Sincerely, Loree

I never met my maternal grandfather. He died before I was born; before my mother, or any of her siblings, was married. All I know is what I've heard about him from snippets of conversations that remain embedded in my memory.

My grandfather was born on the 9th of August 1904. On the 10th of August the Catholic church celebrates the martyrdom of Saint Laurence, he who was roasted on a grate, and, as was the custom in those days, my grandfather was named Lorenzo but was more commonly known by the Maltese version of the name: Wenzu. On February 4th 1940, 4 months before war descended on Malta, he married my Nanna Rose. They would have 6 children together: 4 girls and 2 boys. By trade, he was a builder and there is still a small chapel in St Paul's Bay that he worked on and that has survived unscathed to this day. He died on his birthday in 1965. 

It has been a struggle to sit down and write - well, the writing part was hard; sitting down has never felt easier. It's the end of July and we're right at summer's peak, also known as the dog days of summer. August looms - the month I dread most. I always say that the only good thing about August is that some of my favourite people were born in it. Other than that it feels like an endless month of heat waves, mosquito bites and, in my case, a crazy cocktail of fatigue and restlessness that makes me very agitated and occasionally grumpy. Forget the 'occasionally' - I tend to be grumpy on most days form now until the cooler weather returns.

So what do you I when it's too hot to think and the world feels like its closing in on me? Go for a stroll to  Mdina, of course - preferably while enjoying an ice-cream from La Brioscia, which, I am happy to report, probably serve the most generous portions on the island and their dark-chocolate orange flavour is to die-for. But I am digressing from my main topic.

Mdina is beautiful at any time but I love it even more at twilight. It's just so peaceful and I always get the niggling sensation that we're surrounded by the ghosts of centuries-past. (I don't know, but maybe they like dark chocolate orange ice-cream too).

It's mid-July and, although I promised myself at the beginning of this year that I would continue to blog throughout summer, I am already finding that my inspiration is low and the going hard. Which is why I missed my 'Life, lately', post last week.