A ballad of freedom and friendship
Red wine, in wine glasses, in carafes. Laughter. Cards, excitement. Magneto! roars, shh. Squeezing by, excuse me. An absence of sidewalks--traipsing through the middle of each street. Pizza? Two pizzas. Red wine, in wine glasses, in carafes. Laughter. Cards, competition. Silver surfer! Pizza. Wine. Pizza, seductive cheese. Ooooh the cheese. Red wine, in wine glasses, in carafes.
The sun. The SUN! Feeling the glow on my face, my shoulders, my back, my knees. Basking in its embrace, summoning my summer freckles. The sand, the sea. The sand, too hot. So hot. Two people. One chair. Share? Share chair. The sand, too hot. The sun, once kind, no longer kissing my cheeks. Its wrath beating down on my entire glowing body. Hot. The sea. Waves slapping weakly at the shore. First my feet, then my knees. I dive. The sea, muffling out the cacophony of Italian voices. Cool, serene. Lying on my back, floating, floating. Muffled sounds. Splash. Fish. Sun. Boat. Fish. Sun.
Hungry. Pizza. Ooh, the cheese. Red wine, in glasses, in carafes. Laughter. Cards, excitement. Medusa! cries, shh. Red wine, red wine, red wine. Unwanted crusts lay still on the platter like soldiers in a field after battle. Traipsing through the streets, once foreign, now familiar. Squeezing by, excuse me. Pardon. Red wine, cards, laughter.
I take pictures because I want to remember. I can't bottle that feeling or that moment. I can't halt the passage of time, or the continuing development of my mind, myself. I can raise the viewfinder to my eye, and frame the present. This is a picture of my favorite bar in the world. But it's also the stain on my white shirt from the red sauce at dinner. The man shouting that you can't dig a hole on the beach. My aching feet after a long hike. The endless hours passed excitedly playing a card game meant for children. My sticky fingers after devouring a juicy orange. Sneaking a second hot chocolate from the machine when the hostel lady turned around. Friendship.
This week I'm reading Nora Ephron's Crazy Salad.
I'm also playing bridge tomorrow, so if you have any tips, please send along.
Always,
K