Jeff--Saturday
It's Saturday morning and my best laid plans have left me high and dry (in several manners of speaking) insofar as posting the grand idea I had for today's post. You see, I planned on writing it while flying from New York City to San Francisco for the kickoff of my California Book tour, but fate intervened in the form of food poisoning I picked up at the Newark Airport, and that experience consumed all of my attention for the ensuing six hours. Thus, my first reference to "high and dry."
By the time we gathered the car, the luggage, and the meds available at the nearest pharmacy, we barely had time to shower, regain composure, and drive to Janet Rudolph's Mystery Literary Salon in the hills of Berkeley for a wonderful evening shared with Cara, Lisa Alber, and two dozen inveterate fans of the genre. That's the three of us up above, as photographed by Catriona McPherson.
I'm told the homemade food brought by the guests was terrific, for I dared not partake in even a sip of water (my second high and dry moment).
This morning, stabilized as I feel, if I spend the time writing a blog post as opposed to taking Barbara to the promised San Francisco sights for enduring all she has over the past 24 hours (not ill, thank God, but putting up with one who was), I shall not only be left high and dry, but likely drawn and quartered as well.
Cara, Keith Raffel, Barbara, Frank Price
So, in substitution, I offer you my very first official post as a member of the Murder is Everywhere team. It went up on November 6, 2010, titled, "Mystras and Goethe, Together Again." My how time flies when you're having a good time! Hope you are, too.
*****
"MYSTRAS AND GOETHE, TOGETHER AGAIN"
It’s
Saturday morning and welcome to Greece! I’ll be here every Saturday,
god(s) willing. How I got here (to Greece and MIE) was explained on
Wednesday in a piece I did filling in for Yrsa, so if you’re interested
in that sort of history please go to “What’s in a Name.” For a
spot of more ancient history, please stay here.
*****
"MYSTRAS AND GOETHE, TOGETHER AGAIN"
A tiny bit of the medieval city Mystras |
Frescoes at Mystras |
The Peloponnese |
Modern Sparta
is a place decidedly different in locale and life from its antiquity
namesake. It sits on a plain along the Eurotas River between ribs of
not so distant mountains running north and south. The community is one
based on agricultural, not war, and its groves of oranges and olive
trees support twelve thousand souls still proud of their ancient
heritage.
Modern Sparta Town Square |
Mystras Castle Fortress |
Hotel Pyrgos Mystra |
In a Trip Advisor moment of
digression, may I suggest you head on to relax in the adjacent more
modern village of Mystras. It has its own quaint charms and one of my
new favorite inns of all time sits there.
From the mid-14th to mid-15th
Centuries Mystras served as the heart and soul of the Peloponnese, so
much so that at the end of that period some believed Mystras was the
actual site of ancient Sparta, and by the 17th Century that was the generally held belief. It was not until the very beginning of the 18th
Century that Mystras regained its status as a separate and unique
place, a source of mythical inspiration to travelers and artists’ souls.
So many years deserted stood the valley hills
That in the rear of Sparta northwards rise aloft
Behind Taygetos: whence as yet a nimble brook,
Eurotas downward rolls, and then along our vale
By reed beds broadly flowing, nourishes your swans.
Behind there in the mountain dwells a daring breed
Have settled, pressing forth from the Cimmerian Night,
And there have built a fortress inaccessible,
Whence land and people now they harry as they please.
The one catching my contemplative Goethe moment as that imperceptible dot on the wall below the site's upper parking lot is waving from the very top of the fortress.
—Jeff
Well, if you had actually been HIGH and dry, you might not have minded so much... although Barbara might have minded more.
ReplyDeleteAs for Goethe and "the rear of Sparta," well, I think I'd best not go there, nor anywhere near there...
Be well, my friend!
Thank you for being so kind. And so forth...
DeleteGreat post definitely worth rereading. The advantage of advancing age is that one's memory becomes less comprehensive shall we say. And one can enjoy reading good writing we've read before as if new!
ReplyDeleteThe trouble is, Michael, when the re-reading is of today's newspaper. :)
DeleteI'd echo Michael's words, Jeff. I even forget stuff that I've written myself. Doubly annoying when I open up an old file that stops halfway through a story and I have absolutely no idea where it was going.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a good time at Janet Rudolph's lovely home, btw, and that the food poisoning in well and truly out of your system, as it were!
DeleteThe time to worry, Zoë, is when you open a new file and can't remember where it's going. As for the state of my health, yes all's well that ends well...in a manner of speaking.
DeleteAnd yes, the even at Janet's was as lovely as ever. A terrific place to be. Now off to Corte Madera...
Bro, I am so glad you made it to Janet's. I hope you hugged Cara for all of us. Thanks for the flashback. It does make me want to see these places for myself, she says from Siracusa, once the largest and most powerful city of ancient Greece.
ReplyDeleteYes, in fact Cara had to swat me with one of Aimee's famous heels to stop the hugging. Enjoy Siracusa, with its a lot better whether than Syracuse, uhh.
DeleteWe had a fab time! Thanks Jeff for graciously letting Lisa and I tag team...feel better and enjoy Monterey!
ReplyDeleteI'm the one to say thanks, Cara. It wouldn't have been the night that it was without you and Lisa! Monterey here we come...tomorrow early.
DeleteThen it's on to Vroman's in Pasadena on Tuesday, January 31, at 7PM.
DeleteYikes!! Feel better Jeff! I'm so sorry I missed seeing you and Cara and Lisa at the literary salon. I'd planned to be there, but a number of client emergencies kept me at home and at my desk instead. Boo!! Here's hoping I see you both at Left Coast Crime!
ReplyDeleteWe missed you too, but thank you for reminding me why I gave up on being a lawyer. :) And a big DEFINITE on Left Coast Crime!
Delete