Thursday 21 st December I've been struggling to finish off my Italian trip report. I still have 24 hours to complete, but it just won't come out. Possibly the most moving day, so perhaps that's why. No such difficulty in documenting the Middle Street Advent windows and house fronts. Here's the latest batch. Click to enlarge any image. Wikipedia has this: "Santa Lucia is the patron saint of the city of Siracusa, Sicily.
On 13 December a silver statue of Santa Lucia containing her relics is paraded through the streets before returning to the Cathedral. Sicilians recall a legend that holds that a famine ended on her feast day when ships loaded with grain entered the harbour. It is traditional to eat whole grains instead of bread. It makes no sense and will not benefit the residents of Trinity, who will be represented by a county councillor who will have a huge, mainly rural, area to cover, incorporating as it does seven parish councils and three district council wards.
I get the lure of avoidance, which is not the same as apathy. I know plenty of people who are deeply engaged in politics, not yet despairing of British democracy, determined to vote at the next election, but who are also finding contact with news media distressing to the point of physical repellence.
Compassionate, well-informed, even-handed experts who are qualified to take a view on Israel-Palestine choose their words with painstaking care. Some I know have been left almost speechless by the scale of what is happening now. Thousands of volunteers of different ethnicities are working to help victims of the violence and clean up neglected bomb shelters, amid many other efforts at calming the heightened tensions around the country.
The Gaza Strip is 25 miles long, from 3. I believe in its spirit. Disclaimer: I don't know Osman. He might be appalling behind closed doors. Perhaps we should ask his cat. His best creations are instantly familiar, as though they've always been there, and Osman has simply given them a nice polish and brought them to our attention.
