I honestly couldn’t decide where to start. Should I begin by telling you about the new editor, no longer Lozzi, but the Studio that created this journal (why?), or about the magazine’s sponsorship by the Italian Historical Houses Association and the new collaboration with the Istituto Luce Cinecittà and with Douglas Beasley’s magazine Shot (why?), or should I introduce the fabulous Walk to the Roman Forum or the many profiles of “Where & Why” (why?), or even explain the reasons behind our magazine’s “sustainable and ecological evolution” (why?).
Well, in the end I decided to not talk about any of all this.
Rather, to tell you the story of the old Sioux warrior, that concludes one of Roman Walks’ inspirational texts: “Thinkertoys” by Michael Michalko. Here it is.
An old Sioux warrior had eight magnificent horses. One night, during a great storm, they all escaped. The other warriors came to comfort him. They said, “How unlucky you are. You must be very angry to have lost your horses.”
“Why?” replied the warrior.
“Because you have lost all your wealth. Now you have nothing,” they responded.
“How do you know?” he asked.
The next day the eight horses returned bringing with them twelve new stallions. The warriors returned and joyously announced that now the old warrior must be very happy.
“Why?” was his response.
“Because now you are even richer than before.” They responded.
“How do you know?” he again responded.
The following morning, the warrior’s young son got up early to break in the new horses. He was thrown and broke both his legs. The warriors came, once more, and talked about how angry the old warrior must be at his misfortune and how terrible it was for the boy to break both his legs.
“How do you know?” the warrior said once more.
Two weeks passed. Then the chief announced that all able-bodies men and boys must join war party to fight against a neighbouring tribe. The Lakotas won but at great cost, as many men and young boys were killed. When the remains warriors returned, they told the old warrior that it was lucky his son had two broken legs, otherwise he could have been killed or injured in the great battle.
“How do you know?” the old warrior replied.
The new Roman Walks is full of adventures. Of art, travel, creative photography. Enjoy!
Gabriel Rifilato
(caartstudio.roma@gmail.com)
