God sometimes gives us unexpected gifts. Our gift has been a grandson who enlivens our lives and makes retirement very different than the one we anticipated. He is a special joy. And that's "Casey." In 2006 we fulfilled our dream of living in Italy for a year. It was every bit as wonderful as anticipated. This blog begins in 2005 as we prepared for that experience. Since then we have explored many places together. That's the "Travel." And finally, I am a person of opinions--spiritually, politically, on just about anything and that's the "Other Stuff." Welcome to my blog.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

...And Time Passes

Tomorrow is the last day of school here in Greve. Yesterday it started. And in between, time passed as it does--day by day. Some of those days I have chronicled; the vast majority have been unrecorded, left to the flashes of memory that promise to come over the years.

Casey is a year older--almost. He speaks two languages--getting them confused sometimes. He speaks and thinks and dreams in Italian. Willl it be hard to readjust to his mother tongue next year? Will it be hard to retain his new language? These are thoughts that fill our minds.

He doesn't want to leave--says he's a country boy, not a city boy. He thinks Italy is beautiful--rightly so.

Today I have 4297 pictures. Sort of sorted--thanks to Photoshop Organizer. They will make a screen saver that never repeats. Digital memories that don't need storage boxes--how fantastic is our modern technology! A year can become a lifetime in photographs.

Yes--nostalgia is seeping in as time closes--already I know what my last post will be because I know what I will miss.

There won't be many postings between now and then as starting next week, we travel. "No school" opens opportunities wished for during the year.

Tomorrow Casey is having a birthday celebration--buon compleanno; although his real date isn't for another month. He wants to host his classmates to a pool and barbecue party--as he does at home in San Diego. The weather man says the storms will stop tonight and tomorrow will be sunny and hot. I hope so!

Monday we drive to the Cinque Terre--a lovely part of coastal Italy that we have driven by but never explored. Rather an amazing neglect in all of our travels to Italy as for many it is a "must stop" place on a first trip.

At the end of the week we return for two days to have a special dinner at a special place (Solo Ciccia) with some special friends from Canada--a good friend from the world of the internet. This will be our first face-to-face encounter but there are no worries attached to that. We know each other well already.

Then we leave again for 5 days in the Maremma with Camilla and her family, a stop-over night in Pisa and then a flight to Sicily for a week at a friend's villa---facing Mt. Etna, hopefully with flowing lava.

That will round out June in its entirety as we return on the 30th.

July will be a little calmer but there will be a trip to an oasis in Piemonte--belonging to another friend--and tagged on to that a couple days in Turin. The only other away time before we leave on the 29th of July--364 days after leaving the United States--will be two days in Umbria to attend a big party with many friends from Slow Travel--the premier website for travel in Italy.

The rest of the month, we will again stay pretty close to home--enjoying Casey and Camilla and our friends here....and packing things up that are going home with us. Thank goodness it won't be as much as we brought. And.........saying good-byes.

So--friends--I'll try to do some short "this is what's happening" posts but we are nearing the end of our time together. There will be a finale--that's a promise!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow Jane, that brought a tear to my eye. You are obviously going to find it very difficult to leave Italy.

Having moved to Canada from my home in the UK I know only too well that part of your heart always remains in the place you have left.

So leaving will be sad, but what a wonderful experience this year has been for you and Ken, and especially Casey. He is a very lucky young man to have such special grandparents.

See you next week! Sheena

Anonymous said...

Jane

I can't imagine what must be going through your thoughts right now. No matter waht happens be assured that the experiences that Casey has had this year will have made him a better person - he will remember this year forever!

Jerry

Jane said...

Sheena and Jerry, you are right about the leaving and about that Casey will carry this year always. It will help him become. And--I made new friends this year--like you two. What a blessing that is.

Unknown said...

Jane, having been lucky enough to share your life at Viticcio for a few days (and having been lucky enough to see our friendship develop from online to real), I can understand your feelings. I think that you, Ken, and Casey have been blessed to have the past year to experience and to remember, and it's really the start of what will be life-long friendships with so many people. Have a great time with Sheena, and a fond aloha, Ann

Anonymous said...

Jane, you are in my thoughts at the moment. Big days ahead. I'm so glad I got to meet you in person. from Leslie :)