Excerpt from our first visit in April 2013: “Petronella acknowledges my presence with the slightest of nods.  She sits on a throne of pillows, eating applesauce out of a porcelain teacup.  Her right hand grasps a tiny spoon, and a ray of sunlight catches the sapphire ring on her finger, sending shadows of blue fire dancing across the cream-colored wall of the houseboat.  Slowly, she extends her hand to me, admiring the… Read More