Small Celebrations

I love Italy. One of the things I especially

appreciate about Italian culture is the way everyday events – meeting a friend on the street, drinking a cappuccino at your neighborhood bar, or buying a new pair of gloves – are treated as special occasions. The exquisite desserts in the photo above were displayed in a pasticceria in the small town of Urbania, not far from Urbino, birthplace of Raphael. In spite of the attention lavished on them, these little works of art were probably not destined for any gala event but for a dinner at home or at a friend’s house.  Teachers of yoga and acting classes tell you to “be in the moment” but nobody does it with more élan and more style than the Italians.

Some days I arrive at the breakfast table with my bowl of cereal and my cup of tea and stop for a moment to appreciate the fact that I am still here, healthy, with good food to eat, and a comfortable, safe place to sleep. I’m not conventionally religious – the religion gene passed me by – but maybe this is a form of prayer.

Update: You can preview my book of black and white photographs of a famous garden in Italy at this link: http://bit.ly/2fClmm7