In Love with France, At Home In Italy

As a woman of what the French like to call “un certain  â ge,” (68 to be precise), I find myself thinking a lot about legacy. A few days ago, in the garden of a Farnese palace, two topiaries in the shape of an acorn (“ghianda”) caught my eye—a living piece of the Farnese legacy.  Now “ghianda” is not a word that comes up every day, but yesterday while we were harvesting our olives, it came up again, this time not from my dictionary, but from a neighbor who was helping us with our fourth harvest from the baby trees we planted here in Umbria. Four hundred kilos of olives later, while packing up, she noticed the many acorns in our driveway and started collecting them “for the pigs.” I had often wondered if those acorns had a use, and should not have been surprised to learn that Mamma Natura does not fritter away an opportunity. Who knew that I had on my own property something that a growing pig would consider a delicious treat? That’s when the quote about...

We are always re-reading Oedipus and we think we get it:to try to weasel out of your fate just tightens the noose. The enterprise, Life Line Screening The Power of Prevention, is trying to sell me a bunch of screenings to detect my risk of death from stroke, aneurysms, and heart disease. According to their pitch, the screenings are painless and I don't even have to remove my clothing. If they find a condition that is life-threatening, they will notify my doctor immediately. It is tempting, but my doctor is no fool.  She knows that too many tests can lead to too much of the wrong kind of information--the kind that deludes you into thinking you can avoid your fate.  We know where that kind of thinking got Oedipus and company. As modern medicine and technology become increasingly sophisticated, it makes us think that if we pay close enough attention, we can evade death. But they can wave their magic wand as much as they want, and the outcom...