Adventures and Other Happenings

I've always been reticent to share this very personal memory of my first trip to Italy. But for some reason, I'm compelled to share this "publicly" now... My first 48 hours in Italy, in 2012, were a whirlwind. Rome was overwhelmingly beautiful and bustling. Jeb and I were in the express lane to see all the major sites in two days before joining our friends in Tuscany. On this particular day, we saw the Vatican on a special night tour that they only offer during the off season. After sitting in the Sistine Chapel for a good hour, tears rolling down my cheeks from sheer disbelief and wonderment, we walked through the long corridor of art-filled rooms leading to the museum's exit. I remember feeling a bit numb and unimpressed, as if nothing could possibly trump Michelangelo's most famous and treasured work of art. "Oh, yeah, there's another mural..." "Oh honey, look, more ancient statues..." I was also feeling claustrophobic, perhaps the...

Pescocostanzo (pes-co-co-stanz-o) is a mountain town located in the Apennine Mountains of Abruzzo. The Apennines stretch the entire length of the Italian peninsula. Pescocostanzo is located at the southern tip of the central region, due east of Rome and due west of Casalbordino. When you travel by bus from Rome to Pescara or Vasto (west coast to east coast), you get a glimpse of the mountains and the little towns that dot them. Some are perched precariously on rocky cliffs and mountainsides, others are nestled comfortably in the lush valleys, where farmers raise their stock and seed. These are significant mountains, just under the highest altitude of the Rockies, just to give you context. Nicola and Maria DiRisio offered to take us on a drive into the hills one afternoon. As I understand it, he hikes these mountains frequently, solo and in company, and knows them well. I was so pleased when he offered to take us, because I had planned to drive my father there (somewhat aimlessly...

Despite the many ways in which we're connected and plugged in these days, I think we're also a closed-off society, with an over-emphasis on privacy, space, security, and the like. We don't keep the same open-door policies that our older generations once kept. We don't pop in for visits without first scheduling and announcing, and reconfirming, our arrival. I had a great uncle, rest his soul, who was notorious for showing up at relatives' homes unannounced, sometimes hundreds of miles away in other states. Most of the time, he was welcomed gracefully, but not without the element of utter surprise... "Oh, well, we were just leaving to go on our family vacation for a week, but sure, come on in!!" Sometimes he was greeted with disdain. Nonetheless, that was how he was brought up, in a society where it was socially acceptable to make impromptu visits. In fact, it was sometimes the only way you could build and maintain relationships--other than the occasional ...