Monday, January 4, 2016

the empire

When my grandparents' families emigrated to the US over one hundred years ago, they arrived from Poland and Croatia.  


Leaving what was at that time Silesia (southern Poland) and Croatia (Hungary) my relatives were citizens of the Crown lands of Austria.  They were disgruntled.


Simon Winder's Danubia and a book series entitled A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor together paint an interesting picture of central Europe before World War I.  My fascination with this part of Europe is a natural, almost effortless extension from my family.  This is one level.  


I  am interested in other things effortless.  The way an empire lays out a city over time.  The way we navigate them.  The manner in which I construct my work (the concept that, on a good day, economizes time and effort).  The way work can no longer seem like work.

This entry is dedicated to my mother's parents, Louis and Kay, who took such good care of me and who demonstrated the contentment found in simple living.