My Dear You,
Ooooow!
two days of long grueling rideno time to write
head full of glimpses and glances
Flowers and Blossoms
Wildflowers grow greaton the roofs of abandoned houses
Untended orchards still blossom beautifully
Half --- no lie ---
half of all the human habitations we pass
are abandoned
There wasn't even enough time
and peoplepower
to burn them all
when the bubonic plague
passed through
ten years ago
Fucking plague!
We didn't see nearly as much plague fallout
as this
up in Burgundy and Switzerland
Material Wealth
Four expensive metal plowsin front of one miserable starving little hut
The radical plague depopulation
causes this weird accumulation
of available goods
in the hands of surviving relatives
and shameless pilferers . . .
"Sorry about your family, buddy,
say
ahem,
are you gonna be using that plow, you think?"
1 farmlet will have ---
15 horses (they can't feed)
4 oxcarts (empty)
8 buckets (no one alive knows how to fix the well)
a barnful of metal tools (what are they for?)
and everywhere we go ---
"Garage Sale ---
Arms and Armor"
(the re-enactment nerds go ape!
they stop and shop for helmets)
Romeo i Giulietta
Riding through a little woodfingers went skyward
in the gesture for
"Watch Out! Snipers!"
*my heart pounding*
Just two teenagers in a tree
making out
*their hearts pounding*
Horward, Harch!
Its amazing how much standing aroundthere is on a forced march.
Speaking of Which . . .
I've been thinking that now your boss has youstanding around
waiting for your Performance Review again
I wanted to respond to something you wrote
You seemed apologetic about the fact
that you've done a lot of different things
in your life so far
you studied one thing
you worked at another
and another . . .
Woah, woah, woah, woah!
Don't apologize!
You gotta remember that our culture
is still geared up to pretend that the
Old School industrial-age system
of Lifetime Careers, Stable Roles, Job Loyalty
still exists
Don't make me laugh!
We're in a period where the old roles
--- the old pigeonholes ---
are falling apart
and the new pigeonholes haven't emerged yet
high schools and universities
are still designed for the 19th century!
In five years there will be a name
for the background you have intelligently pieced together
The name just hasn't been invented yet!
So . . . never, never, never be embarrassed
about having done diverse things
that supposedly "don't go together"!!!!
Who says they don't go together?
That's not for them to say!
That's for you to say!
Stand tall! Say it proud!
*hug*
Lunch at the Diner
While they repaired our carroccio (chariot) wheels(for the umpteenth time)
Skip spied a Public House
(whatever family has a batch of beer or extra wine
hangs out a sign and opens their house for pay)
. . . and he turned to me and said:
"Buy you a burger?"
We were all cheeful laughing . . . then boom!
Inside --- four kids with black eyes
an unctuous Dad who looked like a daughter-seller
who bowed and snivelled to me
and bumped Skip (my supposed lowly squire)
in passing
with ill-concealed rage
and then tried to impress
this visiting knight (me)
by setting the table with
a chipped-up mix-matched hodge-podge
of fancy-ass tableware,
(clearly stolen from a plague-decimated manor-house)
*Skip and I keep looking at the bruised kids
lined up scared & obedient by the fireplace*
*knots in our stomachs*
The Dad spoons out two dollops of mashed root goop
and pours garbage beer
into museum-piece Ancient Roman glasses!
*I look at Skip*
*Skip looks at me*
We threw a couple coins at the guy and bolted
Fieldworkers Stopping to Watch Us Pass
Skip waves to them.
Nobody waves back.
Uh oh.
What does waving mean around here?
This Fragrant World
Thanks for your questions about our hygieneThat's going to become more problematic
now that we're out of the mountains
. . . and we are no longer
walking through the river up to our armpits
several times a day
--- shower and laundry in one swell foop ---
Medieval folk are actually pretty fastidious
about washing up.
Clothing is torn and patched, but generally clean
Mildew is the thing, though! *gag*
Seasoned travellers can recognize where you're from
by sniffing your regional mildew
Wine, cheese, shirts, people --- we're all gently fermenting!
As for dysentery, we brought antibiotics.
Almost Made It
We're close to Milan!Should get there tomorrow!
Woo hoo!
So tired I can hardly keep my eyes open
*chuckles*
Kay Eye Ess Ess
Obare Haut