I have just returned from my ritual afternoon automotive drive and purge. The car performed smoothly and reinvigorated my plaudits for General Motors. I’m now in our apartment blankly staring out the drawing room window. The black metal balcony railing is conspicuously covered in shimmering blobs of rain water. The railing is directly ahead of me as I sit at my desk, intermittently writing, glancing at the flourishing fields and the sallow river. It is a misty damp summer day. The railing is parallel the edge of the grey flooring of the balcony (the outer lip of which I can barely see); and, likewise parallel the upper edge of my mahogany desk. It affords a uniformity to the spectacle, framed by the triple perpendicularly configured balcony posts which are also black metal.  The balcony armchairs as well are black and covered in shiny blobs of rain water. Between the two chairs is a small grey foldable table smeared with pools of rain water and upon which we set whatever we wish when inhabiting the marvellous view.  I customarily frequent the balcony in the morning or early afternoon for a discrete moment of sunbathing; and, in the evening we foregather for dental flossing and cultivated private after-dinner conversation.

Because of the river it is impossible for me entirely to escape a maritime flavour in the view from the balcony. Yet as much as I adore the sea I am bound to confess that the riparian angle is more complicated and thus more intriguing and engaging, with its shoreline of various sizes and species of trees and vegetation, its winding progress and its placid undulated mirror. Similarly the adjoining farmlands provide artistic capital augmented by the massive overhead dome and the picturesque allure of the nearby tiny outbuildings which have become almost buried in the wavering greenery.

For whatever reason there is an uncommon collection of sea gulls today winging about the territory.  First, they commingle in a distant farmland; then, they flock overhead to some nearby perch or venue. Their presence and their renowned shrill screams naturally encourage the maritime tenor.  Coincidentally the sonorous birds are accompanied by recordings of the popular famous tenors, Enrico Caruso, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. And, yes, for dinner this evening there is Favuzzi spaghetti with meat sauce.