Another day

Street at dawn

Though autumn official starts on 23 Sept, it already feels like it's arrived. The mornings are chilly like I've said in previous posts. And this morning there were some guys actually wearing hoodie jackets. The rest wearing T-shirts were slightly shivering as it was 18 degrees and the wind was damp. The sun rises alot later now ... like 5.10am (4.10am solar time) and the walk to the Ivrea convent is quite dark ... though the streets are peopled with muslim pilgrims mainly from Indonesia going back to their hotels after sunrise prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque.

So the MCs celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary today. The rest of the Church celebrates the queenship of Mary. There's no biblical basis for this feast and it was established only in 1955 but it's cultic practice goes back to the early centuries of the Church down through the Middle Ages. It's based on theological reasons mainly her maternity to Christ and Christ as King.

Makloubeh lunch

The Custos' secretary made makloubeh for lunch today and shared some with me ... very nice. I've had food poisoning 3 times this last 2 weeks because I've been eating leftovers from the fridge ... vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. Frightening. Now a little fresh food is comforting. Makloubeh is "upside down" ... the meat, veggies and rice are cooked in a deep pot and then turned upside down to be served. It's a very common palestinian family dish.

It's been a day of border tensions as Israel bombed several military bases in Iraq and also Gaza after Gaza bombed Israel twice. Then the tentacles spread as talk of Israeli imminent attacks in Yemen. The common denominator os all this is of course Iran who's working behind these satellites. Still summer is almost over and all the saber rattling has come to nothing ... so all these sound and fury will be blown away by the autumn winds. Thank goodness for us all.