Time for Thanks

Here it is November with Thanksgiving next week. It has become my favorite time of year. I have been back home for 4 weeks now. The trip with family to Sicilia, Italia and Switzerland now a fantastic memory.

Today, Angela & Les are in Paris celebrating their 4th anniversary. One of the advantages to being stationed overseas is the close proximity of opportunities for travel to our far away countries. Congratulations you two, love and live! Salute!

I traveled from Mt. Etna, Sicilia to Zurich Switzerland. Talk about a varied trip. I was blessed with almost a week with Angela and Les. After I was able to retrieve my luggage, Alitalia decided not to load the whole plane from Rome to Catania, go figure, must've been "reposa"! The first outing was up Mt. Etna, and since it had released some steam just weeks before, there was a fresh dusting of ash still piled off to the side of road.

Then off to Cefalu on the north coast, east of Palermo. The picture perfect Sicilian town. Warm, high 80's with 80% humidity! a tad bit warm, so after a walk around town, time to change into our bathing suits and just float in the water! Fantastic, warm, incredible, a must do on my list to check off. Clear, blue, peaceful......

Les was able to get some leave and we drove to the west side of the Island, stopping at Segesta to see this incredible greek temple. Then on to Trapani, a great dinner with salted local fish, yum and a walk around the section we were staying, the age of the buildings is so breathtaking, to think about the generations and thousand of years that they have been here.

Then the next day, the 3 of us went towards Marsala. We found the salt flats we had seen pictures of and they use Dutch windmills. We followed the coast line to Marsala and taste tested the local Marsala wines. How fun is that, I swam in the Tyrrhenian Sea and tasted Marsala in Marsala. Again the water was so beautiful and blue that the sky and the sea actually merged. Unfortunately the picture I took was on Angela's camera, I grabbed the wrong one!Off to Roma! to meet up with mom and the "sistas" and my nephew Eric. After Ang & I settled into our flat near the Vatican, we caught the metro in a thunderous downpour and went to the hotel to meet up with everyone. Lightning was fantastic, window rattling thunder and flashes of lightning. The following day, we met at Piazza Popolo. What a city!

That is Cyn, me and Chris, on the slippery lion.

Cyn, Chris, Erik, Mom and Ang on the deck of Castle San Angelo. What a view!

I got my remote working, this is the flat Ang & I shared, celebrating the sisters birthday Italiano style with wine, cheese, canoli, and laughter.

So, the story will continue, time to get back to cleaning the house, it is Friday and that is what I do. I will return to finish out this adventure, Ciao

Now we are into September and yesterday was 104!! Much cooler today, thank you! Thought I was going to melt. A long 3 day weekend, hung around home, did odds and ends. A good friend treated me to a barefoot walk at the beach, before it got smokin hot, breakfast at a little bakery/coffee spot, yummm, all things made right there daily and then a foot soak and massage for the tootsies and neck. Wonderful way to start the day. Oh, yes, and there were dolphins jumping in the wave breaks at Pismo Beach. I have seen them in Avila and San Simeon, but not Pismo. What a treat!

So now is it back into work, thankfully cooled off. Only 4 weeks until we will all be in Italia! Hopefully, the Italian Conversational classes I took will help. Ang & Les have been over in Sicilia now for almost a year, unbelievable. This is going to be some trip.

I am also glad to report that I have been able to put up 13 framed pieces in a little gallery across from the Mission in downtown SLO. Thanks to the owner of Photography 101. There will be an Art after Dark this coming Friday, I have to admit I really enjoy the opportunity to work (play) with the pictures I take. Here are some of the pictures. Nice chatting to you!

On into fall

We had an incredible lightning storm as August left for the year. I must've taken 75 pics and this is the only bolt I caught. I was tucked in bed loving the sound and light, I guess I should've crawled out of bed a bit earlier.

midway through the year already

wow, where has 2007 gone already? We went to Rome, Italy and met Angela and Les for a week, then hopped the train to Sicily to stay with them for 2 weeks. What a great experience.
Rome.....you don't understand ancient here in America. To walk where people did in Biblical times, the roads walked by Roman Emperors, the Apostle Paul, gladiators, chariot races and so much to take in. First the Grecian influence of the theater and then the Roman arenas.
The activity of Rome, the traffic, the Vespas, scooters, motorcycles, smart cars are everywhere, seemingly going the same place at the same time, yet, respectful of each other. Not like the states at all. Lanes are a suggestion and as we learned in Sicicly with Ang & Les at the helm, so are the traffic rules, stops, passing, etc. Pretty incredible.
The sites to see, ancient ruins at every turn.
There were so many great things about this trip. Now it is the end of July, already. And my plans are to return in the fall with my mom and sisters. I will fly to Sicilia, spend a week with Angela and Les, then Angela & I will join them in Rome, then Florence. Angela will at that point fly home and the rest of us will continue on to Switzerland to visit with my mom's remaining family in Gersau. At that point we will be joining up with another sister and brother in law and a nephew. Ciao

Onward into Spring and off to Italy

This is a picture that Angela emailed to us. We are looking forward to spending time with them shortly. First in Rome, then take the train to Sicily and stay with them for the duration of our visit. They have already become adept with life over in Italia. I look forward to posting some pictures when we return. Ciao

Meet Sir William

This is William, the newest member of our home. He is a Woods Humane Cat. He was with them for almost a year when we decided 2 days before Christmas to see is we could add a pet back into our quiet home. It had been pushing almost 3 years since we had any pets. We were ready. So here he is, male, 6.5 years old and seems to wake up in the wee hours of the morning ready to play. He will spend more time outside as it warms up. It is good to have a family pet once again.