I was walking home from an event at the Santa Chiara urban mission in the ancient, low-income Albergheria neighborhood of Palermo when these boys who were kicking a soccer ball around in the street said, "Take my picture! We'll be on YouTube!"
Sicily
and Vermont
My favorite bookstore
August 18, 2014
Stacks in an alley near the post office.
So many stories in this little alley in a street parallel to Via Roma near the post office, and not all of them were in books. I got sucked into this vicolo by the books and I stayed for the bookseller, Pietro Tramonte. More on him tomorrow.
Feathery Chandelier
August 16, 2014
Milky chandelier in a newly renovated palazzo in Via Maqueda, Palermo.
A chandelier hanging from what used to be a frescoed ceiling in a Via Maqueda palace.
Palermo pit bull
August 15, 2014
Pitbull, either victorious or untried, Albergheria, Palermo
I saw this beautiful dog most days chained up to this doorway, or heard him whine behind the shuttered saracensche of a storage shed in center city. His coat and confirmation were beautiful and unscarred, so he either he had never fought or he had always won.
Three-seater
August 10, 2014
Three-seater bicycle at the Mercato del usato, a flea market in Ballaro`, Palermo
Found this three-seater bicycle at the "mercato del usato", the used items market in Ballaro`. About a year and a half later I saw it again in the workshop of Palermo inventor Marcello Lampone.
Silver Crown for the Madonna
July 6, 2014
Artisan working on a silver crown
An artisan in the workshop of Antonino Amato in Piazza G. Meli behind the Church of San Domenico in Palermo, autumn 2012. He is creating a silver crown for a madonna.
Sun through the olive trees
June 25, 2014
Silver lining of a cloud behind the olive branches
Fra Biagio Conte's community for the homeless has expanded into the countryside. The homeless shelter inherited a farm near the sea, at Scopello in Sicily, and the homeless have rebuilt it, and cleaned up the olive groves, made them productive again, and make all the shelter's olive oil there.
Olives at the Ballaro` market
June 11, 2014
Green olives, Ballaro` market
A bank of green olives for sale in the Ballaro` market street.
Back to Vermont a minute
June 9, 2014
Purple iris at the Marina in Brattleboro. YUM!
I just want you to see this. I am so lucky to live here.
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Rough looking
June 5, 2014
These ancient wooden doors lead to a flat above the Capo market.
Many southern Asian immigrants live in this, the Capo market neighborhood. These rough wooden doors looked positively medieval. Often, univiting, creaking, forbidding, even, heavy wooden doors lead to enchanted colonnaded courtyards filled with sunlight and a fountain, such a surprise. In Palermo, you never know what is behind the next closed door.