in the time of corinthian columns

This is a story about me, D., Greek archeology & t-shirts.....

Before D. became an out of work philosopher/organic farmer without a farm, he was an archeologist. Being the hot blooded, overly passionate, bread eating southern Mediterranean that I am, I could never quite relate to the greats of ancient western "civilization." The idea of spending years digging up pottery shards or writing a dissertation about 15th century Venetian wallpaper didn't really tickle my fancy.

But I respected D.'s fascinations with the ancient world and his sense of connection to it (being Greek- do all Greeks at some point study the ancient world?). I also have really fond memories of a much younger D. at his little architects desk doing his Ancient Greek & Latin homework until the wee hours of the morning while I cheerfully went to bed. 

What can I say-- we were young-- life seemed so full of possibility, and those fascinations got me a few trips to Italy and Greece.

So a few weeks ago when I passed a woman on the street wearing a Greek bronze age red painted pottery t-shirt (yes!) my little heart skipped a beat. It brought back a flood of old memories... of a different time.

Of D. telling me stories about mythology, red glass, figs, numismatics, and some of the details of ancient architecture. The sort of stuff I thought I was only half paying attention to seems to have carved a little space out inside me. I distinctly remember one conversation in which we discussed columns... its inspiration being the tree. I had to admit that did make it pretty cool.

So you pretty much know what happened next don't you? Oh yes, I hunted for my very own ancient Greek Bronze Age red painted pottery shirt. Given that she probably purchased this t-shirt in a museum gift shop in Athens... I knew my chances were slim.

I didn't quite find it... but I did some impressive work hunting at the thrift store and lo and behold found one with all the right ancient Greek architectural inspiration I could handle... 

I wish I had gotten a better close up, but if you look really carefully you can see some of the Corinthian columns and their flourishes.

I can honestly tell you I have no past lives...or at least none as exciting as D. What I studied in college I now do for a living. Although at one point I did consider becoming a librarian.

How about you? Do you have any past lives?