All The Places I Remember

Featuring some of my favourite vacation snap shots. Now that I have unearthed our old Holga this summer's trips promise to be much more artsy. 

Ivy house in Rome. 

Nautical knot east London harbour. 

Tuam, Ireland. That grass has zero fertilizer, green bliss. 

Grand stairs on Korcula, Croatia. My own personal stairmaster. 

Korcula view from Sve. Nicola. I effing descend from here. 

Cousin's grape vines, Montenegro. 

Love in Montreal, Canada

Thinking of vacations passed whilst sick is one of my highest forms of machoism. 

Cesarica

My favorite Croatian song is Cesarica by Oliver Dragojevic (A Korculan like myself). The english translation of the title is Queen. Here is the best english translation I could find of the poem like lyrics. It's so beautiful, I nearly cry every time I hear it; it's basically our second national anthem. 

Queen

The golden threads of the summer's dawn

have come to her room

to wake up my love

Let the light kiss her face

 beautiful as a queen's

when I can't kiss her

The golden netting of her body

caught hold of my soul

just to through it back into the sea

every night before dawn

I enter her room

the white room of my grievances

My whole life I've been waiting for her

to find a way into her heart

My whole life my body has been without her

like a flower without water

Sources: WeHeartIt

Heliolatry

Noun-

Sun worship, the worship of the sun. 

Today is the longest day of the year, ironically it feels that way too. I'm completely exhausted from my full time plus job schedule, learning curves are steep and 6 hour long driving classes are monotonous to say the least. I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something as well, Cold Fx is a friend.  

BUT, it's summer! My favorite season. Rejoice: 

Source: WeHeartit. Could be on Satorialist. 

Fabulous friends at the beach. 

Snorkling on Badija, Korcula, Croatia

The view from the window. I miss home. 

Because piety is paramount. 

Intangible Assets

It's all in front of me
The sea breeze, a leaf shaped door knob rusted at the edges,
a broken wooden banister in the top entry hallway before you can smell the antiques
Fake flowers in crystal vases below impressionist sea horses
Tanned century stained textured wallpaper falling down at the corners
The gas stove
Old clumped sugar in a blue and white porcelain tin
Scratchy comfortable armchairs and the white paint chipped balcony doors moving with the breeze
Church bells instead of a watch, the shade of tall sour orange trees on dusty stone footings
Palm leaves covering the stoic stone table, tiny candelabra above
Clothes line and palm tree at a 90 degree angle,
you can see into the washroom from there too
Beautiful copper wood vanity with seashell carvings.
The ceilings are cracked
A broken figurine in the parlor with dried flowers inside  that haven't been moved in the last decade.
Or so I keep telling myself.
The mid staircase stone coat of arms, Three pears signifying archetypical individualism,
my favorite oxymoron; I always knew we must be a family of artists...
It's always so much harder, so much more vivid when you're there.
My brain isn't letting me leave.
The most distinct feature of all, your soul residing in the remnants of every single atom. Breathing, thriving, vibrating with love and wholeness, severed.
In my loving memory.

This is a poem I wrote a few months back about my family's ancient house on Korcula, Croatia. It was sold against a majority of the family's wishes (mine heavily included) 3 years ago. Above are the very vibrant last memories I remember about the house. I went back after three years this summer. It was painful, but healing at the same time. I cried. I still love the island and consider it home. I am a much stronger person now, and only wish I could have shared the beauty and comfort that was that home with more of the people I love. This is my past, and although unfortunately not my future, still very much a part of me.

This blog is an ode to the beautiful Palaca Aneri, and our family coat of arms featuring Three Pears