We wake in the morning to the whispering waves lapping against the canal banks, cries of seagulls, motors of boats, all reinforcing the impression of a floating world, the eye looks out onto the rippling of blue, is dazzled by the shimmering movement of water and of the palaces built upon it. Every melancholy thought has been banished by this perfect day, so warm that the jackets and scarves and hats have fallen off, the city undulates with sparkling light, sunbeams have fallen into every canal, the city glistens, it glows, it is too heartrendingly beautiful, so that there is almost pain in gazing at it, one cannot contain it all, like a vessel filled too full, the heart on a perfect day in Venice brims to overflowing. Excerpts from a Venice Journal, November 2004, Nancy Guri Duncan