Dozing in the Green Bedroom:

To stay in bed a while and to listen to the waking sounds of Piazza Sant’Orsola at the back of the house - Palazzo Notar Nicchi-  is a quiet beginning to the day in Polizzi Generosa.

A  southerly breeze moves the curtain draped over the open doors; the southern light catches the colours of the terracotta floor and the curved arms of the green chandelier; and muffled voices can be heard outside above the sweep of a straw broom.

A Sicilian ‘Rear Window’ Set:

Swallows dip and swoop with their sweet cries as Gandolfa, a neighbour across Piazza Sant’ Orsola, calls ‘ciao’ to someone passing; they speak in lowered voices for a little while, farewell each other and the footsteps fade as the passer-by continues on down the back street – via Notar Nicchi - past the rear door of the Dolce family home.

And the sound of water dripping onto the cobble stones, comes from Giuseppe’s watered pots of geraniums on his balcony directly opposite the green bedroom. He too greets someone on foot.

A couple of summers ago Giuseppe brought us a small woven basket full of fresh local cherries. They were hidden under a cloth as he spirited them across the piazza to the back door of the house.

A little Way Further Down the Back Street:

Sounds can just be made out somewhere further down the street, maybe near the house with the planters filled with margherita daisies; the soft closing of a car door; the ring of a phone; the slow opening of shuttered doors and windows. 

But not as far as the church of San Antonio Abate, once a village mosque when Sicily was ruled by the Arabs; the minaret still tops San Antonio’s church.

And the aroma from the small bakery, the next street over; all of these have often washed over my dozing.

The First Bells Ring Out:

The first bell of the day rings out over the village rooftops; it is 7am and the bells of Sant’ Orsola have been silent through the night.

Salve,

Suzanne

Edited August 2015: This was previously titled: "Early Morning: A Sicilian Piazza Stirs" and the paragraph "A Little Way Further down the Back Street" has been revised.  Suzanne