re-entry...

no mincing words...it was a long blog break & it was as it should have been. yesterday as i contemplated the outcome of my daily errands, i knew something had changed.

2 boys. not our boys. but they could easily be our boys.

in orvieto, italy last week, D. & i stumbled into a church as we are wont to do while meandering around italy. we wander in our separate ways, breathing the quiet in prayer, begging, thanking. i usually light candles for various intentions. in that darkened church my eye was caught by something i had not encountered previously in italy...a photograph of a young man & a guest book for his forthcoming funeral. immediately there was a lump in my throat. he was young~ late teens or early twenties. my gut said "no" but the evidence & the reality whispered "yes." ok. i steered back in the direction of a side altar near the high altar where the candles could be lit, to offer prayers for his soul & his family. as my eyes adjusted, i realized that the young man's coffin was resting in front of the high altar. alone. i was undone by this memento mori, knowing that orvieto has stuck with me in a profound way from this defining moment. candles lit, prayers offered, i stumbled out into the light that was both welcome & harsh, thinking on death & not without hope.

fast-forward to yesterday. my early morning errands included a stop at the bank machine before daily Mass. at that hour the bank is not open, but it is not unusual to find another car or two there for the same reason i was there. there was a car in the lot, but oddly, no one at either bank machine making a transaction. my first impulse was to circle out of the lot & return at a later hour when the bank would be open, but for some reason, i did not. nudged on, i pulled up to the bank machine directly beside the suspicious car. my heart went to my throat at the sight...a young man was sleeping in the front seat & did not stir at my arrival. in the back seat of his car seemed to be all the possessions he owned, clean & rather neatly arranged. he, too, seemed clean & dressed just as any other young man in a crowd of late teens or early twenties. the car was not a newer model but it was in decent shape.

were i to see any pieces of this total picture by themselves...the boy, his belongings, the car...they likely would not catch my eye at all. they were ordinary. but together... i looked for a long moment, wondering what brought him to this. wondering if he had someone missing him, if he had a place for a soft landing. wondering if his mother ached to know where he was in that moment, remembering the days she rocked him to sleep in a loving, safe home & kissed his forehead goodnight. these and a million more thoughts broke my heart. i was tempted to tap on the window & offer to buy him something to eat, to take him to Mass with me. but i didn't. the same thing the urged me into the parking spot beside him held me back from doing more. so i did my banking & returned to the car, taking one last look at him. i knew in that moment that this boy would be in my prayers for a very long time.

snapshots on the journey1...

one of the fruits of blogging is meeting the loveliest of people.if home is where the heart is, sally, you need to keep a cot ready for me...i do believe i have left a piece of my heart in your le marche...nestled among its vines...perched atop its stones...flung into its fields...basking it the sun...thank you for a truly perfect week with just the right balance of friendship, song, caffe, & limoncello! hugs from across the pond...

le marche, italia, maggio/giugno 2009

i hope i remember how to do this...

...blog, that is! it's been awhile & there is so much to share, but for today it is enough to say how glad i am to be home spending a quiet afternoon alone chopping shallots for the french potato salad that will be a side for tonight's dinner, listening to ann savoy on the iPod, reminiscing about so many adventures last month, & looking forward tonight to sleeping on freshly laundered sheets that are drying right now in the delicious sea breeze. all is well & i pray the same for you...

here & there

first...my heart is with dear karen in this difficult time. if you have a moment, drop by this lovely lady's blog & give her a kind word & a cyber hug.
Requiem eternam
Requiem eternam dona eis
Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis
Requiescant in pace
Amensecond...annie, you read my mind in the 24 may post! your comments echo my thoughts exactly. i didn't even write a poem for one single impression though i thought the photos conveyed the sentiments adequately. if you would like a whirlwind poetic adventure, please visit OSI where the prompt this week is 'dropped'.finally...a hint as to why all the blog-laziness...in just 48 hours we will be winging our way to this glorious place! i will no doubt breathe a huge sigh of relief as all the busy-ness of daily life & how one might condense 2 months worth of chores into 1 settles into a restful week with the family followed by 2 weeks of italian lessions & finally a grand adventure with melissa! stay tuned for travel updates!!

blog-lazy...

lately it seems as though i've been doing everything but blogging. we've gone from wrapping up the school year ~ mine with all the papers finally turned in & the boys with all exams skillfully taken ~ to another round of home chores that involve my nemesis (construction) & blessed time working with our negected yard...that's a pretty fair balance...any aggravation left over from dealing with hammering & contractors' crazies is easily remedied with getting my hands dirty in the soil in anticipation of summer blooms to delight the eye & fresh herbs for the palate...i tend to lose myself in the scent of the earth that mingles on a sea breeze with magnolia...my thoughts happily drifting everywhere & nowhere, wandering the backroads of my memory & meandering with hope into the coming weeks' plans...the reward at the end of the day~~ a hot shower for those tired muscles i forgot existed & a glass of wine on the dock at sunset. sleep tonight will be a welcome embrace...

spring cleaning

yes, even the blogs! as my lenten internet fast & a favorite springtime activity of reorganizing/streamlining have progressed, i realized that with my blogging, less really is enough.for now, write away & snap366 will be snoozing while poetic elements & photographs will be found here, randomly interspersed. (phil did beg - pun intended! - to keep dog blog up & running though. i can't say "no" to that face...could you?!?!) since the end of 2008's daily photos, i must admit my camera sees less action. i do have mixed emotions about that, but i do continue to keep it close by for those amazing must-capture moments. as for writing, my classes have progressed to a level of reading/writing intensity that leaves very little spilling over in the way of creative stuff.one of my favorite weekly activities that i plan to continue is the poetry in response to one single impression. when possible, i will continue posting something in response to OSI's sunday prompts here. for 5 april, the prompt is 'listening' suggested by laurie @ april wine...a marvelous word, something i need to do more of.listening
'listen'
one of momma's favorite words
often followed by some advice i did not want
& sometimes, did not heed
i often wondered what you meant when you offered that word
& said nothing more
i did not worry about your intent
because days seemed numbered infinite
but when you lay dying my ears opened more each day
& suddenly i could not hear enough
of what you had to say
& then came the day
you would say no more
to me with words like as before
& still your command echoed in my head
'listen'
even as you had passed that word came on the wind
it's letters spelled in the ringing angelus bells
at sunset

revived...

...that is, my sense of centeredness. D.'s momma is home, resting under the watchful eye of her doting husband. D. & i spent the better part of this fine spring day taming unruly parts of our yard & inhaling the glorious scent of purple hyacinth. Baby Girl made it safely to her vacation destination. Big Bro showed his momma the love last night by cooking dinner...spaghetti alfredo (is it impolite to lick my dish???). Little Man is finally up & about fully after an illness that was beginning to worry me.late in the afternoon today i sat in a sunbeam for a few moments of quiet, reading evening prayer. the 'rightness' of it all...the words i was reading, the thoughts that extended for those i hold dear, all the events of the past week (even the more trying events) weighed lightly in that still frame of life. it was as though the slightest of whisper reached my ear telling me all is well. it was a moment of sitting in the lap of God, a moment of freedom~ from care, from worry.it occured to me later this evening (actually just a bit ago), when i was past the hour of my internet lenten fast (no internet before 5pm), that i was already bearing some fruit from this sacrifice. this break was not just a token observance of lent...it was something i truly needed. into the void of my internet surfing time day in and day out, i have discovered spaces of quiet, spaces of rest. time to simply 'be'...& be filled. even before ash wednesday my thoughts were shifting to a more quiet way. now, they are downright peaceful.this internet fasting has been humbling too. thursday afternoon i commented to boyworld that i had not only accomplished all the week's minutia of work, but i had also tackled several long overdue projects too. without a pause they simultaneously reminded me that it was likely due to the fact that i was not "wasting time online!" uh huh. humbling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

giving way to gratitude...

129. the ordinary beauty of this day wrapped in 70F sunshine

130. the scent of purple hyacinth

131. D.'s momma's healing

132. tired muscles after a good day's work

133. a glass of cool, fresh water

134. sleeping with the window open again

135. boyworld's completion of their 3rd quarter of the school year yesterday!!

because my mind is working in short bursts...

~~why so quiet here? one word: facebook. for those who don't know, think 25 years of catching up with 30 or so people. 'nuff said.


~~also spent last weekend on retreat at mepkin abbey. no phones, TV's, computers...not a great cell signal. pure bliss for my over-active mind.


~~thanks for the language advice regarding last week's post. this week boyworld has adopted a new technique for dodging italian responses to my italian questions...responding in english that is heavily encased in a scottish brogue! (maybe the possum *should* be in control!)~~speaking of small animals...that prognosticator known as punxsutawny phil was wrong! spring is on its way. my daffodils said so! (all you yanks up north, take heart...it's coming!)~~prayers answered (thank you so much!)...fr. reggie is slowly healing. he has a long road to travel but he has also come a very long way!!

swimming...

...in a sea of busy-ness, riding the wave on my crazy board!!& hoping to wash up on the shore of the blogworld next week with some words & photos & visits to y'all...

shakespeare made interesting...

boyworld is up to its neck in thee's & thou's, currently reading Richard III & Antony & Cleopatra. they tell me they've had it with all the saucy prating & so i have found something to spice up the literature lessons a bit...mr. coffee klatch (aka scott) offers a plethora of shakespearan insults guaranteed to keep boyworld light of heart in trying literary times. get thee to scott's site for some fresh humor...

the things you accomplish...

...when your internet is down!!

let me tell you, my home management efficiency (& D.'s & the boys') went through the roof over the last week thanks to our internet service provider.


all the lawn care that has been neglected since the end of last summer~~ done! (our neighbors might just think new folks moved in!)


all, & i mean *all* the closets in the home~~ cleaned out!


my gi-normous stack of books~~ shrunk!


right after the snow event last week, our ability to get on the 'net everyday was impossibly slow or non-existent. at first i was peeved. then (after lengthy discussions with our provider's customer service) i turned off the computer & took a look around.


i think i just may have needed that break...very much.


lots of gratitude for...
125. the "schedule post" feature on blogger

126. warmer temperatures & a bit of sun

127. team boyworld helping around the house

& here's a bit of a treat for y'all...128. my favorite sunrise in january '09...

he said...she said: techie addition...

last night D. had his laptop in bed (we were watching an old TV program online) when he lovingly looked over at me & said, "honey, you look good by computer light."

what a 21st century way to sweep a gal off her feet!

& of course, i responded with a "honey, you know i'm gonna blog that!"

i keep forgetting...

...to post a link to snap366. i completed the leap year in photos - one photo taken everyday*, sometimes posted on a later day due to sketchy computer access & streaks of laziness!! what fun i had & how much i learned!! the biggest lesson was appreciating how to really see things. the most mundane objects & circumstances presented such fabulous moments of beauty when i least expected it.

(*one disclaimer...it was actually more like snap363, because i had a few jetlag moments when i missed entire days with my faithful camera ;-)

what's on tap for 2009 at snap366?...for the month of january i am posting photos from my archives of italia!! after then, who knows...

any suggestions?

word on the bay has it...

...that my good buddy *finally* has a blog!! get thee to liza's lil' piece of the blogosphere & give her a hearty welcome!

here's to your new adventure...

end of year meme...

thanks, michelle!! this sounds like a terrific way to say goodbye to a fabulous year before i embrace the new one. here goes...

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? take italian classes in italy!!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? yes i did & yes i will! (that is a whole other post!!)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die? quite a few acquaintances, a friend from years back, a very favorite high school teacher, & a dear neighbor.

5. What countries did you visit? italy, haiti, jamaica, grand caymen, italy, italy again, & costa rica!

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? i am having trouble finding something i lacked in 2008...seriously.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? the week of the girlfriend gaggle...:-) a week with my best girlfriends needs no answer to "why"!!!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? getting laundry done between travel excursions.

9. What was your biggest failure? grumbling about little things that don't matter...things usually forgotten the very next hour, day, week.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? thank God, no.

11. What was the best thing you bought? plane tickets!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? D.'s patience with all my travel, most of which did not include him.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? anyone who was mean to children or animals & anyone who lied.

14. Where did most of your money go? plane tickets again!! (fuel for our autos came in a very close 2nd!)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? holding entire conversations in italian & actually understanding & being understood.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? leona lewis's bleeding love that was sung by every single person (y'all know who you are!!!!) at the top of their lungs in our suburban on the way to the beach at midnight to see noctiluca ...although after 6 months of text messages, the gaggle of girlfriends just *might* have a differing opinion about that one! & no, i cannot post the song you are thinking about L., J. & Mrs. T.!!!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? (a) happier all the time! (b) the very same (c) richer in love for sure!!!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? slept on the transatlantic flights!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? slept while at my travel destinations.

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas eve Mass with the family, gift exchanging Christmas morn, a bit o' surfing at the beach, & way too much indulging in brunch, dinner & baked goodies followed by a power nap that seemed to stretch right into bedtime!

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? over & over again, every single day.

22. What was your favorite TV program? the office (US version, though i also enjoyed a BBC episode or two)...bears, beets, battlestar galactica for all you fans out there!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? awww, don't be hatin'

24. What was the best book you read? quo vadis

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? how to download songs from iTunes onto my iPod!!

26. What did you want and get? at the risk of sounding like a broken record...travel!!!

27. What did you want and not get? not a thing...

28. What was your favorite film of this year? into the wild (though it came out in 2007, i did not see it until this year)

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? i turned 42 & the day involved fabulous company, an awesome meal, a great wine, coffee, & chocolate!!!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? my year was immeasurably satisfying as it was...

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? whatever fits into my backpack & looks good at my destination!

32. What kept you sane? my soul sisters!!!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? johnny depp (get in line girls!!!) with a bit of edwin on the side!

34. What political issue stirred you the most? piacere doesn't do politics online!

35. Who did you miss? the soul sisters & my parents

36. Who was the best new person you met? all my blog buddies (+ chef christopher) i was blessed to meet in person!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. let go & let God.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "the moment i let go of it was the moment i got more than i could handle; the moment i jumped off of it was the moment i touched down." thank u by alanis morissette

that's all for me, folks! if you do this meme, please drop me a line so that i may enjoy your answers. ciao for now...

mosaic...

all the little pieces fit together& from a distance we begin to see the picture come into focus.sally recently tagged me to lay out some pieces of tile, so to speak...The rules are that I should give six details about myself, link back to the original site(s) and tag six more people.

i've already done this here & here.

for a little twist on the prompt...keeping it fresh this time around, i offer 6 details about myself specific to blogging...

1. i go here for laughs. this guy totally cracks me up! a few weeks ago i stumbled upon his blog from a link on another blog (isn't that the way of the blog world??!!?) & i spent *hours* laughing out loud. i think that may have been considered therapy! his most recent post to keep me in stitches was this one. i believe i might use an idea or two for next hallowe'en from it.

2. i go here for beauty. i cannot read one single word he writes. i am not even sure what language it is, but no matter...the photos are enough. ironically, i believe i found him through the very same blog mentioned in #1.

3. i'm feeling badly that my blogging of 1000 gifts has been quite lax lately. but as i consider this, i realize that i have been busy *living* my gifts...so that's good enough for me!

4. i am loving this opportunity to live vicariously through all your blogs!!!! i get fall foliage on demand, winter snows, bits of italia that make my heart beat faster, recipes to try nella mia cucina, poetry that inspires, travel journals of places i hope to see, stories that move my heart, words that make me cry~ sad or happy tears...you get the idea!

5. and #4 brings me to this thought...i really would love to meet all the wonderful authors of the blogs i regularly read. i'm thinking world blog tour! just ask spf & claudia & jp how much fun it can be when kindred blogging spirits get together.

6. there are scraps of paper all. over. the. place. with blog post ideas...on my desk, in my purse, in my pockets, on the grocery list, in my car... my fondest hope is that i will be able to read the scribblings when i need them (or at least not launder them into oblivion). blogging has led to a cascade of writing for me. i used to want to write. occasionally i made time to write (usually for a class). but being faithful to a blog has unleashed a torrent of words & i quite enjoy it. most of the words comes out in the form of poetry or short essays that i'm not sure i'll ever blog but i enjoy writing them anyway.

so that's my latest installation of random details about my life...a few more tiles in the mosaic. i know who i *want* to tag, but i won't. tag among yourselves. please let me know if you do this because i think it is an awesome way to get to know one another better.

on the horizon...

first...a little shout-out from the home team for Baby Girl...thanks for the awesome 'guest post' & buona fortuna with your mid-term exams!! (or should i say 'in bocca al lupo'!? cherrye can explain...)(Baby Girl made these very cool 'solidarity' bracelets for us to wear while she was away...whatta sweetheart she is!)

do y'all remember this little 'secret' from january?? well, stay tuned for a bit of an update soon! my quiet 6 week hiatus from travel is coming to an end & you know what?...i'm excited & ready to go! i have enjoyed this stretch of down time so much but my backpack is beckoning me & the jets' contrails over our home seem like love notes written in my sky...plus, my struggling italian is just begging to be put to good use! lucky boyworld, too...because they homeschool, they are able to join me at least some of the time.

beginning this week my blogging & blog visits may be a bit sporadic for awhile, but i carry you all in my heart wherever i go...& who knows?...sometimes i am even graced with the good fortune to meet some of you!

false advertising...

when your day looks like this...& this...but the forecast looks like this...it almost seems like false advertising, don'tcha think??? of course, not-so-little man (note to self: must find new nickname) is all over this upcoming weather event. he is salivating at the prospect of weekend storm tracking. me...not so much.(weather graphics courtesy of this site)

i've already laid down the law...anything approaching a cat 2 hurricane & we're outta here! barring intensification & a lack of power, i am guessing that i will blog ms. hanna. time will tell...prayers are definitely in order! for now, it's back to school work & later this afternoon...time to begin hurricane prep work, which goes something like this...

it's that time when you start to peruse your evacuation "to do" list (i created it the first season we were here & i am so glad because i know i would forget something in the middle of a crisis).


you look around your yard & deck, wondering when to bring things inside (i do mean *everything* for if it is left outside, it could become a projectile).


you start the back-&-forth scenario in your head: take the boat out, no wait, take the boat out, no wait.


you go over evacuation routes in your head (which way do i go??).


you go to the store for water & batteries, the stockpile of which will get you through an entire year without a hurricane.


you lovingly pat your generator when you pass by.


you set weather underground as your boot-up page (our family's weather forecasting preference online since 1998). or you simply summon Little Man to the computer to cruise through his 50 or so weather prediction internet sites.


EVERYONE asks Little Man what the lastest updates are saying!


& you pray...that it goes gently out to sea, harming no one in its travels.


my hurricane season prayer...Psalm 107:29:"He hushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled."

sigh!...

after a kennel call...a nine hour road trip in the middle of the night fueled by caffeine (omg, i could *not* find a starbucks to save my soul)...a weekend at the girlfriend's awesome crib (goodness, we slept in our own **wing**!)...meeting SPF, oh yes we did!!!!!...one space shuttle launch...4 countries...14 decks of cruise ship fun...& endless hours of line dancing (you really didn't think i would incriminate myself with a photo of *that* now, didya??)...we are home, the laundry is caught up, the guest room is turned around...& for what!!?!!?...the next round of visiting~~


the soul sisters will come full circle next week (sadly, sans edwin & limos, but we'll make do!) i must say that even with all the busy-ness of this travel time, i am missing my blog-buddies! so watch out~~ i'll be droppin' by for a visit very soon!


catching up...with internet time on board the cruise at 55 cents a minute, i decided that the blog & blog hopping were on vacation too! not only was the travel happening, we also celebrated some important dates last week~~ Big Bro turned 16!!!! on a cruise ship~! (& no, he did not drive!) Baby Girl entered a new decade last week...celebrating the big 2-0, also on board the ship!& piacere celebrated a blogiversary~ june 3~ at sea! i want to give a shout-out to a few blogs who inspired me to begin piacere~~ i discovered blogs 3 years ago through several of my favorite authors, one of whom traveled to roma in 2006. in one of her posts, she mentioned bleeding espresso as a go-to for the italian life of an expat. one click & i was hooked! visiting sognatrice was more than a mere coincidence...as i read her '100 things about me' i realized that we had a bit more in common than just a love of all things italian going on...we grew up in the same area! it was the kick in my seat that brought me out of the lurk mode...i finally dropped a line to a blog author. turns out her mom & my husband used to work together!


around this very time i was stumbling through miscellaneous blogs still in the lurk mode & i found constance, SPF & corey. i distinctly remember thinking how wonderfully creative the blogosphere is & yet feeling so very intimidated. each day i would visit these 4 amazing women plus many, many more & finally something inside me said 'why not'! with sognatrice's help, i was up & running with my first post 3 june 2007!


shortly thereafter, shan welcomed me to the what's cooking wednesday crew (sorry, shan, for my shameful absence these last few weeks!) & frances to the she who blogs gang. it has been one wild & happy ride ever since! ladies please take a bow for your exceptional contributions to the blog world...y'all were my inspirations!


up soon...more reminisces from italia (i still need to give a nod to firenze e venezia!)~~ better get crackin' before that next trip...our roman language holiday redux in july!

a very special birthday...

i am very honored to be a part of a special group of blogging women...SHE WHO BLOGS. this amazing group is very diverse, very talented, very caring...kept in tow by our fearless leader FRANCES, keeper of many blogs. please take a moment to stop by today & drop some wishes~~ SHE WHO BLOGS is celebrating one year today~~ big hugs to you, frances for all your efforts, your kind words, your bloglove. you are an amazing woman! (& a big shout-out to lissa for the blog redesign, just in time for the celebration~~ it is just beautiful!)