly is rare that one reads a book from cover to cover in one sitting. That’s where bookmarks come in. Perhaps only in the form of folding the corner of a page, dog-eared as they say, or by using a slender bookmark with reference to another book by the same author, or perhaps byContinue reading “Postscript”
Who Wrote These Notes?
A friend lent me a book. Not in itself unusual. The book, an English translation of Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal. The late Mattia Pascal, came from a used bookstore, so my friend was not the first to read it, although it is in pristine condition. I do have Pirandello in Italian and I hadContinue reading “Who Wrote These Notes?”
Whistles
There’s a shelf in the corridor leading to my bedchamber with small figures vying with each other to be heard. They are indeed vying to be heard, for they are whistles. Most of them in simple terractta, some painted in bright colors, childish in their delight. Several have written underneath Caltagirone and the date, oneContinue reading “Whistles”
Names Again
Names again, given or inherited. Although I’ve written about names before, it somehow seems a universal, non-stop, subject. What’s in a name. It’s curious how we relate to people with a specific name. Let’s see. I have quite a few Davids on my list. Three I’m actually on speaking terms with and several others areContinue reading “Names Again”
Saints For All Things
In Italy there is of course a plethora of saints. Some one never heard of, some invented like Santa Perduta (Lost Saint), celebrated in Orvieto with music by local groups and picnics of roast pig and wine. One might even think of it as a pagan festival. Throughout the centuries the pagan gods were graduallyContinue reading “Saints For All Things”
Shrinking Universe
My shrinking and my expanding worlds As we grow older, our world shrinks. Eventually, those few steps between chair and bed, that physical world that others see as “us”, will diminish day by day. Of the countless contacts we had before, most of them are now virtual. Space and time become meaningless. Yet, that endlessContinue reading “Shrinking Universe”
A Small Town: Part II On Seeing
On seeing It’s a small town. In around 20 minutes, I have an appointment at the health clinic at the other end of town. Although I would once have walked there, a bus is now more convenient. The bus stop is right by the local bank and I’m early. I’ve had my morning cappuccino so I’llContinue reading “A Small Town: Part II On Seeing”
A Small Town: Part I On Being Seen
My town is definitely a small town. Which means I’m not invisible. I don’t have to be eccentric, or construct a specific persona for myself. Sometimes ,I wonder though if it’s my dog rather than me who is being noted. Once, in Florence, I was walking down a street near the cathedral and I feltContinue reading “A Small Town: Part I On Being Seen”
Ambiguity
CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH Venice, the year 2000 An exhibition entitled COSMOS L’arte alla scoperta dell’ìnfinito The students we are accompanying have gone on to discover Venice on their own. As we wander on, just my friend and me, we discover an exhibition in Palazzo Grassi that looks interesting. What I remember most today, 23 yearsContinue reading “Ambiguity”
Lost and Found
Years ago, I lost a purple glove at the supermarket. I had removed it to pull out my shopping list and when I got to the checkout, well, there was only one glove keeping my potatoes and yogurts company. Despite backtracking and asking, no one had seen a single glove of any kind looking forContinue reading “Lost and Found”
February 14/15
February 1929 Newark, New Jersey, USA. A car, could be a Ford, goes speeding through the empty streets at midnight. I think I ran over a cat, says the red-haired driver as the silence is broken by a wail … Except it wasn’t a cat, it was a girl-child complaining as she was thrust intoContinue reading “February 14/15”
Once Upon a Time
Thoughts on a cold snowy day Winter sets in and nature and, perhaps, my senses also go into hibernation. It is the moment of “once upon a time,” hoping that that time will soon return when the first crocuses brave the cold and the hazel bushes are draped in their catskins. Once upon a time,Continue reading “Once Upon a Time”
Aftermath of the Holidays Part II
There are other futures involved in my Christmas presents. A pair of sheepskin boots that I cannot yet pull on by myself. There is a very warm vest with, thank heaven, capacious pockets for my phone, house keys, doggie bag, hankies, eye glasses, bus tickets. The backpack makes it possible for me to do myContinue reading “Aftermath of the Holidays Part II”
Aftermath of the Holidays Part I
A gift implies a future. Christmas had passed and the manger scene put away. I discover an unopened box next to my computer. With my name written on it. It is from the shop that sells notebooks with hand-made paper bindings and special pens. Inside, when I finally get around to opening it, is aContinue reading “Aftermath of the Holidays Part I”
Erika Bizzarri 