'the deserted churches became dens for foxes and nests for snakes'

fahey from the album of rivers and religion. 

probably titled  after w.h.r. rivers  and his book 'medicine, magic and religion'.rivers was an english anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist mainly known for treatment of first world war officers suffering shell shock (including seigfried sassoon).

having briefy stopped off at padua blok is now in ravenna. hokusai meanwhile (in 1836) is in hiding from his debts - 'as my life at this moment is not public, I will not give you my address here.'

claudio magris is in the islands of the marano lagoon. it was to here here people fled (with the arrival of attila the hun) and also on to found venice - the bishop paolino  (paulinus II) writes a ballad of the fall of aquileia and all the mainland  cities with it. at the end of the 4th century, ausonius enumerated aquileia as the ninth among the great cities of the world, 'the deserted churches became dens for foxes and nests for snakes' (as claudio puts it).

the bishop paulino's feast day was originally on january the 11th. 

horsemouth looked out of the window - a pied woodpecker was eating some ants. the day has clouded over rapidly. horsemouth will again be spared outside work on the basis that the weather is too poor. yesterday some wanders on the common. 

horsemouth was due to catch a lift into the village with his mum (there's a book box). but at the precise moment they were setting off his dad magically appeared at the car window (it was like something fro a zombie film or children of the stones). confusion reigned and the clock was ticking (nobody is good first thing in the morning in horsemouth's family).