Middlefocus

Wine art.  Portuguese Reserva 2020 with Fado label. Putumayo CD and Music from the Winelands. Drawing an evening to a close.

Routes: One of the things that has left a lasting impression from our recent trip to Seville was learning how for centuries Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together in peace.  The Jewish legacy can be discovered in the Caminos de Sefarad / Paths of the Sefarad - the term used by the Jewish community to refer to Spain.  Roots: We spent an afternoon in Seville walking the old quarter of the city tracing its multi-cultural past and there in a courtyard saw the physical expression of that living together - an orange tree and a palm tree growing from the same plot of ground.  Routes and roots.     

  I had long been wanting to visit this reclining statue in front of Centenary House, at premises of the Salvation Army in Belfast's Victoria street. Designed by Canadian sculptor, Timothy Schmaltz it portrays Jesus as a homeless person.  Even though most of the statue is covered by a blanket, we know exactly who the person is by the piercings on the feet. Wounds of the crucifixion. The sculptor intended to challenge onlookers and it certainly had that effect. Someone has left a rolled-up bundle of clothes alongside adding to the poignancy of the scene. There are dozens of copies of the statue around the world although, as this Wikipedia article   points out, reaction has been varied.  I think its challenge on behalf of rough sleepers certainly hits home.

  This is a much-loved book. My dad's. The pen was his too.  C.Tracey  etched in cursive script. Same details as mine. Heirloom.

  Back at a public library again!  This time for a reading by author Donal Ryan.  We almost missed the event as when we applied for seats registration was already full.  A helpful staff member put us on a waiting list and sure enough some spaces became available.  We jumped at the chance to attend. I love his writing and with the addition of his latest, the queen of dirt island , have all his books. The one he is reading from in the picture above gave him, and then his listeners, some amusement.  It was an early publication version and the cover had been presented upside down.  The sections he read though were powerful and his literary talents are assuredly the right way up. At the library event he talked about the process of writing and the critical inputs of editors and family members. He invited questions and responded to these at length revealing in the process further insights into his literary journey. We were delighted to hear that this current ...