#44 Words about Sicily

still more details

Hello Friend,

I've often mentioned how I'm drawn to the little details that escape most people. Rather than being overwhelmed by a detailed artwork, building or historical site, I will take a step closer and try to break it down to see it's different parts, how its made.

The logical part of my mind takes over wanting to understand and analyse things. Honestly, it seems to make more sense to focus on less than trying to take in the whole complex picture.

It's best to break it all down and notice something you can take, like a nugget of gold sifted out of the endless grains of sand.

Looking for the details is one of the pleasures of living in Sicily. The island is rich and drenched in history, layered one on the other. It's easy to observe the quirks, things that spring out at you as they are exotic or totally out of place.

Often it will be a carving in a stone, a door handle or something as dull as the signage for a store. That randomness attracts my attention and pulls me towards a curiosity, a question, or perhaps leads me towards a story that someone else may not have noticed.

While studying journalism, one of my professors gave me what I think is the best compliment ever; it echoes in my mind occasionally, which I recalled as I was writing this post. She said I could find a story even where there doesn't appear to be one. Mind you, she was talking about a news story, but I indeed have this nack. I think there is always a story behind everything.

People are filled with stories from their personal histories. Family histories and our lives are a succession of episodes, experiences and tales we constantly tell ourselves and others. And, of course, the objects we use, the homes we live in, and the environment we inhabit are imbibed with stories and connected to these experiences.

I love collecting vintage postcards, prints, photos and letters because they have a unique quality that fills them with magic. It's as if they contain the spirit of the people who initially used, wrote, or made them. And with time, they have acquired their character or personality; they tell their own spontaneous stories.

I'm reminded of a famous photographer who used to travel the world visiting famous landmarks, which he chose to document by taking photographs close to them. I remember reading he took a photo of one of the supporting pylons of the Eiffel Tower.

I can't recall his name, so please enlighten us if anyone else has heard of him knows his him. Even though his approach was a bit extreme, the concept is always pays homage to the beauty of the details and that are always more interesting than the bigger picture.

Walking around Taormina, which I think you've guessed is one of my favourite places to visit in Sicily, I came across an impressive lawyer's office. It was a few hundred meters down the road from the Anfiteatro.

I imagined the lawyer closing his office late one summer night and strolling down the street to attend whatever performance was happening. Not a bad place for an office.

The palazzo that housed the office was impressive, with thick tall, carved wooden doors and elaborate wrought-iron details on the medieval-looking windows.

But above all, what struck me as being more impressive was the front door handle/ knocker. Look how wonderful it was to see two mermaids entwined with an angel at their tails and hooked over the mouth of a Pan-like nature spirit.

I stopped and took this picture of it, and later when I showed it to my husband, he said he didn't even notice it.

I hate to be long-winded, so I will stop here now.

I'll keep trying to write something worthwhile, well thought out and new here every week, perhaps more often if I get in the zone.

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Cheers to you

Mille grazie

with love from Sicily

Rochelle