My first grape harvest |
In incomplete summary, in the time since I met Paolo and started visiting and then living in Allerona, I've attended five funerals, including those of close family members, two weddings, including my own spectacular event, and assorted baptisms, communions, festivals and masses. I've picked grapes, olives, blackberries and mushrooms. I've herded chickens and waited in country traffic jams caused by herds of sheep. I've become a halfway decent cook and baker. I helped my husband put a new roof on our house in a howling winter wind. And, I became a first time mother.
But rather than try to begin at the beginning and write a linear narrative that leads readers right up to the present, I prefer a more organic approach that jumps back and forth from past to present, that takes detours from the narrative and recounts a humorous story, a sweet or bittersweet moment, or an interesting fact about Italy, our region or our town. So my posts may be about kissing (someone other than Paolo!) on a park bench at Lago di Bolsena, the best pizza in Orvieto, Italian rules of etiquette, my pregnancy and the birth of our daughter, or watching the last brick be placed to seal the tomb of my father-in-law. I hope these small vignettes will convey the joy, beauty, sadness and quirkiness of life in our small town and our peculiar country, and bring some smiles and entertainment along the way.
I've been skipping around through your blog and it's a great read. Thanks for posting this. Sincerely, A Canadian Ex-pat in France
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my stories and I hope you'll subscribe by email or the follow link to keep updated of new posts. Best - L
ReplyDelete"Find a man, his haven,
ReplyDeletearrange a piece of the world in their own way,
get in touch with him (do so)
and don't regret the good word
wise words, wander the roads,
do as much as possible until the time is up."
Rome retrievers