Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Oh! Calacatta!

12/9/2021

0 Comments

 

​​LOOKING FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS THEY'LL ENJOY?

Picture
​"Equal and Opposite Reactions" http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
and the sequel, "Hail Mary" https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
​Available on Amazon.


​​OH! CALACATTA!

Picture
  ...Continued from last time: 
     Anyway, I finally chose a slab from the stone supply warehouse to replace my kitchen countertops, which I don't want replaced, but alas, now have no choice unless I want to live with this: 
Picture
       (See previous  post, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/it-gets-worse).
​        Here's what I chose:
Picture
      It's called Calacatta Brazil quartzite.  In truth I was not in love with this piece of stone. But I was less not in love with it than I was not in love with every other piece of stone in the warehouse. 
So I decided on the Calacutta Brazil quartzite.
       
"Calacatta?" I said when I saw the name printed on the side of the slab. "Did they misspell that?" I pointed out the odd orthography to the staffer who had brought me back to the warehouse and was more or less following me around as I moved from slab to slab.
       "They just spell it so many different ways,"  the diplomatic (and probably somewhat weary of trailing me) staffer replied.
       Then it occurred to me: Ah, Calacatta Brazil quartzite must be from Brazil, where Portuguese is the language. Hence the non-English spelling.
         
Still, 
I wondered what it was about this quartzite that caused it to be named after a city in India.
      Mayhaps the flowing movement of the pale brownish-goldish veins through the illusive light stone evoked for some early South American stone-cutter exotic images of the Ganges moving  through a mysterious alluring landscape? Or something like that? Now I found myself wanting to know from where my future kitchen accoutrement derived its intriguing name. I googled it.
      Turns out that whoever christened Calacatta Brazil quartzite wasn't thinking of Calcutta. They were thinking of Calacatta, a rare, uber-pricey luxury marble quarried in Carrara, Italy, the veining  of which apparently resembles the veining in a particular kind of quartzite mined in Brazil. 
​
     Calacatta Marble:
​
Picture
      Calacatta Brazil quartzite:
Picture
       The google article I read also specifically pointed out - probably for the benefit of people like me - that Calacatta has nothing to do with Calcutta, the city in India. (I also looked up the Portuguese spelling of "Calcutta." It's "Calcutá").
​        Oh. Calacatta. Okay. Calacatta Brazil quartzite it will be. Once it's in my kitchen maybe I'll look at it and think of Italy. Or Calcutta. Either of which place I wouldn't mind being right now.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Tropical Depression" 
    by Patti Liszkay
    ​Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1685131832

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly