Bigger Than Me

Today is my 42nd birthday. I am up early to head off to a spiritual adventure in Panama. I got a little panicked last week looking at pics of breeching humpbacks in some dark blue water. I remembered I get seasick and vomit when I ride on boats. Then it came to me, this is bigger than me. This trip was an ache that came to me as another whale dream the night before the trip e-mail ever showed up. It became a symbol of the life I want to live, in a state of loving service, heavily seasoned with artistic expression and adventure.

I even got a confirmation sighting.
That's a humpback feeding off Hendry's beach. It looked like a giant cucumber, just sitting there in the water.

I'll let you know what comes up. I am hoping to get some clarity about my life so far and where I'll be headed in the future.

Thanks for reading!

I never spoke of Rome

If I had to sum up Rome in August 2010, it would be "beautiful, clean, clear, icy cold fountains, art, ancient architecture, spaghetti alla carbonara, walking, gelato and Marcel, the puppeteer". The apartment Tom rented for our stay was a PALACE. It was ON Piazza Navona and was bigger than our house. We had an official tour of the Colloseum, the Forum and an unofficial, self-guided tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. We ate the BEST gelato in Rome. The girls went to a bar together and legally drank shots of aqua vita or some awful liquor (which couldn't happen here for two and a half more years). All in all, HEAVEN. 

Tuscany to Rome

We spent a glorious week in the warm caress of Tuscany. The smell of hot grass soothed my soul as I walked with pans of food to the house the kids stayed in. It was seven days of slow moments that ultimately went by too fast.

We spent one day driving to and from Florence

Taking the advice of some Swedish visitors, we visited some beautiful thermal hot springs.

Warm, but not too hot, it was the perfect balm for whatever "ailed" us.

We visited a volcanic lake and some other hilltop towns, eating pici with pecorino and pepper.

Before we knew it, our warm Tuscan adventure was over and we were off to a palace in Rome.

Warmth on the Inside and Out

We left Venice on Saturday, hauling our bags up and down about twenty raised Venetian bridges. At the train station we rented our maxivan, a nine seated Fiat "Scute", with a stick shift. After three previous European trips involving driving, Tom and I have figured out that he is a way better navigator and I LOVE to drive. Just the thought of navigating makes me sweat, but something about taking on the Italian highway makes one side of my mouth raise in a sly smile, with an added wink.

A four hour drive took us south, past Florence, toward Pisa until we reached our beautiful hilltop town of Pienza.

Tom did it again. He researched extensively and found us a working farm one kilometer outside of a sweet little medieval town. This time it was for Kieran, who loves animals. The farm had cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese. Tom, the little kids and I were in the main farm house and the big kids were down the road a little ways in their very own cottage (WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!).

The first thing we did was go shopping.  Everyone got their own basket at the Coop grocery market. Kieran loaded hers up with beans, cheese, crackers and honey nut cheerios, while Aidan got chocolate chip cookies, tic-tacs, milk and pasta.  It was interesting to see what the big kids put into their baskets. It wasn't ALL beer and wine.

We walked through the beautiful cobble stone streets of Pienza that night and had a fantastic dinner at a restaurant called La Buca De La Fate.

This is the view from our bedroom window.

   

The Clock Tower of 1493

This is why Tom is the best husband for me: he shows his love by planning based on what we all love. I think this day was for me.






















In San Marcos Square, in Venice, there is a clock tower with a celestial dial on it. For the last ten years (spanning our last two trips), it has been covered by a facade while they fixed it up.

It is open now, and Tom scheduled a tour for us.
This is a painting I did before our tour. I put Domo and Mr. Nilson as the bell-ringers.

It rained that day.

We were like a flock of ducklings making our way through the narrow streets.

Aidan found a Ferrari store.

















The clock tower used to be inhabited by a clock-keeper, who would reset the pulleys regularly all day and night, every day. The clock was built in 1493. It was the most sophisticated piece of machinery the world had ever seen. It was a sign of the intelligence, craftmanship, wealth and technological superiority of the Venicians. It had five layers and had something going on on each layer in the way of moving parts. It was the worlds first digital clock. It also showed the phases of the moon, the position of the sun as it related to the constellations of the zodiac, and it could give you your horoscope (just kidding!).









The numbers on the digital clock change every five minutes. The hours side is shown in roman numerals.














These guys ring the bell on the hour, five minutes before and five minutes after.













We are happy at the top of the tower!!













We had the best view in Venice.







Aidan got a feather quill pen too.