Napping

Yes, Rider is napping but so is Grandfather and, maybe soon, Mimi. Busy morning outside and then on to the local park for lots of sliding, racing around in the sand and going entirely too high on the swing which was pushed by Grandfather. Men just have to encourage all the dare-devil behaviors that little boys naturally love. Rider was fairly content going down the smaller slide but found it enticing to go down face first on the tall slide when Grandfather proposed the notion. Luckily, he doesn't stick with anything too long so we had no mishaps at the playground.

Lunch out was on the agenda for Grandfather and elicited a prompt veto from me for any place other than a pick-up. Tired eighteen month olds should not be inflicted on unsuspecting strangers in my opinion. So, since we do not have to be responsible parents and the food police were no where in sight, we went to Taco Bell and choose for Rider a soft, beef taco. I'm thinking this is not too unhealthy except for the salt.

We raced home and he ate an entire taco and an entire kiwi while downing most of a sippy cup of water. Then, after a diaper change, drank a sippy cup of milk and went down for a nap.
I phased out bottle the first day I kept him and he absolutely could have cared less that milk was now in the cup instead of a bottle. He is the easiest kid to feed. Breakfast today was a banana, cinnamon puffs and an egg with some toast. He eats virtually everything and in humongous quantities but he also burns calories like crazy.

It is another beautiful socal day and life is good.

California Dreamin'

I've made it as far as California and am happy to report Rider remembered me. No, he didn't yell out"Mimi" and throw himself into my arms but he did have a big grin when I walked in through the door and jumped and clapped. He then proceeded to race around the house shrieking.
I am currently enjoying a few moments of quiet while he naps. I am playing "grandma" today so we have been bonding since before eight this morning. I had definitely forgotten how many changes of activities it takes for an almost eighteen month old.

He has been very good so far and we haven't yet managed to break anything or use the markers on any but appropriate writing surfaces. He did spend a lot of time picking up minute pieces of mulch and throwing them over the fence into the neighbor's flower bed...it was behind some trees so no harm done. After nap time, the plan will be to take a walk, have a bath and wait for Mommy and Daddy. ( and most probably a glass of wine )

Paul will arrive late in the afternoon from work in New Mexico and, he is unaware, but I have a project in mind for the rest of the week. Rider needs an outdoor space and we will have to cleverly design one in a 53 inch wide concrete area beside the house. We do have about 20 feet of length in which to conjure up a play area. Water is accessible so I think a sandbox, small wading pool, area for cars and trucks, small plastic slide and a closed toy box should be more than adequate. This boy is on the go!

Countdown to LA

Last minute details to accomplish...actually load the bag with the stacks in the bedroom, water plants one last time, leave the list for Lesle who will return from their South African sojourn next Thursday, drop off the tax information at the CPA's and refill the numerous bird feeders so the little , feathered friends can snack as long as possible.

Paul, meanwhile, has a few things to finish up business-wise, pack and complete his project of placing net fencing around several flower beds in hopes that he can foil the deer and we'll have some flowering plants upon our return. He dislikes missing the tulips, late daffodils and such.

None of that sounds too daunting. I don't think I've , personally, ever been so prepared ahead of time. It is a luxury to know that we'll have an entire week in LA to remedy anything forgotten.

We are missing some of the truly lovely weather in Bent Tree. The trees are beginning to show their color and some of the early bloomers are magnificent as they herald the advent of spring in the mountains.

New Adventure

March 1, 2012

A new adventure is about to begin, this time without a child in tow. Paul and I are taking a real vacation to the intriguing country of China. Friends Judy and Ted Owen discovered this trip last fall and invited us to join them. Much to my surprise, Paul agreed to actually go on a guided tour so I began the planning. Our usual method of travel is to plan and excute the trip on our own thus this is a radical departure. How different it is when someone else is making all the in country arrangements. My primary responsibilities were to make sure we procured the appropriate visa, wrote checks for fees and planned how to actually leave the house for a month.

When you are of a certain age, one of the items for which you must plan ahead is to secure enough medications to cover the time span. To facilitate a smooth trip, having 90 day prescriptions and filling them on the planned time line is essential. Medications in hand, mail held, provisions made for watering indoor plants, bills paid or put on automatic, credit card company informed of itinerary, cash from bank...just a few of the details to check off before departure. Because I subscribe to the "clean nderwear" theory as explained by grandmother i.e. always wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident, I have cleaned the house from top to bottom and washed all dirty clothes. I also sifted through the underwear drawers and discarded the grungy things and bought new bras at Victoria 's Secret. Obviously in retirement, I have way too much time on my hands. Howver, I venture to guess that most women undoubtedly can identify with this scenario.

Today I reviewed everything I had packed a week ago to validate whether I needed to add or subtract. We are allowed 44 pounds in the checked bag and a carry on!

Ciao, Italia

Sunday, July 24 was our last day to savor Italy and we had plans to meet my sister, Lesle ,who is a flight attendant for Delta. She had snared a much favored working trip from Atlanta to Rome and had arrived that morning. We were planning to meet at the Pantheon, shop, have an early dinner and then she would "work" the trip back to the US the next morning with us onboard.

Fate saw it differently and we never connected as we left text and phone messages on her cell and she left email messages for us. She did not even have her phone with her and we had not purchased wifi at the hotel. So we were all in Roma at the same time but finally saw one another on Monday when the flight crew appeared in the boarding area at the airport. C'est la vie or whatever the Italian equivalent might be.

The airport Hilton runs a free shuttle downtown every two hours so we hopped the two o'clock  and were actually dropped off at the Victor Emmanual "wedding cake" Monument which is just a few blocks from the Pantheon.

Victor Emmanual Monument

 We quickly joined the hordes at one of the oldest buildings in continuous use in the world. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa about 27BC and its' dome is still the largest unreinforced  concrete dome anywhere on the planet. Pretty impressive on both counts.

Though it was built to honor "all gods" in the ancient world, it has been a Catholic church since the 7th century and mass had been held that morning.  Since the Renaissance, the Pantheon has been used as a tomb and one can see the grave of Raphael among others including two kings of Italy. The dome was used by the architect, Brunelleschi as inspiration when designing the  beautiful Santa Maria Novella Church in Florence and the portico is often called the "umbrella of Rome"  as people flock under its' protective expanse during rainstorms! Its' connection with the Renaissance is so tight that it was a necessary stop for Betsy after completing her art history class!

The small side streets around the Pantheon teem with shops, cafes and restaurants so we combed the area and lucked into a precious toy shop, Zortolucci, where Rider enjoyed peering at the handpainted clocks, toys and bric-a-brac but definitely had an opposite reaction when he found himself next to some large wooden  figures on the bench.

Lots to buy!

Who are these people?

After an overpriced meal in a local cafe ( filled mostly with tourists...who are the only ones eating at six o'clock in Italy ), we headed back to catch our bus near the 'wedding cake'. We thought it a good idea to try to tire our boy out so we let him do one of the things he likes best-climb steps. We chose the steps to the Basilica Di Maria Aracoeli , never thinking he could make it to the top.        

The steps

It must be a challenge written down in some tourist guide as the area was busy with brash young men and women traipsing madly up the steps. And, yes, he climbed virtually to the top where Betsy hoisted him in celebration. He is a strong fellow!

The celebration

To complete the celebration, we had yet more gelato, caught the bus and went back to the hotel where we put him to bed after a much needed bath in a real bathtub. We packed, drank a bottle of Chianti and slept as soundly as the baby.

Our flight was scheduled for 10:30 am and we were advised to arrive at the airport at least 2.5 hours early which we did. On the positive side, the hotel was helpful in transferring all the luggage with their compliments ( and with about $30 in tips). Also Delta check-in personnel were polite and courteous but, to our chagrin,  we learned that the flight was delayed and not due out until 12:30! Our mistake not checking emails or with Delta....hours to kill in the airport with a rowdy little boy. 

Actually, he was as good as could be expected and we were able ( with Lesle's intervention, I think) to exchange our 'economy plus' seats for seats at the bulkhead in the  regular economy section AND we had a whole row of three which afforded us a place to make a pallet for Rider at our feet. It was much appreciated to have that empty seat and made placating him on the long trip home much easier. He took a three hour nap and was generally pretty easy to entertain. He especially enjoyed peering over the seat to the ten year old behind us and peering around the seats to the two teenagers across the aisle. Betsy strolled the aisles with him and  Lesle, when she had a break from work, took a turn walking with him. He loved playing with her keys and flashlight ! The hardest part of the trip was probably changing diapers...those poopy pants aren't easy with a squirming baby anywhere much less an airplane bathroom.

The pilots made up some time and we arrived in Atlanta just ahead of a nasty thunderstorm. Getting through customs was the usual Atlanta hassle of collecting bags and then resubmitting them to be picked up at baggage claim.  That process is supposed to change in 2012 with the construction of the new international terminal and it will be, no doubt, welcomed by travelers.

With the thunderstorm, the bags didn't come off the belt until about an hour after we expected. Another delay but we were home so it didn't seem so bad. Grandfather (aka Paul) met us and, thankfully, was our chauffeur home to Jasper!  A long trip, successfully completed. As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

The last leg for Betsy and Rider would occur three days later as they traveled on to Los Angeles. A little time to wash clothes, shop for 24 month togs at the Carter outlet for our growing boy and generally regroup.

What an incredible adventure and, for me, a trip I will long treasure. Ciao, Bella Italia.

The Last Days

Farewell Capitignano!

Friday, July 22 was the last day at Capitignano and the last night with the monks. Everyone seemed a bit melancholy as the summer classes drew to a close. Some of the students were doing further travel, some heading straight home and we were going to spend a day doing a bit more sightseeing and stay overnight with Beth and Andrea in Ponsacco before leaving for Rome on Sunday. Most goodbyes were said Friday night as many had to leave at six am for flights from Bologna. Florence is the closest airport to Borgo and Bologna not that far behind.

Georgio, Maria and Rider

 Saturday morning dawned beautiful as always and we packed up our numerous bags, leftover food and wine and bid a sad farewell to Maria, Georgio and their dog Stella              

Stella...dog extraordinaire

  at Capitignano and set out once more for a last tour of the Tuscan countryside. An aside would be that Capitignano is a great jumping off point for touring Tuscany and even as far as Venice. Florence, Pisa, Siena, Cinque Terre, the hill towns, Bologna are all a reasonable day trip. The casitas on the property are for rent and are reasonable especially in the off season ( I think I'd like to return in the fall at harvest time!).

Rider waiting for our afternoon excursion

A familiar drive past Florence and toward Pisa brought us to Ponsacco again. After checking in with Andrea at the house and dumping our bags, we chose to once again visit  the Disney-like walled town of San Gimignano.

 The less than an hour trip through the gorgeous countryside revealed the much painted sunflower fields, glimpses of medieval fortresses, walled hill towns and stunning vistas marred only by the occasional signs in English of the Tuscan get-aways available for purchase.

San Gimignano in the distance

 On our first visit to San Gimignano, we remarked that it was a tourist's paradise....picturesque sights abounding, numerous venues for shopping, world class gelato, and cinghiale sandwiches. I think we may have been hasty in thinking it a "tourist trap". Yes, it was filled that Saturday with many tourists from all over the world ( and tons of Italians ) but the beauty was inescapable and the prices for souvenirs were less than Florence and Rome!  Rider was mellow and cooperative as we strolled the city, shopped and topped the afternoon with yet more gelato.

Thoroughly Tuscana

Beth was finishing work at five so we made sure we arrived at about the same time. She joined us and we drove into the nearby town of Pontedera where Andrea has his glass shop and studio (www.invitrea.it). He has small pieces like trays and bowls for sale but works mostly by commission on windows, doors and incredible, intricate glass tabletops. Some of his work is stained glass and some a fused glass. I bought a lovely piece that I tried ( unsuccessfully) to hand carry home.

After he closed the shop, we enjoyed a walk through Pontedera which is certainly off the tourist maps and talked of a return visit. This would be , like Borgo San Lorenzo, where one could truly experience "real" Italy. Dinner was at a local restaurant,  Il Gambretto (The Shrimp). It's easy to forget that this part of Tuscany ( near Pisa) is actually very close to the sea. We had a memorable seafood and pasta ( Rider needed his pasta fix) meal and managed to get him home to his make-shift two chairs put together bed before he totally fell apart. I quickly fell asleep as well but Betsy and Beth played catch-up a bit longer. There just no friends like "old" friends and Betsy and Beth go back to high school.

Next morning was a quick breakfast and hit-the-road as we had an appointment to turn in the car in Roma at 12:30 and wanted to get to the Hilton before the appointment to check-in. By now, Betsy and I were feeling a little cocky about navigating the Italian roads so we thought ( as long as the GPS was working) we could do the route where we could glimpse the sea as we wound down our sojourn. The ride was about three uneventful hours with Rider sleeping " like a baby".  We had many views of the sea and saw a large island that might have been Sardinia. My Italian geography is a little rusty!

Bella Italia

Our luck was holding as we pulled into the airport Hilton ( our only concession for the trip was using AMEX points for the Hilton next to the airport on the last night) and our room was ready. Admittedly it was nice to have an American bathroom, airconditioning and television  but they still didn't provide washcloths ( travelers: remember to take your own if you want one ).

I settled in with the baby and Betsy took the car for turn-in. The Eurodrive  company made it very easy to lease the Renault Megane. It was brand new, drove like a dream and got excellent gas (diesel) mileage. We had lost a back reflector somewhere and generally put the car through its' paces including over 4000 kilometers but the return was painless after Betsy forged my name. She had practice in high school, I think.

Note: The person to whom the car is leased is supposed to return it though anyone can drive it as it is officially owned by you during the time you are in-country. This was a great deal if you are staying more than 21 days AND don't mind driving in Europe.

Now we had a final afternoon and evening in Italy...how about a plan?

Adoration of the Child

Besides landscape painting, the students this summer could choose between Renaissance art history or Italian. Obviously, being a mere 35 minutes from  the center of the Renaissance at Florence, most of the students chose art history. Renaissance is the specialty of Mark Aeschliman who taught the course and the field trips were first class. Nothing dry or dull about this class except that one could get a little tired of seeing so many Madonnas! Rider and I, as I have divulged , tagged along.

After looking at so much religious art, Mike Fullerton, another of the cohorts, suggested that the group recreate ( with his Photoshop manipulation) their own version of a Renaissance "Adoration of the Child".  This adoration would be complete with the saints, angels,  martyrs and an adoring madonna plus our own Rider as the baby. Mike assembled the group at dusk with the Tuscan landscape as the backdrop. Participants brought along bedsheets, strips of cloth, bedspreads and such with which to drape themselves. The Renaissance artists unabashedly painted religious subjects dressed much in current style or looking like Tuscan people thus a blond, blue eyed Jesus wasn't stretching it too much. Also it was not unusual for the artist to paint himself in the picture gazing out at whomever would be looking at the picture. Therefore, Mike is pictured as St. Sebastian and is looking out seemingly not in much pain from all the arrows!

Could a grandmother be more proud than to have her daughter and her grandson depict Jesus and his mother? This is even better than a Christmas pageant!