Journal Entry – 2 June, 2013 – Milano
Early Sunday morning and I’ve opened up the house to the first warm breeze since I arrived two weeks ago. Perhaps it will take the stone chill away so a borrowed, heavy wool sweater is no longer needed inside while I’m working.
Both church bells and sirens are chiming. Always dogs barking and the sound of scooters. Though birds chatter, they’ve paused their reliable early morning song until later.
For the first time on this visit, I am wearing a skimpy top, skirt and sandals as I “take some sun” and write.
This place continues to hold me in a hundred ways. I have no answers regarding its place in my life, but know that every time I leave, a part of me stays behind which begs my return. There is still discovery and enchantment, though very different than when I arrived for the first time in 2008. The biggest difference I find is that being here now moves me in a deeper way. The visual rapture I swoon over will always be here. It’s the relationships, however, that get me on the plane.
Yesterday, while out walking around, I caught a glimpse of the woman that was my Fashion Design instructor in 2008. I ran ahead, called out her name and we stopped to chat, both surprised and pleased to see each other.
Imagine being in a large, international city, halfway around the world from home, and being recognized by and recognizing other people! One-by-one I have created a community for myself with whom I share a wave, a “ciao” and conversation. This is what continues to stir and tug me, prompting each return. This is the magic that makes me marvel.