seats

Autumn In Tuscany

nestled in the hills
in the midst of Tuscany
following an aged man
down a well beaten path
hurtling puddles, climbing hills
amongst emancipative beauty
in the cool autumn air
intimately knowing the harvest
ravaging the vine
of its abundant crop
selecting luscious bunches
to be fermented, morphed
sold as fine wine

Harvesting Grapes

My Closet

With the exception of four t-shirts
this is everything, I have. I hope it
is enough. I must say it has been
rather cold lately.

Firenze

sights, sounds, swirling around
take a breath, look at ground
here, there, where do i stare
buildings of beauty everywhere
what is this, what is that
could this be where DaVinci sat
slowing, stopping, standing still
this moment seems so surreal
the mountains and Florence envelope me
I'm surrounded by timeless history
in the home of great intellectual
art music history and literature rule
take a breath, raise a foot
stroll along on their soot.

Music in Florence

Big Band Jam

I never could have imagined listening to big band music, next to a naked statue of David in Italy, but it happened.

Life was good...

Life was great here in Italy, and then I woke up this morning and realized I had to go to class. That was a downer. Then I looked at my watch and realized I had to be in class in exactly two minutes. Needless to say, no shower for me this morning. I think that I am going to immensely enjoy Robbie's Humanities class. Due to the fact that I am acquainted with a lot of the information from the same course in Greece, I am hoping that my learning experience here will be amplified. We have a book, that I am really looking forward to reading, it is supposedly packed full of great information. I also had Italian class this morning. I think that if I wake up in time for my morning cafe, I will enjoy this class. Mona is a very happy person, a fact which does not mix well with extreme sleepiness, but that is up to me to change. We are having a welcome gathering tonight so there won't be any glamorous stories of exploration today, but those will come in days to come.

Is David really cracking up?

Michelangelo's David 'may crack'
By Mark Duff
BBC News, Milan

Michelangelo's famous statue of David could collapse because of its exposure to mass tourism, Italian experts say. They say the massive statue of the naked boy-warrior is in danger because of its size, shape and the weakness of the marble from which it was carved. But they warn that the greatest risk comes from the footfall of many visitors who troop past it each day at Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia. The experts want to protect the statue by insulating it from the vibrations. This would cost about 1m euros (£785,000). Otherwise David could topple over, engineers from the University of Perugia say.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7626093.stm

Florence Photographs

First You Must Explore

Yesterday, we were introduced to Scandicci. By introduced I mean this, Robbie took us to town, led us all around, showed us how to ride the bus and got me all turned around as to where I was. He then preceded to give us some rather sketchy directions and say well see you at the Villa, and drove off. Fortunately I made it back, although it was a rather daunting stressful task. While in Scandicci, I did have the opportunity for my first cappuccino at Mario's. It was delicious. Today, I woke up to a dreary slow, chilling drizzle outside my window. So I looked through my meager selection of clothing, picked out a sweater (not hard as I only have one), and prepared for my first visit into Florence. Armed with map and umbrella, I trekked over to bus 16 with the group and headed into town. Once there Robbie once again quickly led us through a maze of streets, dropped us off with Kyle and disappeared after lunch. Then Kyle took us all to a central square and said okay, get some supper, explore and find your way back to the villa. Once again I made it back. Today I felt more confident than yesterday. Due to the bleak conditions decent photography was mostly out of the question, but I did manage to snap a few, just like a good tourist. I look forward to spending lots of time in both of these towns in the near future, and hope to take some good pictures soon. Until then here are a few halfway okay pictures.

Wakiing realization

cockle doodle doo, the rooster crows
disapprovingly i awaken
the window shutter beats the bed
i arise to latch it
looking out, i see much
short stubby trees, vineyards
hills and mountains
a slow drizzle drifts down
and a cool refreshing breeze strikes my face
i take in Italy

Bicycle

The Land of the Boot

It took just a little over twenty four hours, but I finally arrived in Italy late last night. Truthfully, alot of it is much the same as back home. As we were driving from the airport, I saw lots of tractors working in the fields, and the ever familier round bale of hay. We arrived at the Villa, after a frisky walk up a small hill, to the sound of some delightful music. Now I sit here tucked away in my own private corner, of a room, after finishing my stove top espresso breakfast.

Ciao

Time to Go

I leave for the airport and then Italy in search of grand adventures shortly. As I packed my bag last night, this quote of Mark Twain's floated through my mind.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Llama for President

John McCain or Barack Obama,
I think I'd rather elect a llama

I found this picture online when I should have been sleeping. While of course I would never vote for a llama, I found it amusing. I had already written my rhyming phrase a few days ago, while experiencing large amounts of boredom, as I painted a basketball court. When one has inhaled paint fumes for too long strange things happen.

Album of the Month

Embodied by the genius of John Scofield, Billy Martin, John Medeski, and Chris Wood, this is an album to buy. Released in 1998, it is not new, but it is new to my c.d. collection. A Go Go, contains ten tracks that thrill my soul. Get it, listen to it, you will understand what I mean, hopefully.