For the last 10 days my wife Janell and I have been in the company of the poet David Whyte in the hills outside of Florence, Italy, along with 30 equally ardent companions. We would spend the morning with David, listening to him talk and recite poetry designed to open the soul to a new conversation with the world. In the afternoon and evening we would hike through the vineyard and olive country along back roads and trails. There were no bullhorns, tour buses or frantic dashes from one site to another. The pace was measured, the visits respectful and the relationships adult. And from time to time we were joined by Italian artists, musicians, historians, butchers, chefs, fisherman and one really neat Count and Countess. One evening we heard a 92 year old woman recite a poem she wrote at the age of 16, after the allies drove out the Germans in WWII. Most of the eyes were damp. It will be difficult to be an every day tourist after this experience.
My life is in transition. The intense travel of the last 10 years will be slowly replaced with a bit of old fashioned routine. I look forward to being a home body for a while and spending more time in my studio surrounded by words. It is a time of simplification, inner downsizing and becoming acquainted with parts of me that have long been forgotten. It is an exciting time and I feel an intense anticipation of things unknown and undone. Life is good.
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