The older I get the more I seem to be fascinated by Basilicas and Cathedrals. I think it's just a profound sense of respect and awe of the people, sometimes many hundreds of years ago, who built these massive and beautiful pieces of architecture without the aid of computers or modern tools. I also think of the sacrifice and skill of the craftsmen, many of which committed their entire lives building one structure and most never lived to see the cathedrals completed.
An old friend of mine was just visiting Barcelona with her husband and sent me this photo yesterday of the inside of The Basílica de la Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Construction began on this basilica in 1882 and it's still not completed.
I've been lucky enough to visit quite a few impressive buildings but I believe this one tops them all. The Basílica de la Sagrada Família is definitely on my bucket list.
You might have read the following line from a post I published five days ago…
"Next comes the uploading process which, I know from experience, can be fraught with last-minute glitches, formatting changes, and necessary revisions."
Well, as it turns out that statement was prophetic.
After uploading Walking With the Muse into Amazon yesterday an email landed in my inbox this morning with the subject header Attention Needed. I was expecting it so there was no real surprise.
Nevertheless, in my early morning, pre-caffeinated brain the very first thing out of my mouth was Oh shit!. I guess I always hold out hope these things will go smoothly.
This is not the end of the world—merely a bump in the road. Kindle flagged about four infractions, all related to the book cover dimensions, that have to be corrected before the book can go live.
Over the next few days these issues will be all corrected, the book will be uploaded, and all will be right with the world again (at least my little corner of it.)
Existing somewhere, on some random strand of my DNA, is an affinity for dive bars. If I were to guess this probably comes from my father's side. My wife and I discovered a gem of a dive bar on the island of St. Thomas many years ago called Duffy's.
Duffy's Love Shack probably wouldn't even qualify as a permanent structure, it's more like a shed that was haphazardly plopped down in a parking lot. It must be anchored down pretty well because it's survived many a hurricane. But let me tell you Duffy's punches way above its weight.
A recent example of Duffy's words of wisdom.
Their social media page became an unexpected hit during the pandemic as they came up with witty one-liners on their Duffy's Board of Wisdom. In fact, they posted the picture above a few days ago and it reminded me of how much I miss this place.
The bar is famous (or should I say infamous) for a drink called a pain-killer. I may or may not have imbibed on a few of those in my younger days.
The food is also surprisingly delicious, Lobstermen on the island bring a fresh catch in every Thursday and Duffy's offers a full lobster dinner for around twenty bucks.
I have to make it back to that island soon. It's been over five years since I've had my feet in that warm, white Caribbean sand and that's five years too long. I do believe it's time to put chalanting back on the self, if only for a little while. : )
All for now. Make this a wonderful day.
