La Chiave
The Key to Italy…Is a Key
La Chiave( (key-a-vay). That’s how you say “the key” in Italian. That word, chiave, has enchanted me since I first heard Roberto Benigni implore the Queen of Heaven for the key to the heart of his newfound love in the classic film, Life is Beautiful. “Maria, la chiave,” he shouts to the sky and into his hand drops a key.
Today, keys surround me in my new Italian life. Though none dropped from heaven, my keys are just as magical. Eight brass keys poke out from various doors in my apartment.
Why might you possibly need eight keys in a simple four room apartment you might ask. And here you stumble into the charm of this place. There is of course a very practical purpose for each of these eight keys, which by the way don’t include the keys to the front door, the apartment or the terrace door. Each bedroom and bathroom door can be secured with a very classic three inch long, skeleton key which sits waiting patiently in its lock to click into service. Most enchanting for me are the four, even longer, keys suspended from keyholes in the doors on the living room hutch. Three unlock eye level glass doors through which you can peek at stacks of dishes and glassware. One single key hangs like an orphan from a lower cabinet door.
The firm coolness of one of those long, brass, skeleton keys resting in my palm transports me back to childhood, where a long skinny key unlocked the secrets of Grandma’s trunk. What a treat it was when after hearing that satisfying click Grandma raised the heavy, flat top of the sea chest and slid aside the open drawer to dig inside for an outfit for my doll. The contents of the chest, musty and a little brittle with age, were as mysterious as their origin to that long ago little girl.
What power this little piece of metal holds! It unlocks a cherished memory and now even more important- it offers a symbolic promise. Each one of my antique keys is a promise of access to the hidden charm of this ancient land. La chiave opens the door!
I was tickled to learn there are names for the three distinct parts of a skeleton key - the bow, the barrel and the bit. And what an apt metaphor they are for the stages of my experience here. With enthusiasm, a little bit of trepidation and not much planning, I slipped my finger through the bow, grabbed hold and shot myself across the ocean to Panzano. For several weeks I explored its routines and gradually slid into a new lifestyle, just as you can slide you fingers down the barrel from the bow to the bit.
And then, the bit! Ah, it’s the teeth at the end of the key that hold its true magic. In a door, they engage the lock to secure a treasure or open the way. So too una chiave touched my heart. The bit took hold. And like the flukes of an anchor, the teeth of this mystical key settled and nestled deep, locking me in to this land of my ancestors while its wonders unfold before me and await my exploration.
Such is the delight, the promise and the magic of una chiave.