Ferragosto

Every year, Italians throw all work to the side and celebrate Ferragosto…August 15th. Many go to the beach, or to a family picnic, or head for the hills as those in the little medieval towns in Le Marche can testify. Today, Castello Piceno was packed full of happy people wandering the narrow streets, having an ice cream in front of the Brunforte Arco and waiting for the music to start.

After a very hot few weeks, today was beautiful. The moon is full, also, which made last night’s medieval music in the Piazza Alta until midnight especially delicious. Today, starting at 5 AM, the great bells of the towns towers rang, together, until noon. It was, in a word, glorious.

I think about Claire and Baldo and just what they will be doing on Ferragosto in the book that I am writing now. Seldom do I situate them in a story there in Castello PIceno in the height of summer; mystery novels seem to go better in the autumn, with a chill and some rain. But under all those heavy velvet robes that the revelers wear the week of Ferragosto, many a secret can hide. So I’m not sure…I’m thinking about that.