Wednesday 6 February 2013

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Barry White

This is one of my favourite places. My favourite bar under my favourite mountain of the Dolomites (okay there are two and if you look east you'll see the other one). It is also my favourite ski slope and my favourite time of the week (kids asleep or training, no computers, no driving, great oxygen high, excellent cappuccino).


Last week I went up and had a Barry White moment. Have you ever had one? For me it happens when everything is incongruous, insane and hopelessly beautiful. Come on. How many times have you jived to Barry on a dance floor? I remember once - I swear this is a true tale - myself and the ex who were by then skating on very thin ice, ended up in a club on New Year's Eve in Addis Ababa, dancing the night away. This club played Barry White songs all night. So get this - how I wish I'd had my iPhone - we were in Ethiopia, dancing ALL NIGHT LONG TO BARRY WHITE, on the eve of what was probably the last year of our marriage.

Not the worst way to say goodbye.

And last Saturday this is how it went. I skied a few slopes. Then stopped at the bar. Took off my telemark skis and heard what they were playing. It was grand old Barry, big Barry, who's been singing songs to me since the 70s.

I sat down with my coffee thinking, How Incongruous. How Insane. How Hopelessly Beautiful.

And as you can see in the shot there was a little avalanche tumbling down the mountainside as the earth rocked to Barry's beat.
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22 comments:

  1. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 08:15

    Cool indeed. Have you heard Mario who sounds just like him until he sings in Italian? Good for another round, maybe not with the same man.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy6 February 2013 at 13:30

      Yes Mario has a lot of talent but he doesn't push my buttons like Barry. Guess I'm just an old disco babe!

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  2. Leslie Harris6 February 2013 at 10:04

    Oh Barry. Yes, I have fond memories with Barry singing in the background. And what a glorious moment you captured. Wow. it's amazing what we can see when we stop racing down our mountains..
    Thanks for sharing this, I really needed this message today.
    Leslie (Gwen Moss)

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy6 February 2013 at 13:34

      Glad the post gave you your Barry moment today. Barry rocks but avalanches are pretty freaky, I hate the BOOM sound. But a lovely place to be, oh yes. Xcat

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  3. sansserif6 February 2013 at 11:04

    The wonderful Walrus of Love... God! what memories you've brought back! Who could resist his voice, those songs, the palpable sex.
    I get that 'incongruous, insane and hopelessly beautiful'. It's soooo uplifting - and makes you feel like you're touching life itself.
    Wonderful Cat. Yxx

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy6 February 2013 at 13:36

      Don't you love the Walrus of Love thang? And apparently he liked it. Yeah he's amazing. I'd have thrown my knickers onto the stage! Xcat

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  4. Anonymous7 February 2013 at 03:47

    Oh, that mountain! My heart is flipping just looking at it. I can't imagine what it must be like to have it as a backdrop to your every day. It's curious to note the things that make reappearances throughout our lives. Is there a higher meaning? I don't know but I do I find them reassuring.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy7 February 2013 at 06:57

      I don't have the mountain there every day, just on weekends and secret runaway days during the week, otherwise I'd be a skiaholic rather than a batty mum. It is truly beautiful and I need it.

      As for reappearances throughout one's life. I think we as tiny humans are always trying to join the dots of the great big picture whereas things are quite simple ultimately, and there is not a lot of meaning to be had. Reassuring, yes, these things are, but I doubt my ex even remembers that night.

      For me hearing Barry means there are still good times to be had.

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  5. Anonymous7 February 2013 at 04:54

    Memories ... how precious they are. I know who Barry White is of course but somehow he's not the one I remember from my 70s dancing days ... however tonight I was taken down my own memory lane. My husband, a few friends and I went to a Carole King concert. She almost brought the house down with "I feel the earth move ..." And she's 71 in two days! Amazing.

    Enjoyed this little slice of your life Catherine.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy7 February 2013 at 07:01

      Carole King, such a heartwarming and heartbreaking composer. How I used to listen to her wise words. And to see her now! Whatta treat. You are truly lucky here. Haven't been to a concert in yonks - except opera with Georgia. I do miss live music and a huge thumping collective.

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    2. Anonymous8 February 2013 at 01:29

      She's a stunning song-writer really isn't she. And such energy. The audience was a "huge thumping collective" with a nice range of ages which was nice to see.

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    3. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy8 February 2013 at 03:52

      Yes I won't go anywhere these days unless I know there's a reasonable mix of ages - one doesn't want to bump into one's drunken twenty-year-olds. Or be seen losing the plot!

      Makes me want to find her LPs. I'm sure they're in the garage at Mum's??

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  6. Averil7 February 2013 at 14:25

    The songs remember for us, don't they? I don't know much about Barry White, but I've got a whole history wrapped up in Fleetwood Mac's Rumors album.

    That photo is heavenly. I can almost smell the snow.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy8 February 2013 at 03:56

      Every time I absolutely have to buy a new beanie I think of you Averil. I feel I owe you a guilt-free beanie post.

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  7. Rachel Fenton8 February 2013 at 02:50

    A song, and you're in the moment of memory. Love it. A little avalanche of a post.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy8 February 2013 at 03:59

      It's crazy how I went from the Dolomites from Addis in two seconds. I could almost smell that musky smell of Ethiopia, a smell I fell in love with! And to think that Barry brought it all together. The human mind is quite a dodgy old computer..

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  8. Teri10 February 2013 at 10:20

    Anyone who says they don't love hearing Barry White (and a few others) sing must be lying. And if they're not lying, they're not human. Barry's voice --- now there's a sound that makes me do the happy-dance every single time.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy10 February 2013 at 23:59

      Yes he really hits the spot. Really brings back the disco mood. Also makes me realise how much of my life I have spent out dancing!

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  9. Anonymous10 February 2013 at 22:49

    Great post. I love those moments .. and music is one of the best ways to transport you back instantly. Okay, I'm loving your bar, too. I'll be out skiing in Abruzzo next week, but it's NOT the same thing. : )

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy11 February 2013 at 00:01

      Have a great ski! We skied on Saturday and I was back at my bar in a moose hat! Youngest trained in a sweatshirt and it was minus all day. Crazee boy!! I spent the day on mulled wine..

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  10. Hannah18 February 2013 at 07:26

    Oh god I love those moments. I live for those moments. They are the moments to drink in, swaddle ourselves in, remember in the darker times. xoxo

    P.S. I truly believe in the beauty of snow now, and how the world can seem so clear and bright when the sun shines down on its sparkling whiteness.

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    1. The Divorced Lady's Companion to Living in Italy19 February 2013 at 07:41

      Yes we must store them eh? Ahh and snow. Having started kindergarten in Canada I can remember my plastic snow boots so I guess even after all the years in Africa there was still some sort of memory. I lurv the snow. Wanna go skiing tomorrow. But you stay put until that head is ok!! I bet WG was worried! Xxcat

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