A Nostalgia for an Umbrella
Tuesday, July 03, 2018
nostalgia
Del lat.
mod. nostalgia, y este del gr. νόστος nóstos 'regreso' y -αλγία -algía '-algia'.
1. f.
Pena de verse ausente de la patria o de los deudos o amigos.
2. f.
Tristeza melancólica originada por el recuerdo de una dicha perdida.
Real
Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados
That second definition of nostalgia in my online dictionary of the Spanish language is a killer. It translates to: A melancholic sorrow originating in the remembrance of a lost happiness.
Because I have lived in Argentina, Mexico, Texas and now
Vancouver I have a mixed up idea of what nostalgia is. It was in 2000 when upon
meeting the two Argentine painters living in Vancouver, Nora Patrich and Juan
Manuel Sánchez that I arrived at a startling conclusion: My nostalgia can only
happen when I am not in the place missed. A further explanation is that I could
not experience nostalgia for Argentina if I were there. Perhaps I could
experience there a nostalgia for memories of my past there.
Some years ago I photographed a lovely woman who may have
had some Native Canadian in her. She almost looked Latin. Her nickname was Isis
but I knew her as Celina.
While posing for me in my studio I had this urge to
photograph her with my Vancouver Umbrella Shop (sadly they recently closed)
umbrella.
Looking back I can now see myself in beautiful Venice and
spotting Celina on a canal bridge and telling her:
“Celina I have this unbearable nostalgia for Vancouver.
Would you pose for me under an umbrella? “
