| Music: Farewell To Mystic Harbor Whispers - Home Old New Orleans Friday's Journal |
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| The photos on this page were taken in the region of Apulia (or Puglia), which forms the heel on the boot of Italy. Several of the pictures were taken in the picturesque village of Alberobello, known for its remarkable trulli houses. These dwellings feature a mortarless construction, using an ancient building technique. The title of the page comes from the poem "Your Mission" by Ellen M. H. Gates, which you'll find further down on the page. -- Nancy |
| The Unforgotten Song |
| If you cannot, on the ocean, Sail among the swiftest fleet, Rocking on the highest billows, Laughing at the storms you meet; You can stand among the sailors, Anchored yet within the bay, You can lend a hand to help them As they launch their boats away. If you are too weak to journey Up the mountain, steep and high, You can stand within the valley While the multitudes go by; You can chant in happy measure As they slowly pass along -- Though they may forget the singer, They will not forget the song. If you cannot in the harvest Garner up the richest sheaves, Many a grain, both ripe and golden, A careless reaper leaves; Go and glean among the briars Growing rank against the wall, For it may be that their shadow Hides the heaviest grain of all. -- Ellen M.H. Gates |
| The unique dwellings of Alberobello are made of limestone, with no mortar or cement to keep the stones together. Many of these houses have symbols painted on their roofs. The symbols used to have magical or religious meanings, generally intended to protect the inhabitants. In the 1600's, local feudal lord, Count Acquaviva, moved people to the area to clear woodland and cultivate the land. To avoid paying taxes to the king, the Count didn't want the village to have the status of an inhabited settlement, so the workers lived in trulli - houses with no mortar, which could be quickly dismantled and moved. The town has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. |
| Identifying which are the Primitive, Christian and Magic symbols of trulli dwellings. |
| If you cannot do great things; do small things in a great way. -- J.F. Clarke |
| Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. -- Robert Kennedy |
| Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. -- Robert Louis Stevenson |
