Today. Sunday, March 1st.
For many Milanese, it means another day at home or “sheltering somewhere” …and keeping one’s hands constantly washed so as not to catch the Coronavirus. Perhaps it is all that soap to make my fingers begin to itch for a special reading… Of course, I mean Boccaccio’s Decameron.
Imagined as Ten Days of Tales…of love, wit, tragedy, and practical jokes, told in the 1300s by a group of seven young women and three young men who have holed up in a villa outside Florence to escape the Black Death. Imagine a Sunday from seven centuries ago overflowing with our here-and-now fear. And pre-announcing that 4 or 5 pm to come during which it will get quiet, and we will feel disoriented for a moment. Oh, come now, JUST FOR A MOMENT…
Gayle Ridinger
Gayle Ridinger, our guest columnist from Milano, is the co-author of “The Secret Price of History: Searching for the Treasure behind Alexander’s Medallion”