Who’d have thought that moving BACK to Seattle would be as much a part of the experience as moving TO Milano?! It’s taken me by surprise how daunting and unsettling it has been to move back into my own home. I’m slowly plodding toward resettlement. Here’s a journal entry from a week ago. – – [...]

My neighbors are so wonderful. They show up at my back door with slices of fresh, cold watermelon. They loan me pasta machines. They invite me over to sing camp songs along the shoreline. They tote my garbage and recycling bins up the steep driveway. They chat at the roadside with me, in front of [...]

Seattle’s chilly summertime is winding down with scattered sunshine following cloudy mornings. Warm evenings are rare, but, once again, the waterside neighbors initiated a dinnertime potluck along the shoreline last Friday, the start of a holiday weekend. I vowed to bring “something Italianesque”, and told them I likely wouldn’t know what it would be until mere [...]

I’m grateful for the little reminders of Italia that I encounter here in Seattle, going about my day. Names for cookies and chips. Old ladies wearing tavern jackets in the “pot pie” frozen food section. “Proud to be Italian” License plate frames. Even shrink-wrapped prosciutto piques my nostalgia, though it’s a far cry from having [...]