In other news, we have a new pope! I was slaving away drawing in the studio when I heard the bells ringing in the churches. THE WHITE SMOKE HAD APPEARED. We rushed over to Locanda del Lupo for dinner but also to watch the tv and wait for the appearance and announcement of the new pope. We waited on the edges of our seats, watching the curtains flutter of the window we were just looking up at a week ago in the piazza in Rome where thousands of people now stood. Papa Francesco stepped out as if frozen and totally human despite now being one of the largest worldwide leaders. His humble request that it be more important for the people pray for him instead of him praying for the people will hopefully be a pattern of things to come for his term and for the church. He may be the Pope, but he still needs people and prayers just as much as the people need him.
Also, I am now living in a newly refurbished 13th century monastery! Sadly, no monks or nuns live on the premises, but sometimes I can feel the presence of the people who have lived here before me. I might also be feeling presences that aren’t exactly tangible because the building itself seems to be alive. Not all the fix-upping was quite finished when we moved in after arriving from Rome, and the first days we had absolutely no heat. Then we lived in a tropical sauna of which the building itself was (and still sometimes) sweating. There are still things to be done, but it is so nice to finally be able to nest---although we aren’t allowed to hang or put anything up on the walls because they won’t withstand it. The only thing the monastery is missing that won’t be put in place by electricians is a pet cat.
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