“And he is—Oh, well! He is just himself, and I miss him, and miss him, and miss him. The whole world seems empty and aching. I hate the moonlight because it’s beautiful and he isn’t here to see it with me. But maybe you’ve loved somebody too, and you know? If you have, I don’t need to explain; if you haven’t, I can’t explain.” —Jean Webster, DLL
“Oh, I’m developing a beautiful character! It droops a bit under cold and frost, but it does grow fast when the sun shines.” —Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs
We’re happily settled in a little place of our own, in tumble-down-lovely Üsküdar, walking the boardwalk most afternoons and breathing in deep the smell of the sea. For a few, glorious days, it seemed like spring had come early to İstanbul.
There is great promise of good things to come.
A gift from my dear Tasha:
Little ship, from the east
As you fly from the sun
Do you fear, in the least
For the race you’ve begun?
I can see, little ship
And quite well do I know
How your nose, with its tip,
Cuts the waves as you go.
Do not laugh, little ship,
Till your sides split in two;
For if they dropped apart
Then pray what could we do?
Who would help, little ship?
Would the waves? Or some elf?
Or if not, do you think,
I could fix you myself?
Little ship, from the east
When your voyage is done,
Do not doubt in the least
That your course was well run.
QUEEN MARIE OF ROUMANIA, 1929
Turquoise Marmara 