July 26 to August 1 2020

Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, July 26
through
Saturday, August 1

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It’s Saturday, August 1, 2020
Welcome to the  842nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Kiss of Judas

one of the panels in the Scrovegni Chapel
Giotto di Bondone -
http://geoffwren.blogs.com/photos/museum/kiss_of_judas.html ] [dead link]

No. 31 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 15. The disciple on the left, who wounds a soldier with his knife, is Saint Peter.

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2.0 Commentary
My Oh My
but I do love the return of my exercise.
Every other day
at Planet Fitness
challenging myself to get a bit stronger than last time.
So good for us.

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3.0 Travel
Still talking choosing a destination.
Here talking about self-improvements that will forever stay with us.

Chose Tuscany.
So much art.
But not satisfied to venture thousands of miles and dollars
to content ourselves by standing in front of a piece and
nod sagely as though
we knew how to respond to the effort of the artist.
Especially one who worked hundreds of years ago,
for a viewership so different from us.

So deciding that we will enrich ourselves by learning about art
by the studying.
We will return to Boston substantially more art-knowledgeable than when we left.
Return to Boston adding visits to art museums into our list of favored activities.

The plan:
When we visit the Scrovegni Chapel to view
Giotto’s art-world shattering frescoes of
The Life of the Virgin and the Life of Jesus,
while we stand in front of the piece,
we will take turns reading
pertinent scholarly notes
compiled by ourselves before the trip;
the notes to focus our viewing,
increasing our awareness,
developing our experience and confidence.
Then each of us will make a personal observation
to our own judgment-free group.

The expectation:
A fulfilling art experience including
the enjoyment of the viewing,
the substantial increase in our art vocabularies,
the growth of our knowledge of art history,
an osmotic absorption of art appreciation as well as
lessons in patience and encouragement.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
For attractive lips,
speak words of kindness.
~Audrey Hepburn

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This gem from our dear friend, Howard D:

As you share your regimen with us, pretty much daily, it’s only for the sake of equity that, I think, you should hear and see what we’re having for dinner, at least once in a while. Some of us prefer not to dine out during Covid.

From upper left, clockwise: savory tart with asparagus, broccoli, and green onions; seared sea scallops on risotto with shallots and peppers; seared zucchini with crispy parmesan and black pepper; asaparagus tart with goat cheese and crême frâiche custard; zucchini, tomato, and eggplant gratin; salmon en croute (exterior); salmon en croute (interior)

Blog Meister responds:  Such a show-off!

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Thursday evening I shared a Tuna Salad sandwich with cousin Lauren.

During the course of the conversation I passed on this how-to make a simple salad dressing:
Three parts extra virgin olive oil, one part lemon juice, a dot of Dijon, and a tiny amount of garlic or shallots, salt, and freshly-ground pepper.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
The kiss of Judas, also known (especially in art) as the Betrayal of Christ, is
the act with which Judas identified Jesus to the multitude with swords and clubs
who had come from the chief priests and elders of the people
to arrest him, according to the Synoptic Gospels.
The kiss is given by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane
after the Last Supper and
leads directly to the arrest of Jesus by the police force of the Sanhedrin.

Within the life of Jesus in the New Testament,
the events of his identification to hostile forces and subsequent execution are
directly foreshadowed both when Jesus predicts his betrayal and Jesus predicts his death.

More broadly, a Judas kiss may refer to "an act appearing to be an act of friendship, which is in fact harmful to the recipient".

Probably the most famous picture of the famous Scrovegni Chapel frescoes, "The Betrayal of Christ" (also known as "The Kiss of Judas") was painted by the Florentine artist Giotto di Bondone (1270-1337) in the first decade of the 14th century.
The venue was the private chapel of the Scrovegni family, who had grown rich from their banking and moneylending businesses.
The head of the family, Enrico Scrovegni, built it on a plot of land in Padua which had formerly been the site of a Roman arena, hence it is also called the Arena Chapel.
In 1300 he commissioned Giotto to decorate it with a series of fresco mural paintings -
which are now considered by most art critics to
mark the end of Byzantine-style medieval painting in Europe and to
pave the way for the new aesthetics of the Florentine Renaissance (c.1400-90).

NOTE: Giotto, reputedly the pupil of Cimabue (c.1240-1302), was
the main innovative force behind pre-Renaissance painting of the Italian trecento.
His close links with Florence was
one reason why the city outshone its rivals in the Sienese School of painting, who
remained wedded to the more decorative Byzantine-style Gothic art, with its
flat picture plane and non-naturalistic figures.

By 1300, Giotto's reputation was at such a height and
the modernity of his vision so patently in step with the tendencies of the time that
Italian princes openly competed for his services.
Enrico Scrovegni was the son of Reginaldo, whom
Dante casts into hell as a moneylender in his poem.
Enrico must have been a considerable figure -
or perhaps it was his remorse at being afflicted with the same vice of usury as his father -
for Giotto to agree to provide the decoration for his chapel in Padua, which
Enrico had built in the teeth of countless obstacles.
His generous commission did not prevent Giotto from
depicting his patron in the vast composition representing the Last Judgment
on the rear of the facade.
Enrico appears offering Mary Mother of God
the model of his chapel and
wearing a violet robe, a color symbolizing repentance.

It is naturalness rather than naturalism that is so admirable in these Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel frescoes, equally celebrated for their realism, for the physical characterization of each and every figure - a thing that had scarcely existed before him - as well as the marvelous clarity, delicacy, variety, and limpidity of their color.

The dynamism and dramatic intensity of the famous Kiss of Judas -
where good and evil clash in a meeting of lips - have been stressed many times, as have
the beauty of the yellow robe of the betrayer positioned between others in grey-blue and faded red, and the power of the composition generally.

But it is the vibrant understanding of humanity that overrides any other quality in this powerful masterpiece, from the center of which the figure of Christ radiates his luminous serenity.

The dramatic scene depicting the betrayal of Christ shows the moment when Judas Iscariot identifies him to the watching authorities with a kiss of greeting, and at the same time, envelopes him in his cloak.
As he does so, Christ calmly stares at him without flinching.

Instead of relying on the sublime,
Giotto softens the image of the sacred,
making it feel closer, bringing it - as it were - down to earth.
This new humanity is especially visible in gestures that have totally lost all liturgical quality.
In spite of their dignity, solemnity, reserve, self-control,
these are everyday gestures.
In his earlier frescoes for the church of San Francesco at Assisi, a youthful personality was striving to express itself; in Padua, we are in the presence of total mastery and awesome power.

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It’s Friday, July 31, 2020
Welcome to the  841st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Tuscany on map of Italy

TUBS - Own work This SVG map includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this map: Italy location map.svg (by NordNordWest).

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2.0 Commentary
This pandemic teaches us the futility of prediction.
Whichever cast of players I might have thought would be around me in the summer
is different from the event.
I didn’t have an inkling in early June that
Fridays would be such fine regular days off that, in fact,
they have proved to be.
This Friday we are visiting both the Parker River NWR and
the Maudsley State Park.

We convene at my apartment for a light snack,
today, shrimp toast and 2oz of vermouth,
we make some dinner preparations,
today, converting simple boned chicken legs into braciolettini
that we will roast and saute on our return,
make our first pit stop, putting everyone on the same page,
and then, transportation having been arranged,
leave for the day’s event.

On our return, we finish cooking dinner,
enjoy a good wine, and share a meal.
Followed by a movie.
That’s a nice day.
A refreshing glass of lemonade.

In an unrelated twist,
this blog is going to reassign number 3.0 to a new travel entry, Tuscany, extracting an essence.
These entries will be gathered on a page in this blog with that title.
Easy access.
The intent is to produce a travel blueprint for Tuscany
whose lessons will be of interest to all travelers.
The goal is to extract he genius from the geography, the culture, the agriculture, the city-building, the architecture, the art, and the food
using whatever materials are at hand.
Let it be noted from the outset, that
this blog intends to make heavy and shameless use of the vast treasures of Wikipedia.
We thank them.
Let is also be noted that we consider all the material in the Tuscany pages to be
in the public domain
to be used shamelessly by whomever for whatever.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Life is a party.
Dress for it. 
~Audrey Hepburn

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This from Tommie T on Joyce G’s reaction to the post on San Gimignano:

I am laughing as I read Joyce G's memory of toilets as holes in the ground!
She is so right in that going to the "powder room," as we say in the south,
is a challenge when one is female and wearing pants.
It is more of a challenge with a "girdle."
I remember traveling from Germany to Paris back in the 60's when
women dressed up to travel - girdle, stockings, skirt, and high heels.
Try going to the bathroom (hole in the ground) with all that on -
plus a winter coat.
It was a comedy of errors.
And if I remember correctly,  it was an outdoor toilet.
At least I can laugh about it now 50 years later.

Love you, Dom.
I am eager to learn of your plans for beautiful Italy - and
especially, glorious Tuscany.
I yearn for that culture, lifestyle, food, wine, sunlight, beautiful fields of sunflowers, and villas in the countryside. 

Blog Meister responds:  Yes! Yes!

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Wednesday night I had a very nice dinner with my dear friend Cindy at Mare, in the North End.
In particular, a plate of three squid stuffed with assorted seafood, terrifically presented.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossel

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both.

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11.0 Thumbnail
Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 8,900 square miles and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants (2013).
The regional capital is Florence (Firenze).

Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture.
It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and
has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and
contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace.

Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino.
Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity,
it is sometimes considered "a nation within a nation".

Tuscany is a popular destination in Italy.
Our first go-round at producing an itinerary:
Land in Rome and take our carry-ons, our only luggage, to the car rental for our reserved car,
and immediately head out,
first destination Arezzo and Piero della Francesca’s frescoes of the History of the True Cross.
This is a leisurely two-hour landscape tour with scads of time for spontaneity.
Next day we’re off to Assisi for the Giotto-inspired frescoes of The Legend of St Francis.
Then continuing the awe-inspiring drive through the countryside of Pienza and Val d’Orcia, and particularly to San Gimignano.
By the way, we will be following the Guide Michelin for our meals and
the location of our sleepovers will be greatly guided by the location their starred restaurants.
We’ll note again, that all during this trip we will have scads of time for spontaneity.
From San Gimignano we’ll head outside Tuscany to reach Padua and
the Scrovegni Chapel, home of one of the greatest works of art in western Civilization: Giotto di Bandone’s frescoes of the Life of the Virgin Mary and the Life of Christ.
And being only minutes from it, how could we not spend at least half a day in St. Mark’s Square?
From Venice to Florence where we will spend several days and nights.
From Florence to Rome to Boston.
Ooops! Forgot to mention Pisa.
We’ll correct that.

Seven Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982); the Cathedral square of Pisa (1987); the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990); the historical centre of Siena (1995); the historical centre of Pienza (1996); the Val d'Orcia (2004), and the Medici Villas and Gardens (2013).
Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year.
In 2012, the city of Florence was the world's 89th most visited city, with 1.834 million arrivals.

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It’s Thursday, July 30, 2020
Welcome to the  840th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus

Sebastiano del Piombo
- This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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2.0 Commentary
Hellcat Walk and its crossing over to the beach dunes
is my favorite walk when visiting the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.
It has been closed at least until the summer of 2021.
When it reopens, it will be wheelchair accessible.
A much needed improvement.
Looking forward.

The enthusiasm for a trip to Tuscany grows,:
two more close friends expressing determination to join our group.
So thinking to start a new page in this blog: Tuscany, extracting an essence

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I've learned that people will forget what you said,0
people will forget what you did, but
people will never forget
how you made them feel. 
~Maya Angelou

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This from Sally C, responding to a mention here of an impending visit to Plum Island.

Dear Dom,

I heard on the news this week - Thursday, I think - that Plum Island has been closed to all except town residents. You might want to check with the town periodically to find out its status before you head there.

Sally

Blog Meister responds: Yes. Thank you. I made a mistake. Again.
The blog mentioned Plum Island but was meaning its adjacent beach, part of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Thanks, Sally.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday night I bought some clams and squid and
made a pasta sauce which I enjoyed with Angel Hair pasta.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who
completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean,
opening the way for European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

His expeditions,
sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain,
were the first European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Columbus's early life is somewhat obscure, but
scholars generally agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and
spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language.
He went to sea at a young age and travelled widely,
as far north as the British Isles (and possibly Iceland) and
as far south as what is now Ghana.

He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and
was based in Lisbon for several years, but
later took a Castilian mistress; he had one son with each woman.

Though largely self-educated,
Columbus was widely read in geography, astronomy, and history.
He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies,
hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.
Following persistent lobbying,
Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II agreed
to sponsor a journey west,
in the name of the Crown of Castile.

Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships, and
after a stopover in the Canary Islands
made landfall in the Americas on 12 October (later celebrated as Columbus Day).
His landing place was an island in the Bahamas,
known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani;
its exact location is uncertain.
Columbus subsequently visited the islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola,
establishing a colony in what is now Haiti:
the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies nearly 500 years earlier.
He arrived back in Castile in early 1493,
bringing a number of captive natives with him.
Word of his voyages soon spread throughout Europe.

Columbus made three further voyages to the New World,
exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493,
Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and
the eastern coast of Central America in 1502.
Many of the names he gave to geographical features—particularly islands—are still in use.
He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, and
the extent to which he was aware that
the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain.

He never clearly renounced his belief that he had reached the Far East and
gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered.
Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and
its appointed colonial administrators in America
led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and
later to protracted litigation
over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.

Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization
that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world.
The transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are
known as the Columbian exchange, and
the period of human habitation in the Americas prior to his arrival
is referred to as the Pre-Columbian era.

The debate over Columbus's legacy continues.
He was widely venerated in the centuries after his death, but
public perception has fractured in recent decades as
scholars give greater attention to the harm committed under his governance,
particularly the near extermination of the indigenous Taino population
from mistreatment and European diseases.

There is good evidence that
Columbus's regime brutally subjugated and enslaved the Taino
to aid the Spanish quest for gold.
Some other allegations,
such as tyrannical rule over the Spanish colonists, are murkier:
a contemporaneous, persistent smear campaign called the "black legend"
makes the extent of Columbus's blame uncertain.
Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name,
including the country of Colombia and the name Columbia, which
is used as a personification for the United States, and
appears in many place names there.

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13.1  Tuscany, extracting an essence
Why Tuscany?
Probably started with my first art classes,
so many years ago in college.
Although a junior, I had never developed anything approaching
good study habits until Toni-Lee and I met and
spent all of our time together.

Toni was a student.
A capital S student.
Few like her.

I had failed an exam in my art class and
had to retake it.
I would have failed it a second time and
been tossed out of the program but
since Toni was always studying,
to be near her I had to find something to do.
So studying became a new activity for me.

She taught me the mechanics.
Notes in class.
File cards.
Memorization; cold memorization.
I got my first A.

The architecture of Florence being an important component of my notes,
Florence stayed in my head as a destination.

The background on why I am set on visiting Florence.

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It’s Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Welcome to the  839th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
Dorothy Day

American journalist, social activist and Catholic convert.

Unknown photographer - http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/BE064360/dorothy-day?popup=1

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2.0 Commentary
I must acknowledge my love for this hot weather.
My mid-morning visits to the Thinking Cup sidewalk café on Newbury Street
have stretched into 2-hour events.

I like saying Hello! To Nev, Claire, and to Brenda
who have been serving me coffee for years, literally.

I drink iced water and a very hot cappuccino.
The coffee is invariably terrific.
I order breakfast pastries for my freezer.
I also buy ‘chocolate squared’ cupcakes from next-doors’ Georgetown Café.

Most of the time at the cafe is spent on planning my trip to Tuscany.
See the travel section at 13.0 Travel below for more details.
Often enough, I spend time reading for pleasure.
Some of the time I am deciding on dinner:
should I eat out?
Almost never,
or What shall I buy for dinner home? as,
on my walk home,
I pass Whole Foods.

From time-to-time, once every four visits, perhaps,
the routine is broken by
a welcome visit from one friend or acquaintance or another,
or a spontaneous conversation with another café customer,
sometimes a stranger,
sometimes, like myself, a regular.

I look forward to my visits so much that I must sometimes
force myself to make the 45-minute stop at the
Planet Fitness center in downtown Boston
where, after a four-month hiatus, I have recommenced my lifting.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
A mind is like a parachute.
It doesn't work if
it is not open. 
~Frank Zappa

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This from college friend Joyce G, thoughts on the recent posting re: visiting San Gimignano in Tuscany.

The only downside to this town is its public toilets.
Holes in the ground.
Especially difficult to use for women with pants on.
Maybe we women need to go back to dresses and skirts or
the town could invest in chemical toilets.

I bought a circular cheese grater there in 2002. 
I still use it today.
Joyce Gatta

Blog Meister responds: Excellent thoughts vital to a full enjoyment of the visit.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
For dinner Monday night I heated fried chicken bought prepared
from Whole Foods.
It was decent.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was
an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who,
after a bohemian youth,
became a Catholic Christian without in any way abandoning her social and anarchist activism.
She was perhaps the best-known political radical in the American Catholic Church.

Day's conversion is described in her autobiography,
The Long Loneliness.
Day was also an active journalist, and
described her social activism in her writings.

In 1917 she was imprisoned as a member of suffragist Alice Paul's nonviolent Silent Sentinels.
In the 1930s, Day worked closely with fellow activist Peter Maurin
to establish the Catholic Worker Movement,
a pacifist movement that combines direct aid for the poor and homeless with
nonviolent direct action on their behalf.
She practiced civil disobedience, which
led to additional arrests in 1955, 1957, and in 1973 at the age of seventy-five.
As part of the Catholic Worker Movement,
Day co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933, and
served as its editor from 1933 until her death in 1980.

In this newspaper, Day advocated the Catholic economic theory of distributism, which
she considered a third way between capitalism and socialism.
Pope Benedict XVI used her conversion story as an example of how to
"journey towards faith... in a secularized environment."
In an address before the United States Congress,
Pope Francis included her in a list of four exemplary Americans who "buil[t] a better future".
The Church has opened the cause for Day's possible canonization, which
was accepted by the Holy See for investigation.
For that reason, the Church refers to her with
the title of Servant of God.

The Catholic Worker movement started when
the first issue of the Catholic Worker appeared on May 1, 1933,
priced at one cent, and
published continuously since then.

It was aimed at those suffering the most in the depths of the Great Depression,
"those who think there is no hope for the future", and
announced to them that "the Catholic Church has a social program...
there are men of God who are working not only for their spiritual but
for their material welfare."
It accepted no advertising and did not pay its staff.

Like many newspapers of the day, including those for which Day had been writing, it was
an unapologetic example of advocacy journalism.
It provided coverage of strikes,
explored working conditions, especially of women and black workers, and
explicated papal teaching on social issues.

Its viewpoint was partisan and
stories were designed to move its readers to take action locally,
for example,
by patronizing laundries recommended by the Laundry Workers' Union.
Its advocacy of federal child labor laws put it at odds with
the American Church hierarchy from its first issue, but
Day censored some of Maurin's attacks on the Church hierarchy and
tried to have a collection of the paper's issues presented to Pope Pius XI in 1935.

The paper's principal competitor both in distribution and ideology was
the Communist Daily Worker.
Day opposed its atheism,
its advocacy of "class hatred" and violent revolution, and
its opposition to private property.

The first issue of the Catholic Worker asked:
"Is it not possible to be radical and not atheist?" and
celebrated its distribution in Union Square on May Day as a
direct challenge to the Communists.
Day defended government relief programs like
the Civilian Conservation Corps that
the Communists ridiculed.
The Daily Worker responded by
mocking the Catholic Worker for its charity work and
for expressing sympathy for landlords when
calling evictions morally wrong.
In this fight,
the Church hierarchy backed Day's movement and
Commonweal, a Catholic journal that expressed a wide range of viewpoints, said
that Day's background positioned her well for her mission:
"There are few laymen in this country
who are so completely conversant with Communist propaganda and its exponents."
During this time, she became friends with many Catholic authors, including
 John C. Cort and Harry Sylvester.
Sylvester dedicated his fourth novel, Moon Gaffney, to Day and Cort.

Over several decades, the Catholic Worker attracted such writers and editors as Michael Harrington, Ammon Hennacy, Thomas Merton, and Daniel Berrigan.
From the publishing enterprise came a "house of hospitality",
a shelter that provided food and clothing to the poor of the Lower East Side and then
a series of farms for communal living.
The movement quickly spread to other cities in the United States and
to Canada and the United Kingdom.
More than 30 independent but affiliated Catholic Worker communities had been founded by 1941.

Day was saddened by the executions of the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927. She wrote that when they died, "All the nation mourned." As a Catholic, she felt a sense of solidarity with them, specifically "the very sense of solidarity which made me gradually understand the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ whereby we are all members of one another."[105]

Beginning in 1935, the Catholic Worker began publishing articles that
articulated a rigorous and uncompromising pacifist position,
breaking with the traditional Catholic doctrine of just war theory.
The next year, the two sides that fought the Spanish Civil War
roughly approximated two of Day's allegiances,
with the Church allied with Franco fighting radicals of many stripes,
the Catholic and the worker at war with one another.
Day refused to follow the Catholic hierarchy in support of Franco
against the Republican forces, which were
atheist and anticlerical in spirit,
led by anarchists and communists (that is, the Republican forces were).
She acknowledged the martyrdom of priests and nuns in Spain and said
she expected the age of revolution she was living in to require more martyrs:

“We must prepare now for martyrdom–otherwise we will not be ready.
Who of us if he were attacked now would not react quickly and humanly against such attack?
Would we love our brother who strikes us?
Of all at The Catholic Worker how many would not instinctively defend himself with any forceful means in his power?
We must prepare.
We must prepare now.
There must be a disarmament of the heart.”

The paper's circulation fell as many Catholic churches, schools, and hospitals that
had previously served as its distribution points withdrew support.
Circulation fell from 150,000 to 30,000.

In 1938, she published an account of the transformation of her political activism into religiously motivated activism in From Union Square to Rome.
She recounted her life story selectively,
without providing the details of her early years of "grievous mortal sin" when
her life was "pathetic, little, and mean".
She presented it as an answer to communist relatives and friends who have asked:
"How could you become a Catholic?"

“What I want to bring out in this book is a succession of events that
led me to His feet,
glimpses of Him that
I received through many years which
made me feel the vital need of Him and of religion.
I will try to trace for you the steps by which
I came to accept the faith that I believe was always in my heart.”

The Cardinal's Literature Committee of the New York Archdiocese recommended it to Catholic readers.[

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13.0 Travel
To help my understanding of the medieval and Renaissance artists’ influences on each other,
I’ve created a timeline of the activities of the artists and works we will be seeing on the trip.
The timeline has evolved into a chart that also lists the towns and the museums in which the works are found,
making it easier to assess the importance of our visits to each museum and cathedral.

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It’s Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Welcome to the  838th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
A collage of Florence

showing the Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria.

collection by DanieleDF1995 (talk) -
Collage di varie foto di Firenze

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2.0 Commentary
Cut for cut. dry-aged meat tastes and chews significantly better than its meat-case counterpart.
And costs significantly more.
If you can afford it, if you can find it, buy and taste it.
You won’t go back.

Sunday was the first day in a week
I walked out of my building
without feeling significant pain.
Walking pain-free is a blessing usually unappreciated.
A torn knee-tendon provides ample opportunity to remember.

Sunday I returned to the club after skipping a day.
Feeling good.

Being alone from time to time a good thing.
In itself.
It also provides the distance one needs from time to time
to appreciate the friends we have.
And I do have good friends.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter --
to all these music gives voice, but
in such a way that we are transported from the world of unrest to
a world of peace, and
see reality in a new way, as if
we were sitting by a mountain lake and contemplating hills and woods and clouds
in the tranquil and fathomless water. 
~Albert Schweitzer

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This from Ann H from a bit of research to help family:

Great seeing you tonight!

Some food high in iron that you might not think of...

Shellfish - clams, oysters, mussels

tempeh -

chickpeas, lentils, black beans, navy beans and kidney beans, black eye peas

pumpkin seeds

Quinoa

Tofu

Turkey

Dark Chocolate

tomato paste

potatoes

Mushrooms

Palm Hearts

Prune juice

Olives

Grains - Amaranth, Spelt, (I have not heard of the first 2-  so no clue) Oats

Coconut milk

Black Strap molasses

dried fruits raisins, apricots

sure there are more but interesting list

xooxxo

Ann Heimlicher
Boston Spot-Lite, Inc.
"The Concierge Specialists"
www.bostonspotlite.com

Blog Meister responds:  Many of these are surprises to me. Thank you, my dear.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday night I enjoyed a simple dry-aged NewYork-cut sirloin.
Slow-roasted for 30 min and then Broiled-Seared for 3.5 minutes.
Smothered with garlic-butter.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast

Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

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11.0 Thumbnail
Florence is a city in central Italy and
the capital city of the Tuscany region.
It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with
383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over
1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.

Florence was a center of medieval European trade and finance and
one of the wealthiest cities of that era.
It is considered by many academics to have been
the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called
"the Athens of the Middle Ages".
Its turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and
numerous religious and republican revolutions.
From 1865 to 1871 the city served as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (established in 1861).
The Florentine dialect forms the base of Standard Italian and
it became the language of culture throughout Italy due to
the prestige of the masterpieces by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini.

The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and
UNESCO declared the Historic Centre of Florence a World Heritage Site in 1982.

The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments.[10] The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.[11] Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, Forbes has ranked it as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.[12]

Florence plays an important role in Italian fashion, and is
ranked in the top 15 fashion capitals of the world by Global Language Monitor; furthermore, it is
a major national economic center as well as
a tourist and industrial hub.
In 2008 the city had the 17th-highest average income in Italy.

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It’s Monday, July 27, 2020
Welcome to the  837th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0 Lead Picture
A collage of Venice

At the top left is the Piazza San Marco, followed by
a view of the city, then
the Grand Canal and interior of La Fenice, as well as
the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.

collection by DanieleDF1995 (talk) -
Collage di varie foto di Venezia

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2.0 Commentary
We spent Saturday afternoon touring Mt Auburn cemetery,
a landmark in Boston-Cambridge.
It's been several years since I visited.
I was stunned by its beauty.
We walked a lagoon.
Shared a bottle of cold Altaneve Prosecco,
it’s lemony tones, effervescence, wetness, and temperature
contributed to a most refreshing break.
We walked a dell, and
on the way back to the car,
watched naked-eye close as
a red-tailed hawk devoured a chipmunk,
the population of chipmunks here seemingly overrunning the cemetery.
We finished the tour with a walk around a modest man-made lake,
leaving for the apartment and air conditioning and hydration.
And dinner.

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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
…the great men are not those who solved the problems, but
those who discovered them. 
~Albert Schweitzer

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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

This from Sally C on Howard D’s piece on roasted eggplant, including a brief on a turning implement:

Dear Dom,

I love Howard's precise notes today about the turner, as well as the image he provides. Such detail is otherwise so often lacking, and we end up mangling some delicacy.

I feel the same way about kitchen knives.  I was given a knife several years ago, made by a good-name manufacturer and was probably not cheap, but I use it very infrequently.  It is stainless steel, which usually does not hold an edge very long.  Its blade is thick, which seems cumbersome in my hand.  I grew up using carbon-steel, square-ended knives with round wooden handles, fixed through the tang with metal pins.  This kind of knife is called a "box knife" or a "cobbler's knife," and is hard to find these days when everyone uses utility knives for cutting cardboard or leather.  The box knife blade sharpens easily and holds its edge for some time with regular use, and it is very thin.  As a result, when sharp, it cuts cleanly through a tomato, rather than mashing it before it gets around to cutting.  (This is more noticeable these days, when tomatoes are bred with tougher skins to maintain integrity during transport.)  I have kept my old vegetable peeler for the same reason, not throwing it away when it got dull but rubbing it against a whetstone to keep it sharp.  Works like a charm!

Professionals may find my preferred knife primitive, but they all know that one uses the blades that one finds most comfortable to use - what fits the hand and what fits the job.  I have four or five carbon-steel knives that get used all the time, including a huge one (the blade about 18 inches long) that is rugged enough to split a rutabaga (helped with taps from a hammer).

I'm also pleased to hear that you are quickly polishing the rust from your fitness routine.  Your body hasn't forgotten - it just needed a gentle reminder after several months' hibernation.  It probably feels great to be at it again! 

Another consideration: As you continue to rebuild your strength and tone, your immunity will rebuild as well.  I doubt that you have much to worry about.

Sally

Blog Meister responds: Love your comments, Sally.

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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Late Saturday afternoon five of us repaired to my apartment to make Lobsters and Linguini, Italian-style.
Everyone was engaged and the effort put to rest the notion that
too many cooks…
In fact, our efforts produced a fine dinner indeed.
We prepared a Marinara Sauce, cut the lobsters into a gozillion pieces, and let the pot simmer for half an hour.
The Fresno peppers added a delightful kick, noticeable without being obtrusive.
And the linguini was cooked perfectly.

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11.0 Thumbnail
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region.
It is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are
separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges.

The islands are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon,
an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers
(more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile).

In 2018, 260,897 people resided in the Comune di Venezia, of whom
around 55,000 live in the historical city of Venice (centro storico).
Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in
the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered
a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.

It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and
a staging area for the Crusades and
the Battle of Lepanto, as well as
an important center of commerce—especially silk, grain, and spice, and of art from
the 13th century to the end of the 17th.

The city-state of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center,
emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th century.
This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.
After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna,
the Republic was annexed by the Austrian Empire, until
it became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866,
following a referendum held as a result of the Third Italian War of Independence.

Venice has been known as
"La Dominante", "La Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", “The Floating City", and "City of Canals".

The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork.
Venice is known for several important artistic movements
—especially during the Renaissance period—
has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and
is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

Although the city is facing some challenges
(including an excessive number of tourists and problems caused by pollution, tide peaks and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings),
Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural center, and
has been ranked many times the most beautiful city in the world.
It has been described by the Times Online as one of Europe's most romantic cities and
by The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man".

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13.0 Travel
Although our trip is to Tuscany, we could not pass up planning a visit to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
to view Giotto’s famous frescoes illustrating the lives of Jesus and Mary.
And in Padua, just a couple of hours away,
can we really not spend half a day visiting Venice?

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It’s Sunday, July 26, 2020
Welcome to the  836th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com

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1.0   Lead Picture
Giotto di Bondone, Legend of St Joachim, Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1305,

Giotto di Bondone,
Legend of St Joachim, Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1305,
in the Scrovegni Chapel
an early Western depiction of the scene.

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2.0   Commentary
We are fortunate to have in downtown Boston
two excellent French bistros in Ma Maison and La Voile.
Both offer traditional bistro fare, exactly what a bistro client wants.
Expect to spend about $80-90 per person.

This summer is a time for me and friends to day trip.
Ogunquit, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Provincetown, Plum Island so far.
So good.

Calf muscle strained.
Same leg as the ongoing healing of my torn knee tendon.
Hoping it’s nothing more than
the result of the way I need to walk to protect the tear.
So far I’ve been able to walk through it but
I’m not going to the club today.
Eliminate the stress.

Our governor has put restraints on visits from residents of ‘contaminated’ states.
He immediately acknowledges that enforcement is an ‘iffy’ thing.
At best.
So many exceptions are attached to
a policy which at its most rigorous is hardly enforceable
as to make the rule a waste of good air.
But he’s trying.

Governor, what about a call to the MBTA asking, “What’s going on?”
Every business I know has made sweeping changes to their operations.
The T just keeps getting more and more used.
Not crowded yet.
But don’t you see it coming?
Insert an appropriate curse word here.

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4.0   Chuckles/Thoughts
The witch doctor succeeds for the same reason all the rest of us succeed.
Each patient carries his or her own doctor inside him or her.
They come to us not knowing that truth.
We are at our best when we give the doctor who resides within each patient a chance to go to work.
~Albert Schweitzer


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5.0   Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com

Here are a couple of notes from our dear Joanna E.
This one on comments made re: returning to fitness centers:

I went to the gym this morning. They’re doing a good job keeping everyone safe.

And this, her first reaction to the first detailed itinerary of our pending trip to Tuscany:

This looks like a dream come true. Count me in!

Blog Meister responds: Happy to see businesses opening up; moving towards recovery, years away unfortunately. And would be delighted with Joanna’s addition to the crew assembling for the trip when Tuscany opens its doors.

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6.0   Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I had dinner with friend Ann H.
We ate at Ma Maison on Cambridge St., literally, on Cambridge St, outdoors.
The restaurant treated us to a plate of escargots.
We had Gazpacho for Ann, foie gras for me.
Salmon for Ann and Rognons de Veau for me, the kidneys in a mustard sauce.
And the restaurant treated us again, to a Chocolate Mousse.
The food was terrific as was the service and the company.

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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy/political story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.

Today we post Chapter 22 in which Dee presents to the world her personal take on Christian mysticism.

The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Twitter, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both

Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela

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11.0 Thumbnails
The Scrovegni Chapel is Padua's most notable sight.
It houses a cycle of frescoes completed in 1305 by Giotto.
It was commissioned by Enrico degli Scrovegni, a wealthy banker, as a private chapel once attached to his family's palazzo.
It is also called the "Arena Chapel" because it stands on the site of a Roman-era arena.

The fresco cycle details the life of the Virgin Mary and
has been acknowledged by many to be
one of the most important fresco cycles in the world for
its role in the development of European painting.
It also includes one of the earliest representations of a kiss in the history of art
(Meeting at the Golden Gate, 1305).

Entrance to the chapel is an elaborate ordeal, as
it involves spending 15 minutes prior to entrance in a climate-controlled, airlocked vault,
used to stabilize the temperature between the outside world and the inside of the chapel.
This is intended to protect the frescoes from moisture and mold.

Giotto and his team covered all the internal surfaces of the chapel with frescoes,
including the walls and the ceiling.
The nave is 20.88 metres long, 8.41 metres wide, and 12.65 metres high.
The apse area is composed of a square area (4.49 meters deep and 4.31 meters wide) and a pentagonal area (2.57 meters deep).
The largest element is extensive cycles showing the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin.
The wall at the rear of the church,
through which the chapel is entered,
has a large Last Judgement.
There are also panels in grisaille (monochrome) showing the Vices and Virtues.

The church was dedicated to Santa Maria della Carità at the Feast of the Annunciation, 1303, and consecrated in 1305.
Much of Giotto's fresco cycle focuses on the life of the Virgin Mary and
celebrates her role in human salvation.
A motet by Marchetto da Padova appears to have been composed for
the dedication on 25 March 1305.
The space was where an open-air procession and
sacred representation of the Annunciation to the Virgin
had been played out for a generation before the chapel was built.


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12.0 Diary of the Surrender of a Private Car
The summer is a time for travel.
Day trips.
Cars.

We took a car rental to Provincetown.
The car was superior.
It was a Friday.
We paid top rate: $147.00 for the day.

We’re going to Mt. Auburn Cemetery today (Saturday) for some birdwatching.
Lauren will provide the car.

Next week, a Friday trip to Plum Island, a zip car will be perfect: estimated cost $60.00.
But split two ways, $30.00 is perfectly acceptable.

If we’re careful, even on days when a car is imperative,
the costs will be perfectly acceptable within the framework of the ‘car or no car’ debate.

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13.0 Travel
Two years ago, cousin Lauren and I had determined,
after our return from Paris,
that we would return to Europe to tour Florence and Tuscany.
It appears now that dear friend Joanna may well join us, as well as may Greg,
whom I recently met through Lauren.
Perhaps others will as well.
In any case, we will have a fun group.