THE NEW YEAR COMES TO ASCOLI

By Larry & Arlene on Jan 7, 2022 in Blog | 5 comments

THE NEW YEAR COMES TO ASCOLI The passage of time in our lives, seems punctuated by rituals. Currently, the ritual observance in Italy is Epiphany. Traditionally, it is the Christian observance of the Twelfth Day of the Christmas story when the Three Wise Men are said to have appeared bringing gifts of homage to the Christ Child. In Italy on this day, the Witch Bafana comes bringing gifts to good children and coal to those of us who have been naughty. Of course, the evaluation of ‘naughty’ depends, to a great extent, on how our various explorations and experiments in the course of our existence, are viewed by others.                 In most households, immediately after Epiphany, if they hadn’t done so already, the Christmas decorations will be coming down and being packed away for another year. In the piazzas, the decorations go dark and the skating rink in front of the Cathedral of Ascoli will be allowed to melt and then be dismantled. The Christmas music on loudspeakers will go silent again until next December 8th. Fortunately, Ascoli was far more brightly decorated this year compared to last, as a few of the included photos illustrate. However festive, the shadow of the COVID scourge is not far from everyone’s awareness. Last year, the COVID menace virtually shut down anything resembling holiday joy and festivity. This season, we had a few welcomed social events among our vaccinated Expat and Italian friends. It was on a smaller scale and more carefully orchestrated than in pre-COVID times but still, a very welcome change from last year’s depressing sense of isolation. The latest in the series of viral mutations, is proving to be far more virulent worldwide. The basis for some evidence of less severe consequences of infections traceable to this latest strain are yet to be fully understood, at least as of this writing. We are pleased to report both we and our friends remain healthy so far. We are trying to take precautions to keep it that way. This year, the system of a digital “Green Pass”, for those with evidence of having been fully vaccinated or having recovered from the virus, is permitting...