Whoops....left out July 21

Our neighbor’s internet is down. Last night we were up at the big piazza about 10:30 pm using the poor internet connection. There were probably 12 kids riding bikes, families with babies out strolling, lots more kids running around, older people sitting talking and the small piazza with the caffe bars was packed with people. From the voice level you would guess 200, but it was probably around 50. Today I was on the piazza at 3pm and it was a ghost town. Everyone is sleeping so they can partee tonight. This is the place for night owls.

While we were sitting in the piazza an elderly woman asked me when we were leaving for the summer.

She is one of a group that I say hello to daily. After I told her she went to her house and brought out two things she had crocheted. She had done them for me as presents and wanted to be sure I got them before I left. Really nice!! We kept sitting there and another friend drove up and gave Jim three eggs from his chickens. Then he got back in the car and pulled out two golden beets. He also gave these to Jim. Once again back to the car and he gave Jim two zucchinis.

Then he gave Jim a ride home to deliver the produce and then back to the piazza. Jim was sitting in the front seat with eggs in hand and no seatbelt. No one wears one here. Luckily we mostly ride with Danes and they all wear seat belts, but Italians, no way. I am confident in this definitive statement, because I can look down from my terrace into cars and I haven’t seen a seat belt yet. Plenty of kids sitting on laps in the front seat, possibly a car seat in the back, but no one is using them.

So it was a good deal sitting in the piazza at night. There is a group of students here from a university in Detroit. They are doing a summer school program. I talked to one of the teachers, on the piazza, and told her I would be interested in doing some sort of art thing for the students. I would do it for free in hopes that it would work into something else next year.

We are showing pastels in Gagliano on August 14. I have spent today doing some more of that town from photos I have. It is a long walk and really hot so I am cheating. I think I can finish 2 or 3 today. It is so easy when the sun doesn’t move, it isn’t hot and the clouds stand still.

Yesterday we found out that there is a flour mill in town and that it is just across the street from us. I took a picture of the bag of flour in the little store about a block away from us. If flour were not so heavy that is what you all would be getting from Italy. How cool is this?  I also took a picture of the adorable couple that owns the store. We buy cheese there and things that are too heavy to carry from the big store. It is great that it is here, because many elderly people use it who could not walk to the supermarket. The obnoxious veggie truck parks by it on non-market day so it works well for those that cannot walk far or drive.