Kickin’ Tires
Ahh, nothing like kickin' tires on a used car lot on a sunny, summer day! I've been carless for over a year, relying on my own two feet and good shoes, my two-wheeled "bici", subways and trains....
Quirks: Treasured & Tolerated
This post comes with caveats. Yes, these thoughts are generalizations. Yes, there are exceptions. Yes, stereotypes paint a broad swath rather than acknowledge the individuals. This is a list, in no...
Stirred & Mixed
This return is both emotionally and mentally harder than I had expected. I had a LIFE and friends that I left behind. I had my patterns and my joys; I was wide open and received openly. My busy zone...
Hankerin’
What have I been having a hankerin' for while I've been away? What didn't I find a substitute for to satisfy my yen? White, sweet corn on the cob. Salsa, avocado and cilantro. Rosemary bread....
Blogging On
Just because I've returned to Seattle, will my blog come to a halt? No. There's still more to say. I have more mulling over to do. Comparisons to draw. Reflections to note… And having shot 16,314...
No Place Like Home
As Dorothy said, "there's no place like home". This spring, in anticipation of leaving Milano, I had my eye open for some symbolic "ruby slippers" and found these at a little street market for 20...
Rhubarb Homecoming
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...
New Faces, More New Friends
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...
I’m Not a Tourist
Tourists don't feel like this. I came here wanting to have relationships and experiences, and to gather images. I have done all that… and my imminent departure, tomorrow morning, is harder than I...
Reconciling What Remains
It's Thursday afternoon. On Saturday morning a car and driver will meet me here at my apartment and drive me, with whatever I'm carrying home to Seattle, to Milano Malpensa Airport. Though I'm not...
Cogne: Alpine Italy
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,...
Into Mountainous Valle d’Aosta
On Thursday, the bus pulled away from a 95 degree day in Milano and headed into increasingly blustery skies in the Valle d'Aosta at the far northwest of Italy. (Find it on the map here.) I shot a...