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Frances Mayes

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Famous Frances Mayes Quotes

“At Bramasole, the first secret spot that draws me outside is a stump and board bench on a high terrace overlooking the lake and valley. Before I sit down, I must bang the board against a tree to knock off all the ants. Then I'm happy. With a stunted oak tree for shelter and a never-ending view, I am hidden. No one knows where I am. The nine-year-old's thrill of the hideout under the hydrangea comes back: My mother is calling me and I am not answering.”

HomeGardenItalySense Of Place
Book:Bringing Tuscany Home: Sensuous Style From the Heart of Italy
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“Everything I pick up seems to lure me away. Everything I do in my daily life begins to feel like striking wet matches. The need to travel is a mysterious force. A desire to 'go' runs through me equally with an intense desire to 'stay' at home. An equal and opposite thermodynamic principle. When I travel, I think of home and what it means. At home I'm dreaming of catching trains at night in the gray light of Old Europe, or pushing open shutters to see Florence awaken. The balance just slightly tips in the direction of the airport.”

ThinkingNeedsFeelsMeanHomeDreamLightSeemsRunningDesireNightForcePrinciplesBalanceEqualPicksEuropeOppositesTrainIntenseMysteriousPushingDaily LifeGrayWetAirportsCatchingLureStay At HomeShuttersFlorence
Author:Frances Mayes
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“Travel releases spontaneity. You become a godlike creature full or choice, free to visit the stately pleasure domes, make love in the morning, sketch a bell tower, read a history of Byzantium, stare for one hour at the face of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Madonna dei fusi.' You open, as in childhood, and--for a time--receive this world. There's visceral aspect, too--the huntress who is free. Free to go, free to return home bringing memories to lay on the hearth.”

WorldHomeFacesChoicesHoursMemoriesPleasureMorningChildhoodThis WorldReturnCreaturesAspectLaysReleaseStaringBellsTowersMaking LoveSpontaneityOne HourVisceralDomesGodlikeLeonardoHuntressByzantium
Author:Frances Mayes
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