Thursday, December 11, 2008

I migliori di Buon Natale



This is the cresch of my childhood imagination somewhere in a grotto near Naples, cradle of most all Italian-American origins. Calitri hosts their own 'Presepe Vivende' each year.
Live manger and turn of the century village scenes hosted in grottos and empty houses in the Centro, with the villagers and local farm animals as the cast. The town is cast too, back to an age long ago. There is no movie theater, but this live theater. Snow falls.
The smell of hay. Wild mistletoe. Crowds quietly snake in lines through the narrow lanes, waiting for a glimpse of Jesus Mary and Joseph....