Artist as Traveler, Part 3
Our last field trip of the workshop took us to Vézelay. It was a quiet Monday morning when we arrived and we shared the site with very few others. Something about the Place in front of the cathedral filled me with a sense of awesomeness as I entered it this time. Called, The Eternal Hill, I was struck by it’s dramatic history, it’s endurance through the ages, it’s marvelous beauty, and the symbol this site represents as the center of peace in the world. As Holly put it, much better than I could, “it was just divine.” Being there for a few hours had a very healing affect.
May Days
In northern France, as well as in many other parts of Europe, les Saints de Glace (Frost Saints) are reckoned and respected in mid-May. St. Mamertus, St. Pancras and St. Servatius have feast days May 12-15 and are reputed to bring a sudden cold snap. Gardeners are warned that tender plants, especially tomatoes, should not be planted out of doors until after les Saints de Glace have been on their way—in other words, only after May 15. This year has not followed convention, and cold and rainy weather in April and early May has only now given way to some real warmth and sunshine.