Footnotes to a Conversation, July 14, 2025
“Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” – Harold Bloom
Driving the Global Economy
A current exhibit at the Royal BC Museum illustrates the art and fashion of Indian chintz. Chintz refers to cotton fabrics woodblock printed or hand-painted with flowers, birds, and exotic motifs. I knew that chintz manufactured in India had been hugely popular in England but hadn’t realized it had been exported world-wide, from France and Spain to Africa and Indonesia.
“Chintz fabrics drove the global economy … The discovery and importing of Indian cotton by the East India Company was such a threat to the textile industries in England and France from 1686 to 1774 that their governments forbade even wearing it, punishing people (royalty exempt) with fines and even imprisonment! It was a revolutionary new fashion especially for women to wear lighter fabrics, patterns and colours instead of the heavy woolins they were accustomed to. And, cotton was something the middle class could afford. (hence the expression ‘chintzy’ still a colloquialism in the public domain today to denote cheap.)” [Royal BC Museum]
On the Road Again
My plane tickets are booked and I leave for 5½ months in Europe on October 19. People often exclaim and say that they could never do what I do. They value their own bed, their own house, their own community. I’ve been struggling to come up with an explanation for why I do what I do. The simplest explanation is that I have itchy feet, but it’s more than that. I’ve been travelling with prolonged stays in various locations all my life. I don’t feel the strong connections to one place that many of my friends and family feel. Plus, my dream as a young adult was to move to France. My regular trips to Europe help to satisfy that dream – many years later.
I leave you with two quotes as further explanation of my desire to travel. The first is from Sarah Bringhurst Familia, an American currently living in Amsterdam but hoping, someday soon, to open a bookstore in Italy. She says, “I’d fallen in love with being Elsewhere. Home never really felt like home again.” [Escape to the Bookshop]
And, from closer to home, I had a vivid memory recently of the theme song from the Tommy Hunter television show on Friday nights: “I am a travellin’ man / Followin’ the breeze / Travellin’ here and travellin’ there / Gathering memories / So let me wander, / All my life away / Just a travellin’ on my way.” [Guitar Songs Club]
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Travellers
Are you a tourist or a traveller? If you want to enrich your travel experience, here is some advice, including leaving your toothpaste at home so you’re forced to get out and explore as soon as you arrive in a new-to-you country. [Souvenirs]
Down the Garden Path
Take a look at these climate-conscious, wildlife-friendly, inviting gardens from the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. I particularly enjoyed the jungle-like vertical garden. [House Beautiful]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.