It's a Classical Life

"In the ancient word, the survival of any household depends on its ability to feed itself. Anyone who threatens the economic self-sufficiency of a family is, in the  long term, threatening its very survival."                                         Peter Jones, In the Introduction to The Odyssey , by Homer "These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves--they're good things to have, but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.”                                     Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter If the classics have taught us anything, it is that life does not always go to plan and being prepared for these deviations is a wise way to...

"Perched on its summit was a palace, built round a fine, spacious courtyard, and containing loggias, halls and sleeping apartments, which were not only excellently proportioned but richly embellished with paintings depicting scenes of gaiety. Delectable gardens and meadows lay all around, and there were wells of cool, refreshing water. The cellars were stocked with precious wines, more suited to the palates of connoisseurs than to sedate and respectable ladies. And on their arrival the company discovered, to their no small pleasure, that the place had been cleaned from top to bottom, the beds in the rooms were made up, the whole house was adorned with seasonable flowers of every description, and the floors had been carpeted with rushes." The Decameron, (Introduction: First Day) ~ Boccaccio  The passage above describes the sanctuary that a group of young people living in Florence fled to during the horrific and devastating time of the Black Death. It is a sanctuary in a true s...