Masks we wear

There is one image of Venice, or Venezia, that will never leave my mind.  I have been to Venice a half a dozen or so times, but there was one time that left an indelible mark on my mental mindset.

Going to Venice in the summer is probably the worst possible thing I could wish upon someone, yet, that is when the Americans go. If you are reading this, and have had bad memories of Venice, go in February or November. You will leave enchanted.

So, for my memory of Carnaval, it was nothing short of mysterious, magical and even somewhat mesmerizing.

My Ex-wife and I went to Venice on almost a whim, but turned out to be one the best memories I have of Italy.

After a less than great dinner of apparently “local” food, we headed out to catch the last train back to Bologna..

In that short journey, we saw the most amazing ensembles of characters. Unlike Mardi Gras in New Orleans, of which I have another story to tell, Carnaval in Venice is nothing short of austere.  Groups will go around in silent  pageantry, not drunken idiocity like in NO.

So, the image, which is imprinted upon my mind was a formidable man dressed like the father from the movie “Amadeus” emerging from the fog, mind you  with true vapor trails of mist emanating from his long tails.  I remember him coming through the fog, as if he was floating. The only other spectacle  I can compare it to was an owl, with no less than a 6 foot wingspan once I saw in New Mexico, which did not make a sound, as nor did this man.

Why do the masks make us so surreal? They do. We all wear masks,  every day. For some reason we seem to value the physical mask more than the metaphysical one.