Rome, Italy, 12 pm. The reader writes:
When I read the news on the NYTimes yesterday, I had to fight back tears. They threatened to flow anew when I sat down to read your post. But I was left with a wide grin on my face when I realized what a gift you were giving us, your readers. You’ve liberated us, as well, and some of us can go back to living a less virtual and more authentic life.
I write and illustrate books for children, working out of my home studio in Rome, and I am per force reasonably self-disciplined, but damn it was hard not to take a break when the words or paints weren’t flowing to see what new tidbit you or your staff might have been posted. I’ll miss you like mad, but I just might get more done.
I sent the attached photo back in October (explaining how I’d discovered at my local market German-grown pumpkins resembling those I knew back in the States; my neighbors were duly impressed). I include it again by way of sharing what I, loyal reader and original subscriber, could see when I looked out the door of my studio … when my nose wasn’t buried in your blog.
The Dish 