An Early Morning

I awoke at 3:30 this morning. I do not actually sleep all that well here, waking every two hours or so. My forthcoming departure is on my mind these days and makes sleep elusive. I took the trash out at 4:00, washed some dishes and, to address my stress about leaving, I did some sorting and organizing. While I have purchased new items and received new clothes in the mail, I have thrown out as many clothes as I’ve received and the same with the shoes, so the overall weight of the suitcase should not have changed greatly. I am seriously considering purchasing a new, more compact suitcase, although I prefer not to make the monetary outlay. I think that I would like to take the train to Florence and then pick up a taxi at the train station to take me to the airport. It’s cheaper than renting a car and I won’t have the headache of fueling up the car and turning it in at Peretola airport. I think I might be able to fit into a smaller suitcase as I will weed out a few more items before I depart and a smaller suitcase will be more manageable on the train.

After my organizational spree I walked in the park and watched the world come to life. It continues to rain here almost daily, and each morning the valley is covered by a thick layer of fog, like a heavy woolen blanket covering a sleeping infant. The layer of fog is particularly tenacious, clinging with desperate fingers to each hillock, depression, vine, and tree across the valley, retreating incrementally as the rays of the warm sun erode its edges. As I departed the park, the valley to my left looked as though it was set for a theatrical production with the sun providing a brilliant spotlight on a tiny stage and the fog a dark curtain hovering just off the floor ready to lift for the players in today’s drama.

I trotted back through Piazza Signorelli where the Saturday market vendors were busily unloading their trucks and vans and setting up display tables for the crowds of shoppers just now awaking. Here I encountered my favorite porchetta man who, I noted happily, is much taller and better looking than when he is standing four feet above me dressed in white (Think Alice, the housekeeper's, boyfriend Sam, the butcher, on The Brady Bunch) and waving a large butcher knife in the air. He gave me a nice smile and a friendly greeting in English. For some reason I felt the need to tell him all about how I woke up at 3:30 in the morning. I am pretty sure he's not interested in my sleeping habits....

I met a new friend for coffee yesterday. She is in a similar place in her life as I am…a crossroads, with choices to be made. Turn left? Turn right? Hide under a bush and hope someone else makes the decision for us?? At any rate, we had a very nice conversation and I feel very fortunate to have met her. I noticed her exchanging looks with my favorite waiter though. Perhaps there is history there, a story. I didn’t ask because I am not ready to know. It is apparent that the waiter and I are not destined share anything more than an occasional smile. So be it. Non e’ il nostro destino, it’s not our destiny.

I am wearing my new “skinny” jeans today. Now that I’ve worn them a couple of hours they feel like a nice, tight hug, however when I first put them on it felt as though a boa constrictor had been unleashed to wrap itself ‘round my legs with the sole goal of squeezing me into a shadow of my former self. Tight pants also lead to an exaggerated case of “muffin top”, which is hard to disguise particularly as I am wearing one of my new “skinny tops”. Forget Spanx, I am going to design a new girdle called THE CONSTRICTOR. What’s revolutionary about my girdle is that it will be designed so that while it constricts it also cuts off blood flow causing excess lumps of unsightly flab to turn black and fall off painlessly, leaving the wearer with a new, svelte figure. I could make a million with an invention like that! Advance orders anyone? Speaking of cutting off blood flow, I returned to the large size clothing store in Arezzo and still did not find anything I liked well enough to buy. The couple things I really liked were not in my size, cost way too much, or needed to be ironed. The items I tried on were not at all flattering. I need a little more cotton in my shirts and a little less Spandex, which clings to the body like plastic wrap afflicted with an extreme case of static cling. Not a good look for most people!