Ric Hirst and I were supposed to do the show on the Florence Baptistery this evening, but were stopped in our tracks by the snow storm that nailed the northeast with savage force. This turned out to be a bit serendipitous, however, because we decided to change the format of that show to a degree. Here is the story (there is always a story).
Ric and I were speaking during the week, and he indicated that he would like to answer two questions I asked him a long time ago. One question was: Why did the Renaissance begin in Florence in the 15th century ? Actually this question was asked by me to him and a few other people I knew just before I was about to do Alan's Italy Show # 2 on December 25, 2011. I just watched that show, and noticed that at the end of the show I had planted a question. Sorry. I had Ric call me just to get the phone calling thing going and that was the question that he was instructed to ask me. I did answer the question, but the query is really so profound that he continued researching it for parts of the past two years. The second question I asked him was simply to talk a little about the workshop/apprenticeship concept that existed in Florence during the 14th century on through the years. That question was for my own purposes, but was also referred to on that show. When Ric requested to talk about that, I immediately told him that at the beginning of the next show we do, he can have the time to answer both questions. Then he e mailed to me a list of the wealthiest people in Florence in the year that a tax record indicated the top 1.4% of the population. This concept is tied up in the other two questions, so right then and there I decided to make his next show a two parter. Even though he will still talk about the Baptistery, he will also talk about Florence in the 15th century, an idea for a show we have been batting around for several months anyway.
So next week's show, January 10, weather permitting, we will first look at the Renaissance, Workshops, and also how all of this was tied together to the enormous wealth that existed in Florence starting actually in the 13th century with the rise of the banking industry right up to the present. Then afterward Ric will begin to talk about the Baptistery, preceded by a discussion on baptistries in general. He has a lot of stories to tell related to this theme and there seemed to me no way he could accomplish all that in one sixty minute show. Therefore we will split the broadcast into two.
Meanwhile, many residents of Ulster County and elsewhere in the northeast, people are trying to dig out from a mountain of snow which began falling two days ago and continued through this morning. I was out and about after my snowplowing had occurred at about 2 PM. The roads are awful, slushy, icy, snowy, and worst of all very slippery. These very hazardous conditions did not, however, stop many very, very stupid people from driving way too fast under these horrid circumstances. It never ceases to amaze me how people could not only jeopardize their own lives but other motorists as well by just driving like they really have somewhere urgent to get to. I have often asked friends of mine, "where are these people hurrying to all the time? Please tell me! I must be missing something and want to go wherever they are going." So for now, staying home nice and safe and warm under my own roof, where I don't have to worry about reckless drivers.
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