Like a heat wave...just like

It is the fierce heat of the Sahara slamming down on to Castelvecchio. The sky is blasted of all blue and the mounting clouds appear pale agains the ivory sky. The stone bench, where I sit,  on our terrace, holds a little of the night’s coolness, but it is nearing body temperature. The sheet hung across our terrace does something to keep the sun off and the plants still look lively. The bells ring for mass. It is cool and dark in the church and the liturgy provides relief from the heat of the mind.

Tonight is the football game and the artist and her husband who own the gallery are coming for dinner. I think we’ll eat inside. Our house was built for this heat. The only exposed wall is over two feet thick and we are built right into the mountain. One step out the door and it is a sauna, dry and blisteringly hot. I took a bath in only cold water, but I did not need a towel. Why did I get out? Unbelievably, I was cold. My bug bites are less itchy after the cold water. On the internet, I found 40 ways to make mosquito bites quit itching. At least my eye AND nose are back to normal. 


I took Bella out for a walk at 6am and it was cool and nice. Just sitting here, my hair, that was wet, is turning to sweat. It is 5:30 pm and it will probably get hotter. This morning we painted up in the forbidden zone of earthquake damage. There is a car still parked there that no one ever bothered to retrieve. Clay pots are shattered  below terraces and two clumps of iris are all that survive. Where I was painting the pavers were interspersed with dead grass. Under the arch, in the narrow roadway, where the sun never shines, the weeds were still green. Houses, one acquired just before the earthquake, stand renovated and empty. More work has been done on the creation of terraces that follow the footprint of the shattered houses. No one goes up there, but us and the Danes. The heat shimmers off the new, white, stones. In winter, it would be a fine place to sit. Stone building are held together, wreathed in wooden scaffolding with no difference from last year. It is desolate. A ghost town at the top of Castelvecchio. 


 Bella's home where we have been hanging out while dog sitting. Her owners come back today.

 This is where I was trying to finish my pastel in Castel di Ieri. It was a highway this morning. A very narrow highway. Every kind of vehicle came by. The most unhappy guy came by about 10 times in the stinkiest three wheel truck ever. The other unhappy guy was riding a bike.

This is when I had to move entirely to get away from the person who wanted to drive out of her garage. No matter where i took my stuff I was in the way. It is hard to back out of a garage on a narrow street in CdI. At the same time the guy from the Comune came to do the trash.

Me having a coke instead of coffee after finishing my painting. This resturant is in CdI and is really great, but also very expensive. We spent 50E here last summer for lunch. The coke was great!! No corn syrup. What a difference. We walked the mile back and I went to buy some Zirtec. 5.50E for 10. I feel less itchy already. I could hardly concentrate this morning between the cars, etc. and the itching.