One night when I was in Italy last November, I woke up not knowing what time it was. There was no clock in the room (perpetual reminder that I was on vacation which I actually liked), looking at the phone caused that bright light to come on, so I turned over hoping to go back to sleep. I then heard the sound of a bell in the near distance, the reverberation between each soft gong fully heard before the next rang out equally as soft; it was 3:00AM. As I adjusted to the time difference, I found myself awake on other occasions. I listened for the bell, which began to be the thing that lulled me back to sleep, a small comfort that all was well, that I had and needed a few more hours of rest before it was time to get up.
I discovered that the bell had it’s own hourly ritual. It rang on the hour, so three strikes for 3:00; at a quarter past a second bell with a quieter ring sounded once; at 3:30 a resounding three gongs plus two taps from the second bell; and three quiet gongs from the second bell on the 45. I waited for an hour to pass if I woke up just so I could go through an entire cycle of the night clock keeping time somewhere outside of my window.
Over the Christmas holiday, I woke up one night and heard the bell of the church in the near distance ring out. I don’t know if it’s something new or have I been so preoccupied in thought that I never noticed that it sounds out the hour throughout the night. Regardless, hearing it reminds me of the bell in the night across the Mediterranean, one of the things I will remember about my trip to the Amalfi Coast. Though the one outside my bedroom window only rings each hour and is not quite as lovely, it too brings me comfort and let’s me know that I need to turn over and get a little more rest before I have to get up. Speaking of which, I think I’ll catch a quick nap so...
keep your peepers open!®
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