My wife and I were standing in line at the Galleria Borghese when we overheard one American couple complaining to another about Venice. "It's dirty. It's crowded. I hate it," he said of our favorite place.

I don't disagree with their data. Dirty and crowded is often true of Venice. On our trip in May we turned back from our first visit to the Piazza San Marco, the crush of people was entirely too much.

When we returned for Sunday morning mass the experience was entirely different. Same space, different time. But even the same moment we can encompass several different aspects of space.

Observing the Grand Canal from the Danieli terrace is entirely unlike being on the Riva degli Schiavoni immediately below. Each experience is equally real. One can be loud, crowded, sweaty, the other the opposite. For me one is often ugly, the other always beautiful, yet they share time and space.

I don't want to ignore or deny either reality. But ugly can be aggressive in a way that minimizes the quietly beautiful. I am wanting to train my eye not to miss what is hiding in plain sight.