snapshots on the journey5...

aahhhhhh, roma! after an incredibly peaceful 10 day journey meandering around the countryside & seaside, was i ready for your bustle, for your traffic, for your myriad of choices? why yes, i believe i was! we frequented our favorite bars (& for those of you who don't know, that's not the same thing as a 'bar' in the US!)...a cappuccino in the morning (bar trevi)...a spritz in the afternoon (bar cento passi)...fueled by fabulous italian food...we were on the move non-stop...new pathways (climb inside St. Peter's dome)...glimpses of mystery...attention to detail...new views (thanks, christopher~~ castel sant'angelo)...moments to reflect...moments to look beyond...sacred moments (Corpus Christi procession with Pope Benedict)...moments where the ordinary and the sacred met (roma's FSSP parish)......a certain slant of light...new sounds...new clarity...& hopefully~~ a return!...roma never disappoints! after 2 weeks of language lessons, a break in the middle to visit florence (that's another 'snapshot' post!), sending Baby Girl home, sending D. & Big Bro home, & greeting our eastern european adventure contingent, we were all-too-soon saying arrivederci, roma! roma, giugno, 2009

another word...

**updated**...& yet another word...cure! please follow this link for an explanation & then keep going on the links to steven's video (also in my sidebar under 'light a candle')...please visit often between now & 30 april.
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following on the heals of last week's "one word" prompt at one single impression is "word" offered by jeeves of silence is poetic (love the name of her blog!!). i find the other word that is often foremost in my mind right along with "gratitude" is "love." i am surrounded by it...whether it be God's love expressed in more ways than i can imagine (He is so wooing me with His delightful spring right now)...or the love of my precious family~~ & these are just the tip of my iceberg of love!!love

woven in the words

traveling miles

or inches

enveloped actions

catching my heartstrings

speaking to the center

of life's delight

bidden or not

love is here

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speaking love on this fine spring day here in NC...2 guys very dear to my heart just went out to sea...calm waters & the hope of fish bites for them...the hope of some kind of tasty fresh-catch seafood dinner for me! (actually, for all of us!)...no pressure, guys!i am keeping watch on the deck with a fresh cup of coffee, enjoying the still, salty air & joyful birdsong. the hounds have found a sunbeam for snoozing.life is indeed good!

uh-huh!

a theory i'm willing to test...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=awiA7Ck37baM&refer=ukbring on the intelligentsiathe lavazzathe illy& my newest love affair from costa rica...doka estate's peaberry!
join me in a cuppa (or 7), won't you?...

fun stuff for a winter's day...

over at michelle's place i found a fun meme, but before i lay it out there, i want you go to immediately to the 2009 bloggies website & vote for bleeding espresso under best european weblog. hurry...voting closes monday 2 february! (please, please, pretty please!! all of us from the coal region will be so grateful...local gal done good!~~ pardon, but my roots are showing ;-)

now, back to my current life in the south with a meme courtesy of michelle's bleeding espresso...

1. What are 5 things you were doing ten years ago?
*living in virginia & enjoying D.'s post-graduate school employment!!
*but getting ready for a springtime move back to south carolina (right, Mrs. T.??!?)
*working on my book
*dreading emails from my editor
*homeschooling 3 of my children who were in 5th, 4th & 1st grade...Little Man wasn't even doing kindergarten yet!!


2. What are 5 things on your to do list for today?
*grade boyworld's gi-normous school pile
*hit the books for my own writing assignment
*finish this blog post
*& my last cup of coffee!
*make this for dinner

3. What are your 5 favorite snacks?
*gelato!!!!
*dark chocolate
*coffee
*raspberries
*cheese
(pretty much in that order!)


4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? (i changed this from million to billion to reflect inflation!)

*travel on my current budget but randomly & anonymously help others out along the way
*buy this place, consult with JP on the rest!
*help melissa's effort much, much more!
*set up funds for several other causes that are very dear to my heart
*continue living my current life much as it is because i like it very much!

5. Where are 5 places you have lived?

*the "zoo" in central PA (teo & shep, if you are reading this, you *know* what i mean!!)
*charleston SC...sigh.
*in the mountains of virginia
*very close to luckyblueeyedgirl (aka Mrs. T.) in SC
*roma, italy with frequent vacations in coastal NC

(just kidding about that last one...maybe.)


i love reading these things on blogs, so if you do this one, please drop me a line! & remember to vote for michelle!!

crossing off items on his list...

well, costa rica was good to Little Man (& his momma & sister too!). not only did he cross off the "to see" items on his list from last week, he was even able to check off his add-on's! what else did he want to experience?

4. toucans

5. & swimming in the pacific

but first, back to the original list...

#1. sloths were a very big deal on this journey. we saw 3 of them, all in the wild & both the 2 toed & 3 toed varieties, one quite close up!this guy lived up to his name as he literally creeped across that wire, making for a wonderful photo shoot & some dangerous traffic conditions on a curvy mountain road...#2. howler monkeys...would you believe we had more howler monkey action in the roma zoo last july than in the costa rican rainforest? but we did see (but sadly, did not hear!) one lonely guy in all his glory in manuel antonio national park...#3. a volcano...poas to be precise...after a walk through an enchanted cloud forest, we saw...

more clouds!

but for one very fleeting moment we could see the crater. you will have to take my word for it~ this is a view into the volcano...in spite of the dense cloud cover there is nothing quite like standing at the edge of something that immense with the wind howling & clouds rushing over you. eruptions?...no, thank you very much! (but our guide did park with the car facing the entrance for fast escapes...)

#4. toucans...not in the wild on this trip, but we did see 2 different types at la paz waterfall gardens. one guy was quite open to photo ops...very much the ham even though we had interrupted his napping attempt!...#5. the pacific ocean...after a hike through manuel antonio's rainforest, we spent a most appreciated afternoon swimming in this secluded cove& sunning (napping) on the beach with a friend...a little exploring for good measure...& finally, a spectacular sunset...my list??...it really did parallel Little Man's quite nicely! throw in a hike in the rainforest along waterfalls...with guide who spoke italian quite nicely & i am one happy girl!

we returned last night with a heartful of wonderful memories & bags full of coffees...(yes, at one point we were surrounded by coffee...i wish i could post the smells!!), but the best thing we brought home from costa rica...Baby Girl!!!...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

places we stayed on this trip...hotel mar y luna in quepos...room with 3 beds & a private bath (but cold showers!) that was a real budget friendly experience...

& hostel pangea in san jose...this was a really hip establishment with a rooftop restaurant, free internet & a pool (+ a hot shower one night!)...Baby Girl truly knows how to plan travel...she handled all our lodging, food & travel within costa rica, all on a sweet dime!

home from rome

a week sure does fly by...in the blink of an eye it seems we are back on US soil, home since the wee hours of yesterday morning. what a trip we had! it was a glorious first week of Advent that left not a fraction of a second for blogging. we were too busy living every moment to its fullest! & being followed by rainbows every step of the way it seemed. first there was our "welcome rainbow" at the airport. a few days later there were rainbows at sunset the entire train ride from firenze to roma~ too many to recall (& me with dead camera batteries & the spares still waiting in roma). & another day, this time with a working camera, we saw this beauty from our taxi...when we last left you at the internet cafe, a whole day of roman roaming stretched out before us before the evening's Mass. Little Man & i did the logical things like enjoy an espresso...eat more gelato (come to momma, you sweet little thang!)...drool all over the bakery windows...inhale deeply of the smells of the season...stumble around undiscovered corners that spill beauty...& even occasionally take a rest...before attending the Solemn Pontifical Mass...sung by Cardinal Hoyos at Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri...one of our friends was a server for this Mass...& another who is also a "blog buddy" was an official photographer (see his 1 december post for more details). should you ever have a question about Catholic roma, jp is your guy!monday found us on a train for firenze...one of my very favorite parts of this trip was seeing all the Christmas festivity...& enjoying the early dusk & all the magical lights...there were open-air markets everywhere, filled with delights to charm the child in everyone!...our favorite meal on this trip (not counting gelato) was hands-down chef chris' homemade spaghetti...jp & chris graciously hosted us for a wonderful evening in santa marinella...the next morning came very early, as we made our way to citta' del vaticano for a papal audience. we arrived in a fog (not necessarily from the late night before!) for a wait that was well worth it...big props to whomever can guess what is missing from this photo...we were very blessed to be indoors & close to il Papa...(karina, this is for you) yes, those are the pope's shoes!...after the audience, it was on the train again, this time bound for pisa! now, everyone assumes pisa is all about the tower...but for us on this trip it was all about blog buddies & science too! we had the pleasure of seeing claudia again & meeting andrea for a tour of his gravitational wave experiment. Little Man was in his element. can you believe that none of us had our cameras?!? after a lovely day Little Man lived one of his life's goals...climbing the leaning tower of pisa! let me tell you, as you are climbing those steps, you know you are off balance! no matter, because the view from the top (at dusk no less) is so worth it!!...our last day in roma found us saying goodbye to friends over a wonderful dinner at our (second) favorite ristorante~ il gabriello, but not before making a last passaggio to some favorite places that included santa rita da cascia alle vergini which has the most beautiful grotto for prayer...& la basilica di sant' agostino with a stop at the altar of santa monica. we stumbled in drenched from a downpour just in time for Adoration, the rosary, Benediction & Mass!

now we are home, but the backpack still stands ready...it has been changed out for a change in latitude~ in the early morn thursday we depart for the more tropical climate of costa rica & some time with Baby Girl!!!