One of Eva's favorite things to do is to look up. When we're holding her, she loves to lean back and hang her head back as far as it can go, seeming to be entirely engrossed in something fascinating on the ceiling. Now the wooden beams and tiled ceiling in our apartment are interesting in their own way, but not what one would call riveting...She is probably most drawn to the lights in that direction (as she is drawn to light coming from any direction).
However, there is one place we go every day where Eva's fascinated looking up is more than justified. Here light pours in from high windows around the octagonally shaped building and the entire domed ceiling is covered in gold mosaic. Here there is no lack of light, even on the cloudiest day. Here she could look up for a lifetime and never exhaust what there is to see.
It's always easy to take daily and routine things for granted, no matter how amazing they may be. Eva's love of looking up helps me not to take this view for granted, but to remember every day to keep looking up and to keep letting the beauty of this small place soak in.
[These are photos of the ceiling of the Baptistry in Florence, the small but glorious church which stands just a few feet away from the Duomo and which used to serve as the place for baptisms for the cathedral. Dante Alighieri was among the notable Florentines baptized here.]
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