A True Poem

She has viney
tattoos from her
fingertips

to her throat,
spiky hair,
huge brown eyes.

Elfin-like, she
greets me. I'm
in the Apple store

and she is helping
me set up
my new iPad.

While we wait
for my apps
to download,

she tells me
she is buying
one like this

for her mom
as a Hanukkah
gift. I ask her

what apps
are must-haves
I don't already have.

She shows me
her Pinterest
page full

of wedding
ideas. And
that leads us

to her dreams.
"I'm slowly
falling in love

with my boyfriend,"
she tells me
shyly.

I ask
her how to turn
autocapitalization

off in Pages.
"I write poetry
and hate

having the first
word in each
line capitalized."

She agrees
and shows me.
She's thirty,

ready for a family.
She tells me
her boyfriend

is Italian.
"I just got back
from Italy."

I tell her.
She says Italian
men

are so different
from Americans.
"I shouldn't

show you this
but look at these texts
he sends me."

Clouds of poetry
fill her iPhone
screen.

I show her
my latest blog
post. Sunrise

photos float by
as I scroll
down.

I enlarge one
magical with
blurry orange bokeh.

I forget
I'm a frumpy grandma
of sixty-three.

The rest
of the store
disappears.

We are a bubble
of connected
opposites.

I should look
like her,
inked and edgy.

She should be me
rich with a husband
and children.

Alissa and Ian's Wedding

It was a gorgeous early autumn day when my niece got married in a little white church.



Her handsome sons, James and River, walked her up the aisle.






Kylie picked these flowers and with her white dress she looked like flower girl.


I love her French braid.


Here is my sister, Nancy, Alissa's mother, with her husband, Bill.


Look at these great boutonnieres the boys wore. (Don't know why Nancy's fingers look so purple!)


Mr. and Mrs. Blue:


And family:


It was great that my Aunt Dottie made it. She is my dad's sister. Her daughter, Lucy, (on the right) drove her.


And here are my kids: Erin and her boyfriend, Sam, Nathan and his girlfriend, Danielle, and our Kylie girl.


Love the homemade apple butter we all got as favors.


Bill sang a song he and Nancy wrote. That little imp, River, stood behind him waving his arms until someone made him stop. Also, check out the cool sneakers the father of the groom wore!


Beautiful girls having a blast running around outside.


Such happy smiles! I like how they had cupcakes for the kids.


Simple elegance.
The groom's adoring smile for his bride.
The laughter of children.
A creamy vintage wedding dress.
Delicious food.
Sunshine.
Family. Friends. Fun.

The Laundry of Italy

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” E.B. White



“It's better to have loved and lost than to have to do forty pounds of laundry a week.” Dr. Laurence J. Peter



“Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by colour.”



“After enlightenment, the laundry.” Zen Proverb



“Marriage is about the most expensive way for the average man to get laundry done” Burt Reynolds



“Paper napkins never return from a laundry - nor love from a trip to the law courts” John Berrymore



“Give me a laundry-list and I'll set it to music.” Gioacchino Rossini

A Walk With Kylie

Sunday sunset.

"Kylie, want to go for a walk to see if we can catch some Bokeh?"

"Okay.



Is Bokeh really fairies?"



"Sure."



"How come we can't see them with our eyes?"



"That's the magic of a camera."

Day 9: Assisi and Roma

Sadly, we had to check out of our cozy hotel on Friday morning and head south to Rome where we spent one more night before heading back to the states.



I took a few more pictures through the bus window.









We stopped at the small town of Assisi. Saint Francis made this place famous. There is a huge three story church there that we walked through but, of course, photos were not allowed. We even had to have our shoulders and knees covered to go in.








I love this gate!



And this window.



And this door.



And the mailbox on this door.



Here's a close up of it.

We strolled the winding cobble-stoned alleys and stopped in a few shops but, what I remember best is the hazelnut gelato I had. it was so cool and nutty and creamy.

We didn't get to see much of Rome because our hotel was on the outskirts. We did take a bus ride into the city for our Farewell Dinner but we didn't go by anything very famous so I only took a few pictures from the bus. And they didn't even turn out that great.















We had a delicious dinner with a DJ and a bit of dancing, wine, more wine, and a taste of a wonderful grappa. We'd had grappa before but it was a clear one and tasted like varnish. Our tour director wanted us to taste a really good one so she bought it herself and gave us all an after-dinner shot. It was warm and lovely....just like our whole Tuscan vacation!

Day 8: Firenze and Lucca

Thursday morning found us back on the bus heading to Florence, again, but this time just for some shopping. We went into the famous leather store, Peruzzi. I almost bought a beautiful red iPad cover but it was 180 euros. Yikes!

We'd been warned not to wear any expensive jewelry to Italy so Dottie and I both wore just a simple silver chain. We decided to buy charms for them. The jewelry dept. of Peruzzi had just what we were looking for. This is the one I bought:



The picture doesn't do it justice. It's much prettier in person.

Other than that, we just browsed around. We stopped for pizza:









They all looked so yummy! I had mine with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil. And it tasted yummy, too!

We found a shady spot to eat our gelato, lemon for me this time, and saw this couple strolling down the street:



We were happy to get back to our hotel early enough to have a nice swim before changing and going to Lucca for the evening.



Lucca is an ancient walled city. We had a local tour guide who gave us the history of it but, you know what?, I've forgotten most of it. After awhile



these



and these



and these all looked alike. So my mind and eye wandered to simpler, more everyday sights.



Like these ladies all sitting in a row.



This turquoise bicycle leaning against a fat tree.



This guy taking a picture. I was going to crop him out, but the photo just didn't look right without him. He lends balance and ordinariness to the beautiful doorways.



This warm, inviting window scene.



This laundry hanging out to dry.



The simplicity of this.



And watching the sun set between buildings from our outdoor cafe table.

I bought postcards of the major buildings; I didn't need to take photos of them. These are the sights I really came to Italy to experience!