Archive for the ‘love thursday’ Category
love thursday: my own personal seat warmer
Many people mistakenly believe that the weather in southern Italy is tropical or nearly so. It really isn’t. We do have seasons, although winter brings more rain than snow and spring can seem awfully short before we are thrust into the heat of summer.
Another southern Italian factoid is that most of the houses here are built with stone and/or tile, i.e., with “natural insulation”; central air and heat are only coming into fashion now, but it’s still quite expensive to run because of electricity costs.
And so most of us are “green” without even really trying.
All of this means that if your house isn’t directly in the sun, it can get pretty darned cold inside and stay that way–even now, in the spring when I often have to take *off* layers of clothes to go out with the dogs.
[This cooling effect works a bit in our favor during the summer, although not as much as it seems to work against us in the colder temps.]
Anyway, I am so very pleased to announce that it has been nearly a week since I’ve had to turn on the space heater near my work area, which means spring truly has arrived!
It also means I’ve had to switch to another method of keeping my seat warm:
All natural, and works for us!
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
P.S. Yes this photo sums up my life rather well–
work, pooches, and laundry in the big blue vasca.
1st of the month featured blogger: may
Two months ago, I got an email entitled “The good news is I’m not expected to die immediately” from my friend Sara of Moving Right Along.
Deep breath.
Sara hadn’t blogged in a while, and it turned out that a brain tumor was the reason why.
Before going in for surgery, Sara sat down and wrote an email to make sure that her online friends knew how to keep in touch with her should she never be able to read and/or write again.
Deeper breath.
I told my mom and P about her story, blubbering through it and finishing with a tirade about the lack of universal health care in America both times.
I thought about Sara at least once every minute I was awake on the day of her surgery and the day after until I received an email from her True Love that she was doing well.
This is just a small measure of how deeply Sara and her blog and her amazing spirit and wit and humor and L.O.V.E. have touched me. The photo to the right is Sara’s “healthy butterfly” from an MRI taken after her surgery, and yes, that’s Sara above on her tricycle.
She’s been through cancer and a leg amputation and insurance company ridiculousness and so much more, and so I knew deep down that Sara would come through this ordeal with an amazing strength as well.
What I didn’t expect was that she would come back writing better than ever, touching my heart on new levels, making me think about everything in a new way.
But I’m not going to blather on about Sara and why you should go read her blog any more; I’m pretty sure that would make her uncomfortable, and that’s the last thing I want to do.
You see Sara is one of those “leads by example” kind of people I admire so much. She goes about her daily business, deals with what life hands her, does it with grace and love, and is kind enough to tell us about it–and when we’re extra lucky she takes photos as well.
Go visit Sara.
I can’t think of a better way to spread some love this Love Thursday.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
love thursday: lemon love
I’m celebrating lemon love this week.
Although this wonderful citrus fruit grows year round here, lemons still say l’estate to me. I *love* an ice cold glass of homemade lemonade; P prefers lemon slices sprinkled with salt.
As much as I love to enjoy lemons, though, I couldn’t split up this adorable pair:
Even though I know that more are on their way.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy a lemon?
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
love thursday: love birds
Meet our love birds, Romeo and Giulietta:
They are currently taking turns keeping two eggs warm.
Due date is Tuesday.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
love thursday: heartin’ politics
It’s almost time! Italian elections will be held Sunday and Monday.
Other than having two days instead of one to vote, another big difference in elections here (from those in the US) is that the parties running on the local level adopt their own names, logos, and slogans.
What does that mean? Well, for example, the party that I’ll be voting for on Sunday is aligned with the larger Partito Democratico on the national level but it has its own symbol, completely different from that of the PD.
What does this have to do with Love Thursday?
Well for the past few weeks, everywhere I turn in the village I see:
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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