L'aventure américaine

Yesterday when I got my mail and along with some junk mail and my "New Yorker," an "US Weekly" arrived as well. Because the previous two tenants never filled out "Change of Address" forms, I often get mail that isn't mine, but the "US" was addressed to me. What's more, it looks like it is going to be coming to me for a whole year! I would like to say that it went on the stack with the other magazines that I mean to read when I have the time, but no, I voraciously devoured it. I thought that I should read a "New Yorker" article after to negate the smutty effects of the "They're just like us!" section, but, of course, I didn't. Talk about guilty pleasures... So, where'd this magazine come from? It's a mystery. A delightfully smutty mystery.

I have been reciting this poem daily to myself, just as a happy reminder of good things. i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes e.e. cummings *I just googled this and saw that there was more to the poem. More to memorize!

Is he the worst dog or the best dog? Today on our hike, Odie ran up behind me with a big glob of brown stuck to his collar and the left side of the neck. It was in such an odd place that I assumed that it couldn't be poo, that he had to have been digging... But, of course not. Somehow, he had gotten poo stuck on his the buckle of his collar and the front, left side of his neck and NOWHERE else. I still don't understand how this happened, but I spent the remainder of the hike wondering how I would get this off and drive him home in the climate that I live in: one without water. Fortunately, there were several plastic bags at the end of the hike for poo clean-up on the hike (or at the end, in my lucky case). So, I "gloved" up with some plastic bags and took his collar off, then proceeded to dump a 1/3 full water bottle on him repeatedly, since the weak water fountain would only fill it up that much. I strapped him into the car and prayed that he didn't jump a...

I didn't really want to wake up at 3am in Phoenix this morning and truly attempted to go back to sleep, but I thought of Clara, happily teaching at noon in her international school and Charles and family, probably trying to get Daniel to eat a good lunch and then take a nap and I got up to look at pictures. I made it home last night after a fairly smooth day of traveling. It's always so surreal to say goodbye to a friend in Milano and hello to friends in Phoenix, but it's good to be back and it's warm here with chirping birds outside. It was such a wonderful last leg of vacation and I felt giddy the entirety of my stay in Milan. It had been five years since Clara and I had seen each other, but it was literally like yesterday. Non-stop conversation and laughter and fun commenced as soon as I saw her smiling face at the train station. I was quickly immersed in a little family gathering of the Gallina's (the family of her boyfriend, Filippo) with delicious food and...

Karma has been good to us these past two days that forecasted rain, but seemed to just miss us. It was a serendipitous day as we started in the nearly empty, but absolutely fabulous Museo del Duomo, where we saw Michelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's Mary Magdelene among others. When the line to enter the Duomo was too long, we decided to have an early lunch, which turned out to be one of the best meals we've had so far. After we finished, the Duomo had no line and few people inside. Perfetto. We caught a train to Milan this afternoon and are currently in our biggest room yet! Mom flies out tomorrow morning and I return to the city to see my dear friend, Clara. I will meet her Italian boyfriend's family and go to an Italian improv show, so it will certainly be a change of pace! But, as I miss my brother and his family, I will miss Mom as well. What a wonderful traveling companion!

It was sad sad sad saying goodbye to Charles, Elisabetta, Daniel and Josephine, but luckily Mom and I had more vacation to go! So, we hopped on the train for Florence and have been trekking around the city since. We're staying in a lovely B&B near the Duomo where we've enjoyed delicious cappuccinos and the best yogurt ever. It only took a few minutes to walk to the Uffizi Gallery yesterday morning where we saw priceless works of art (I.e. The Birth of Venus) and priceless people-watching. Of course, the most memorable part was when I didn't realize that the windows overlooking the Arno River were double-paned and very forcefully slammed my head into the window. A picture of grace... That's me. We also visited the ever-impressive, always stunning David at The Accademia. We interspersed these activities with some delicious pasta and wine and lots of very successful shopping at the Straw Market! The day prior we had hiked up to Piazza Michelangelo to get some views of ...

This will be my last post with pictures as this will be the last time that I can usurp my brother's computer. We are loathe to leave Vigolo Vattaro, even though beautiful Florence is ahead of us. I don't want to miss Daniel's cry of "Bia!" when he reaches for the ball. I don't want to miss Josephine's sweet sucking sound and the way she curls up her legs and is in the shape of an egg. I don't want to miss Daniel's faces and [he's the only one allowed to do this] the way he calls me "Kathy." I don't want to miss conversations with Elisabetta nor her risotto. And I don't want to miss Charles's puns and jumping on his back, despite his T6 compression fracture. It has been another excellent couple of days. Charles and I hiked La Marzola yesterday, which was quite the challenge but well worth it. It was super steep and we climbed 1000 meters; they don't seem to believe in switchbacks here, so it was pretty comical a...