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K.F. MacCarthy's avatar

As someone who adored ‘Even Beyond Death’ and who is writing about Florence (albeit in the C15th), I’ve had my eye on this retreat for a while. I would absolutely love to go one day, thank you for sharing your experience and beautiful pics!

Melissa Harrison's avatar

Ooh, well you should definitely drop Fiona a line, just to say hello! I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.

Mark Bannister's avatar

Sounds wonderful and enjoyed the read. I am definitely not a writer, but getting to know the diversity of species, most unlike back home, is food for the soul. I never knew fireflies existed in Europe until I came across them in Tuscany. Some luck is needed to see a big display it seems: on our visit to our Agritourismo in southern Tuscany, it was clear skies and full moon each night except one, when cloud rolled in across the moon a magical display of c100 in the long grass under an olive grove. Think we were exceptionally lucky. Just seeing one brings a feeling of awe which happened every night. Found some porcupine quills, a likely looking trail, but the closest I got was a strong sound of chomping one night in a stand of giant reed the trail led to. Kudos to the owner for valuing her constellation of fireflies and showing the men in the area how it is done.

Jeffrey Streeter's avatar

"Many writers can unfold plot-points along a timeline and write a solid sentence (and so can AI). Very few writers actually have something to say. This is true across genres. And yet that’s what readers crave: meaning, connection, resonance. That is what survives." I love this! I will check out Fiona's writing.

And thank you for the vivid description of the trip to deepest Tuscany. The place sounds wonderful.

Athina's avatar

The retreat sounds amazing. The environment sounds perfect for creativity. Wishing every success with the retreat.

Dennis Chanter's avatar

Sounds wonderful. Looks good for moths too!

Melissa Harrison's avatar

I am very much hoping for an ecological survey!