Gentle Days

My days have settled back into their gentle cadence, comforting in their familiarity; coffee in the morning, the internet point, groceries and errands, and finally a long walk in the park with a book. I had lunch out today; a salad and tagliatelle with ragu’, yum! I can never get my ragu' sauce to turn out so rich and flavorful. Mine tends to be rather watery, so I shall have to keep experimenting to discover the secret.

Maria and I went for a drink at my favorite little café’ last night. She is rather discouraged about not being able to sell her house. It’s a beautiful house, but it’s a lot of work to keep up with and a huge expense, and she’s had some unfortunate tenants as of late, which hasn’t helped. I thought I might cheer her up a bit by giving her some company. My café has outside tables on Piazza della Repubblica, overlooking Le Scale and is a great location to be in the center of it all.

A theater group was performing a silent act on Le Scale, the steps to the Palazzo Pubblico, and we were in a prime location to watch. There were maybe 8 women and 4 men dressed head to toe in white…what looked like bridal type costumes, white painted faces, and the men in suits. They were posing on Le Scale when we arrived, then glided past us up via Nazionale. Several sat at our table and posed in their eerie silence. The one I enjoyed was a short, rotund woman wielding a large white fishing net. I told Maria I thought she was trying to catch a husband with that net. Perhaps I can borrow it? All she caught was her own left foot, which tangled in the net and ruined the whole effect.

One of my friends has offered to send me a few pieces of clothing so I have something to shoot for in terms of weight loss. I can’t tell you how much it’s appreciated. There are several items I plan to leave right here in Italy. I have one t-shirt that’s stretched out to the point you can see down the armholes. I think it needs to be placed in a dryer to retain its size and shape, but there are no dryers in Italy, so I’ll relinquish that one to the dustbin along with that hideous turquoise jacket I can’t bring myself to wear. A couple pair of pants are staying as well. I do not plan to gain weight so I shan’t need them anymore. Besides I bought another pair of Italian shoes that I have to make room for.

At the grocery stores here you must wear a plastic glove when choosing your fruits and vegetables and placing them in a plastic bag. Then they are weighed and you stick the resulting sticker onto the bag, just like at home. The problem is that I tend to forget to take the plastic glove off before I take the sticker and I usually wind up with my hand taped to the bag of tomatoes. I did this 4 or 5 times before it occurred to me to remove the glove BEFORE I take the sticker. I am not the quickest of learners.

Now that my days have resumed their quiet and uneventful pattern, I have been visiting some of the dark places in my soul. Places I really don’t want to visit, but must so that I can forgive myself and move on. I’ve done and said many a thing I am not proud of and I grieve for relationships I have damaged by my unkindness. Does everyone have dark places within themselves, or are some people only goodness and light? I still have work to do to be the person I know I can be, and that’s why I am here. May La Santa give me the strength to continue on in my journey!