Today was the seventh, monthly Walk-n-Talk here in Burien; 38 people and 3 dogs came to join the stroll! Of the walkers, 1 person was visiting from Salt Lake City, a family came from Phinney Ridge and others routinely come from Kent, Renton, Bellevue and Lacey. It still astounds me to see how well the idea has [...]

Everyone should have a centenarian in their life. Today, January 4, 2012, Gladys celebrated her 106th birthday. What a delight and honor to spend some of her day with her. Gladys is bright and sharp and quick. She loves rich, engaging conversation… a back-and-forth rally of sharing stories and following them where they will. Most [...]

Forty-one people showed up under unusually warm, blue skies for the Walk-n-Talk on New Year’s Day! Wow! Rainier was out. It was like a springtime day as people gathered on Town Square’s grassy knoll, having come from near and far to bask in a seasonal glow and chat with their neighbors. Wow. Forty-one people, young [...]

At long last, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is going bye bye. The whole world has been incredulous and outraged for years, watching his shenanigans. After dominating Italian politics for 17 years, Berlusconi resigned on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Crowds jeered and cheered and played Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” as they celebrated the end of a long, [...]

A singular minute in our lives. We’ll have to wait another hundred years to have such a congruence of numbers in time and date. Next year, we will have 12:12 on 12/12/12, but that is a combination of two numerals, not one. I suppose that, more accurately, the year 11 would have been the true [...]

My return to Haida Gwaii was so complex and deeply personal that any public writing about it will, by choice, only skim the surface of the experience. Last week, in Italian style, I trained up to Vancouver B.C., spent the day and night, then hopped on a puddle jumper to fly north for two hours. [...]

We’re just a bunch of folks, of various ages and abilities and speeds, out for a nice walk together. We show up once a month, whomever wants to amble on two feet, and we go from here to there in Volksmarch fashion. Today we walked from Burien’s Town Square westward into and around the Seahurst [...]

How dreamy to stroll under clear blue skies on a warm September afternoon, with neighbors from near and far. We had our second monthly Walk-n-Talk yesterday with a dozen two-footed walkers and three four-footed walkers, Lulu, Dingo and Khan. People came from as far away as Olympia, Kent and Bellevue to join the amble through [...]

People came in ones, twos and threes and gathered on the grassy knoll in the center of Burien’s Town Square. Mothers and daughters. Couples. Clusters of friends. A man and his dog. And people traveled from other towns just to join the walk. Amanda and Anne both came from Kent. Sharon came from Renton. Cathy [...]

Such dear, dear people. I feel so welcomed by Agnese, Ninni, their son Erik and Ninni’s sister Bea. They greeted me so warmly and then said goodbye with hints of visiting Seattle this year! It was three years ago that I had “Warm Octopus with Potatoes and Olives” for the first time at the Carlotta [...]

It was just starting to spit a little rain as I got off the subway at “Fermata Moscova” and walked toward the cemetery, “Cimitero Monumentale“. It’s a remarkable place, but what draws me now is a wonderful, elder woman, Mary. I met her in March, over a year ago, and we’ve been “sweet on each [...]

After my first week in Milan, I toured the south of Italy for two weeks, and then have spent the subsequent week writing about it and prepping photos! (I shot 2400.) What an amazing time. I met tremendously dear people and saw rich details. Indeed, as I’ve always heard, the south of Italy is very different [...]

Finding out about Alberobello, I itched to stay in a trullo for a couple of nights! Through an internet search, I found Charming Trulli, and dear Antonella. (“Trulli” is plural for “trullo“.) I had a long, complicated Sunday traveling up from Lecce, and finally arrived in early afternoon by train and bus. On her only day [...]

Almost, but not quite at the tippy-tip of the “heel of the boot” of Italy, the city of Lecce (roughly pronounced “lay-chay“) has much more to marvel at than is possible in two short days. With its Roman amphitheater smack in the middle of the town square, its over-the-top Baroque architecture, castles, parks, a duomo… [...]

Traveling here in Sicily, I’ve most enjoyed Palermo because of the people I’ve met, “just plain folks” going about their days. They’ve been open, expressive, engaging, willing to get into conversation about work and life. Cerainly, there’s Riccardo, the owner of the B&B Kemonia who was so helpful and friendly that I changed my stay [...]

I had seen this woman selling fresh eggs at the Saturday Market last year, too, but neglected to shoot a video because I was standing there spellbound. She grabs a large square of egg carton, slices the needed size, then plucks and places the eggs requested. I marvel at how fast her hands fly and [...]

While waiting to meet with a client, I stopped in a book store to browse and get a coffee. This man was in line in front of me. I smiled. Fun to encounter little reminders of Milano and Italia and my friends and time there.

“Black Friday”. THE day upon which retailers place their hopes and base their projections for their year’s sales and their holiday “retail success”. The day after Thanksgiving, when much of the country is turkey-drugged, stuffed with carbs, off-from-work and feeling the pressure of the looming Christmas gift list. The thing to do? Join the frenzy. [...]

As a designer and photographer, one of the most stimulating aspects of being in Italy was its visual lushness. Every surface and every structure caught my eye. (Hence, the 16,300 photos I shot in my almost-14-months there!) Before leaving Milano, I told a few friends back home that I was concerned I’d be visually bored [...]

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 [...]

“We’re having a crab feed on the beach tomorrow night. Do you want to come?” There’s only one answer for that question. “Of course!” This is a great neighborhood: wonderful people in a beautiful setting. I’m back in this little piece of paradise with longtime friends. (I know few people that actually KNOW their neighbors; [...]

Sunday Morning. August 1. (I arrived home yesterday in late afternoon.) Home in the summer chill of Seattle with a 60 degree morning. I slept well with the window open to fresh, cool air. Absolute silence filled the night until the crows started talking as day dawned. No neighbor above me in spike, high heels. [...]

How often do any of us put ourselves in the position to meet so many people in so many ways in so short a time? How readily do we open our lives to the touch of strangers? I came here to Italy wanting to have relationships and experiences, and to gather images. I have done [...]

Journal Entry: 24 Luglio The bus just left Aosta, heading back to Milano. I have been visiting my friends, Ewa and Piotr, in Cogne for two days where the “uniform” is hiking shorts and boots, muscular, suntanned legs, and walking sticks. The street signs are in French [and Italian] and at any time I can hear [...]

It would have been impossible to leave Milano without saying “goodbye” to Mary. Our first meeting is a story in itself, finally happening last March after much anticipation. We’ve seen each other a few times since then, meeting in the little office behind the cemetery chapel. Today I showed up in the afternoon, after the [...]

Octopus as tender as a dream, served warm and simply, with potatoes, olives and olive oil. Fish and pasta prepared and presented with an expert hand. Warm-hearted hosts, all family, welcome their guests into an easy, comfortable dining room in their restaurant alongside the Naviglio Pavese canal: Carlotta Café Bar & Restaurant. If you want [...]

My “History Buff on Wheels“, Angelo, went rolling past me along the canal this morning. In a cycling daze and not recognizing him, I nodded and said the usual “ciao” as one cyclist to another. Mere moments later, he pulled up on my left, took my pace, greeted me and commented that it had been [...]

The little girl was unrestrained and so pleased with herself. She and I both saw the humor of her Minnie Mouse joining Michelangelo’s unfinished Rondanini Pietá. As I think about it further, I wonder which creator, Michelangelo or Disney, has had greater cultural influence? (Many would be aghast at my putting those two in the [...]

Megan and I met while struggling through Italian classes together in the winter. We had come here for different reasons, but found ourselves learning what we could together to communicate… and a friendship was born. And now she’s leaving Milano and Italia! Ever since our classes this winter, we’ve been getting together with other women [...]