Tertulia is a particulalry Spanish word for a particularly Spanish concept. It describes an informal group or gathering which gets together regularly- usually in cafes - to talk about matters of common interest. I don't know how much the tertulia is still a feature of Spanish life. It certainly was in the mid-Nineteenth Century, when the novel Fortunata and Jacinta by Perez Galdos, which I am reading at the moment, is set. It is a civilized institution, and I love the thought of it, but reticence and a degree of self-consciousness, make it hard for us to fit something like it into our English culture. On the other hand, what else is a blogging cummunity than a tertulia? So perhaps there's hope.
The sun, low in the sky, feeds its light through the leaves of the bay tree, which dance in the blustery wind, outside my window. The light flickers on the books, opposite the window, so that it looks like candlelight.
I love the mad energy of the wind as it whips the bare branches of the lime tree to and fro.
2 comments:
"Tertulia"--thank you for sharing that word! We have someone from the Azores in our writing group. Now I can tell her that we are a tertulia and she'll understand.
I'm still checking in daily and enjoying your word pictures.
I loved the picture of the "mad energy" in/of the tree.It was perfect.
Thank you for calling in. It's nice to think of a tertulia in Canada.
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