Nuria is centered and thoughtful at 21. She studies psychology at university and has widely ranging interests. In the gloom of Santes Creus cathedral she and I contemplated skeptically the riotously decorated altarpiece. I asked her if she was familiar with the Plateresque style. She asked where it had flourished. We agreed that the relative simplicity of the Romanesque style was more to our taste. She used the quarter hour or so to make a small sketch in her pad. Later, she took advantage of another brief pause to sketch in the cloister’s courtyard. At supper she said she wanted to share a reflection with her brother Lluis (18) and me. She proceeded to talk about the uneven distribution of wealth and resources among the world’s peoples. She wants to find some good reading on the topic. Lluis made a comment. Nuria nodded pensively, looking impressed, and said, “There’s much truth in what you say.” Then she recapped and refined his remark about the Earth’s not being able to support the demands being made upon it.

(c) 2018 JMN.