a lone Sunday morning runner on Piazza di Siena

…where the equestrian events of the 1960 Roman Olympiad were held and where occasional equestrian events are still staged today within the public park and gardens of Villa Borghese – where I find myself this morning on my way to see a conversation / presentation /poetry reading on 86 year old Italian artist Carla Accardi at Museo Carlo Bilotti (upon the suggestion of Academy friend and neighbor Paola Pivi – Italian artist living in Anchorage who is spending her time in Rome connecting with previous generations of Italian artists) – and there is something about this space that has always felt charged to me, maybe it is the huge white ovoid vacancy inside the dense green park, perhaps it is the composition of over-the-top exaggerated Dr. Seuss-like cliché Roman stone pines that surround it, maybe it is the suggestion and sensation of those big animals moving in circles, maybe it is the vestige of mysterious mossy amphitheater seating that partially surrounds it – but I recall it making an impression on me during visits years ago, and now it feels like a warm homey familiar scene to me, where I am drawn to hang out when in the area.