My Zio Edoardo (Lozio) was married to my aunt, mamma Nelly's younger sister, Silva (Lazia). (Sandro, my brother, and I ended up calling them 'Lozio' and 'Lazia', nicknames resulting from our mashing of the correct article use in Italian ) Lozio, who sadly passed away a long time ago,was an extraordinary man. Larger than life in his presence, his appetite, his curiosity, his thirst for knowledge, his actual knowledge, his humour, his work ~ Edoardo was a husband, son, uncle, doctor, philosopher, historian, puzzle maker, book collector (the most well-read person I've ever met) lover of cats, Stanlio e Ollio (Laurel and Hardy), practical jokes and burping competitions.(He always won.) Highly intelligent, funny and engaging, he could tell you a story or give you information about absolutely anyone or anything. Want to know how to say 'cod' in Italian? Done. Want to know who invented the first pair of stockings? Done. Want to know the names of five types of butterfly? Done. The history of Laurel and Hardy? That too. Capital of Mars? Yep. Name it, he had it. And if he didn't, he'd find it. Keep in mind that there was no such thing as Google then.
As kids, Sandro and I used to go to Italy to spend some summers there with family that we only saw for those holidays. Sometimes, mamma would be there, but sometimes it was just us. We used to stay with Lozio and Lazia most of the time since they had no children and had space at home. We also spent time with aunts and uncles on my dad, Lorenzo's, side - Zia Anna, Luigi, Zio Roberto (who sadly passed away a week after mamma in 2015), Laura, and cousins Roberta, Alessandro, Chiara and Lorenzo. We were very lucky to have those times in Trieste, Lignano, Grado and Belvedere, bonding with faraway relatives and building lifetime memories with food, cats, walks, sunshine, the city, the sea and gelato.
"So, where the heck does Leonardo fit into all of this?" I hear you cry! Ok well - no, he wasn't there or a family member, but I was introduced to him by Lozio Edoardo, of course, who told me that Leonardo da Vinci was a lefty - like me. Da Vinci was also a genius. Like me. ( Ok, maybe not quite there yet) He also used mirror writing, starting on the right-hand side of the page moving to the left. To be able to read it, one would have to use a mirror or read through the back of the page if it wasn't double-sided. No-one is really sure why he did it but there are some interesting theories (and a fun activity) here:
https://www.mos.org/leonardo/activities/mirror-writing
After this introduction, Lozio suggested that we start writing letters to each other across the seas using Leo's 'special writing' so that our correspondence would be secret. And we did. It felt much easier for me to write from right to left although my letter formation suffered somewhat,but I started practising more and more and it got a lot better. I wish I still had the letters to look at now but those got lost a long time ago, unfortunately. As I got older, I found that when I was bored, like during some classes at school and then lectures at university, I'd take notes in mirror writing. Obviously, it took more effort afterwards to decipher them with or without a mirror, but it kept me challenged and I felt incredibly special and clever. (Must be the genius in me) It was fun and very rewarding to see people's reactions to this writing too and as the years went by, I'd play with it in class, with friends and when journaling. I still do. I also started toying with writing with both hands at the same time with the left hand moving from left to right and the right hand moving from right to left. I can do it better on a whiteboard but paper work is improving. I try the other way round too so that I go right to left with the left and left to right with the right. I guess this reflects some kind of ambidexterity? I do use scissors with my right, I use a knife and fork like a righty, and I kick with my right foot too. And guess what? Leonardo, our famed genius, was probably ambidextrous too. See where I'm going with this?
Anyway, last year I bought myself a sketch book so that I could write or draw or stick stuff in, looking at different ways to express myself more creatively and as a focus when feeling overwhelmed or with nothing to do. I wanted this journal-of-sorts to be where there was no structure and where
I just went with whatever came up and out. Opening onto a fresh page and filling it with whatever, in any form. And one day, the mirror writing appeared and I just carried on- there was no topic, no event, no reaction - just writing. As I put words onto the paper, others appeared again and again until the page was full. I named the piece 'Human By Association' once I was getting towards the end because it all unfolded as I was writing. One idea led to another, another, another. I found that I couldn't break the stream by lifting the pen to move to the one side of the page so... it became a combination of right-to-left-left-to-right down the whole page.This was the first time I had produced double-directional writing (is that a thing?) When I looked back, I noticed that the ideas connected through association, capturing typical human states,moments, events, places,creations. There's a lot of life in there in those questions about states,moments, events,places and creations and I recognise them in mine.
Here it is. I hope you take the time to read it. I would so appreciate hearing what you found and what you think.
Do you read yourself in there too?
........................................................................................... Start here!
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Right to left then left to right ..and so on
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And so this is where Leonardo da Vinci's left-handed legacy got me. I'm proud and excited about being able to do this and happy to share it (show off?!) and to find out what and how much YOU relate to this, any of it.
I've included a link to another site about our genius, Leonardo, here:
http://lefthanderslegacy.org/leonardo-da-vinci/
Who knows, you may find out you're a genius too. Like me. ;-)
and here, some light entertainment in Lozio's memory albeit with a slightly modern touch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BabXYevQwmE
(c) Francesca Pelli
Cape Town
18 April 2020
