King Lear, Act V, Scene iii, upon hearing of the death of his dog.

We got home from Italy at about 11:30 this morning and by the time we were out of customs and in a cab it was near 1:00. It was hard to leave the incredible month in Italy behind, but was made even harder by the news we received as we were leaving for Milan on Saturday morning. Our beloved pet, Valsora, broke his right rear femur... doing nothing. He just stood up and it snapped. The vet found it was full of bone cancer, metatasticized apparently from the blood cancer that he endured three months of chemo to overcome. There was nothing that could be done for him.

Brett and Tracy brought him home on heavy doses of drugs and sat with him all night for two nights, keeping him comfortable and sedated. When we got home, we drove straight to their house and he was barely able to raise his head in greeting. He was really happy we brought him a Jitters coffee cup and some chocolate donuts, though! The poor boy's hind quarters were so swollen it was heart-breaking. Brett rigged a stretcher and we carried him to the truck to ride to the emergency vet clinic in Kirkland. He loved the ride and had half an hour of partially raising his head and acting perky before he became too exhausted to move anymore and laid down. Then the vet came out and gave him a little sedative, then the dose that stopped his heart while we petted his cheeks and told him about all the great things he'd done, for him and for us.




We're still crying. Can't quite do anything tonight but drink wine and weep. I know I promised more photos of Italy, but I just can't do them tonight. Go outside and look at the nearly full moon tonight. And Howl.

This is a necessarily short post due to the constraints that I've had in getting Internet access. I'm currently sitting in a parking lot in Todi connected by way of my phone.

I've not posted as frequently as I'd like because of the connections, and because... let's face it: I'm on vacation! That, unfortunately, will be coming to an end on Sunday. We will leave our little stone house on Saturday morning and drive over to the (west) coast on Saturday and follow the coastline up to Genoa, then turn north to Milan. Our flight is at 6:30 Sunday morning!

This week, we explored the region, finding antiques and incredible little villages, then went to Rome on Tuesday. I've not posted photos of Rome yet, due to the slowness of getting them uploaded, but I took several hundred. The Sistine Chapel is something you have to see in order to understand the scale and grandeur, but crammed into it with 5,000 of your closest friends, you cannot genuinely appreciate it. We found many other, less touristy, churches and monuments that left us awestruck as the Sistine should if you were there alone.

Wednesday was a lie by the pool and recover day. Today, we have returned to our local town of Todi to explore, gift shop, and savor one more time. The kids will leave with R tomorrow so they can go to a Formula 1 race in Milan. M&L and I will drive up more liesurely on Saturday.

I've posted about ten photo albumes at http://www.nwesignatures.com/photo_gallery/, and will post the rest on Monday.

Caio!

I'm taking a few minutes this morning while the kids are cooking breakfast pizza in the outdoor woodfire pizza oven to update and post new pictures. I'll get right to the important part: photos at http://www.nwesignatures.com/photo_gallery/RainyDay.htm. There are links on the page to all the rest of the galleries and they are in order of the trip.

We had some rain over the weekend, but the days have returned to bright and sunny, about 80 degrees, and breathtakingly beautiful. Our host came to visit Tuesday and took us up to our caretaker's farm. We spent a couple of hours seeing all his animals, orchards, hay fields, and olive and wine barrels that we filled containers from.

Yesterday, I convinced a willing family to go on a trip to view a strange garden. http://www.nwesignatures.com/photo_galery/LaScarzuola.htm. This is one of the strangest places, and perhaps one of the least visited, in Italy. The architect designed an Art Deco garden in an old convent way out beyond the last signs of human habitation. We drove seven kilometers down a dirt track through the mountains to get to it (after an hour and a half drive from the Stone House). Tomaso Buzzi bought the convent in 1957 and started creating the gardens based on the woodcuts of the Hypnerotica Poliphili written by Friar Franscesco Colonna and published by Aldus Manutius in 1499. It is a nearly incomprehensible romance on love and architecture illustrated with dozens of woodblock prints. Tomaso used the prints as inspiration for the designs of the garden. There are no further words that can describe the experience. We were given a two hour guided tour by the owner/nephew of Tomaso.

Enjoy the photos. It was an amazing experience.

My wife just asked if I wanted to do anything special for Fathers’ Day today. Hmmm… I’m sitting next to my daughter at the table of a big stone house in Umbria Italy, drinking coffee and writing, nibbling on various foodstuffs as the mood strikes me. There’s pasta, sausages, red sauce, and plenty of wine. What could be more special than that?

I’ve taken so many photos and want to show so many, that I’ve decided to just link to my gallery from here instead of including all the photos in this post.

Todi, Umbria, Italy

Our visit to Todi on Thursday was a total delight. Even though we had run up to the outskirts and driven around the nearest major town several times since our arrival Saturday, we hadn’t really gone into town to explore. We spent most of the day on Thursday doing just that, including a nice long lunch and bottle of great Umbrian wine (Roccafiore) at the restaurant that first welcomed us last Saturday. We spent the day poking into little shops, touring churches, and marveling at the incredible views from the city walls. Then, we finally found a big grocery store where we could restock our larder and prepare ourselves for a few more days at the Stone House.

We had an incredible thunderstorm on Saturday. Really big bolts of lightning and claps of thunder within a couple of seconds. That was great timing, since we’d just rented bicycles a few minutes before the storm hit. So the bikes are still in the “carbox.” But after the storm, everything was so incredibly fresh. In an hour, the only sign there had been a storm were a few remaining puddles, and the fact that it didn’t heat up to over ninety the rest of the day. So about 5:00, we walked up into the village to go to the little Tabbachi. It’s the only little store in Pesciano (population 35). She (the shopkeeper) is open from 10-1 and from 5-7. The store sells a little of everything you could possibly need from soap to vegetables to wine to ice cream to table linens. All in a space of about five square meters. We bought peppers, three bottles of wine, an ice cream bar, a couple of cans of beans, and a bar of soap for thirteen Euros. I’ve posted a little photo album about our village.

Pesciano Photo Gallery

R & S should have arrived in Milan by now. They will join us at the Stone House sometime tomorrow afternoon. Spent most of the rainy afternoon today working on a plan for "Remembers When." At the moment there is just a stub site that is a placeholder. I got lost in the pleasure of just being creative with the site plan and functionality. Really fun!

Time to get going, and see if I can find a place nearby where I can connect and post this.

Caio Amici!

Not a great deal to say today as we have spent the day in Todi exploring this old Umbrian town. Old, as in the Umbrii were defeated here by the Etruscans back about 900 years BC. I'll get to that story when I upload those pictures. But for now, here are the pix of our Stone House and surrounding area in Pesciano.


This is the front (or back???) of our little cottage here near Pesciano. We spend hours just sitting in the chairs reading and/or drinking Belinis and Wine.

This is the little breakfast nook under a spreading oak tree.

This pool has seen use two or three times a day ever since we arrived. Should have seen DD's face when I told her it took 5 laps to equal one in a regulation pool. Then she came in and said she had done 50!

The walls of the village of Pesciano (population 34) are visible from the "main road" 100 meters from our driveway.

Each morning we sit with coffee and survey our domain, seen here between the branches of a lovely old oak tree near the hammocks.

Speaking of breakfast coffee, this little scene was taken early in the morning (about 10:00!) out our window to see the Mamas with one of the Darling Daughters, still in their pajamas! We have discussed not returning!

I'll leave that for now and tomorrow give you a tour of the remarkable little town of Todi.
Caio!

We left Venice on Saturday about 1:00 p.m. and got to Florence at around 4:30. We finally managed to get a taxi to the airport and rent a car, then drove nearly 3 hours south into Umbria. Stopped for a few things and got a little lost on the way, but got to the Stone house around 8:30.

Wow! I'm truly sorry that I haven't uploaded photos from the house yet, but I'm currently sitting in a parking lot in Todi which is the first time I've had even a tenuous Internet connection. Pesciano is on the edge of eternity. From it's hilltop town walls, you can see the gates of heaven. I don't think I have ever in 59 years visited a place so incredibly soothing and heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I don't trust my camera to capture it, though I'm trying.

We were so content and relaxed that we spent our first three days (Sunday through Tuesday) literally doing nothing. Well, that discounts running to a little cafe a few miles away for espresso and to the grocery store so we could eat what we cook and drink gallons of vino. We sit in the open air, and although it is over 90 degrees, the temperature in the shade is dry and comfortable. We read, chat, draw, sleep, eat, and drink. We've been on a couple of walks that were rigorous, and today we hopped in the car and drove across our little strip of nowhere to the wine and olive producing town of Montefalco (the famous Sangratino wine is made only here), and then on into Foligno where in 1471, one of the first printing presses in Italy printed Dante's Comedia Divina as the first book printed in Italian. We also stumbled on the open market at Bastardo and bought hats and fruit.

We've just stopped in Todi long enough that I can connect for a quick note and to file my UI report. We bought sausages, eggs, cheese, wine, olives, and olive oil so we can make dinner when we get back to the Stone House.

I simply have not been so completely relaxed in my recent memory. Sorry there are no pictures with this update. I will try to prepare a batch and come back into Todi to get a connection before the end of the week. Gentle rain is now falling, cleaning the air and lowering the temperatures somewhat.

BTW I read (finished) "The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peal Pie Society" Monday. It was so beautiful I wept. Simply couldn't put it down. Get it. Read it.

Arivaderci!

We've been in Venice three days and it is nothing short of magnificent (even if expensive). We've had no shortage of adventures, churches, gelato, and vino. I'll tell the story in pictures if you've the time and bandwidth to look at it.

( Venice in words and pictures )

The girls have returned to another mask shop and we've napped. Tomorrow is another day and we will be catching the train from Venice to Florence where we pick up a car and head for Umbria.

I've just time to post a note before I lose connectivity for I don't know how long. We are about to leave our hotel and Milan to head for Venice. The opera was fantastic last night. We were moved from our first level box seats where we had partial views to a box that was straight on for the second half. Wow! It was an incredible experience. We saw Benjamin Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream" alla Scalla.

( Last day in Milan )

This is really Day One. Yes, we left Saturday and arrived on Sunday, but we really weren't aware of what was going on Sunday evening, even though we walked three miles! But we were up and out to sitesee today, so I'll catch everything up and post a bunch of pix.

( What we've done so far and some pictures to show we did it! )

We stopped at a supermarket on the way back and got wine, cheese, meats, olives, fruite, etc. and had a picnic in the room before retiring (now). It's 10:30 p.m. and thanks to M's no jetlag diet and sleep schedule, I'm not feeling jetlagged at all. Hope that stays the same tomorrow!

• 06:18 Just four hours till we leave for the airport/Italy. Daughter and I have been up since 2:00, wife since 5. Woohoo! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 22:38 Something new is coming to memoir publishing: rememberswhen.com. #
• 07:27 Day two of no-jet-lag diet is low calorie day (800) and no caffeine until 3:00! We'll see how that goes... #
• 07:32 tinyurl.com/q4499o #eBooks have increased in popularity, allowing students to listen to audio versions of novels instead of reading #
• 07:38 @lulugirl896 I'm tired of all the search engines. I'd like to actually "find" something for a change. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

According to the no jet-lag diet my wife is getting us on, today is a "fast" day. We're not supposed to have much more than 800 calories and no caffeine before 3:00 p.m. or after 5:00 p.m. Well, remarkably I made it with the caffeine, but got a pot of coffee on the stove right at 3:00. Probably be up all night, but, so what? Calories? Morning was the pits and I'm pretty sure that I'm over the 800 and haven't even thought about dinner yet. Ish.

The girls want to go see "Angels & Demons" at 5:00 and Rick said he'd take them. I think I'll tag along as well and see it again. Really shouldn't, but I'm nearly at the point where I don't think I'll sleep again until we're airborne, so what the hey! We got our travel authorizations for all three kids to travel in the company of any of the four adults notarized and in our travel folders today.

I've packed my clothes in my suitcase and now have to figure out the packing of the electronics and the toiletries. You'd think that would be a breeze, but I swear my wife and I could pack one bag with nothing but our shoes and medications in it! And neither of us are really "on" anything. That's just the ache and pain pills, bandaids, and general pharmaceuticals that we won't be able to conveniently buy in Italy. And when your feet are as big as ours, anything more than one pair of shoes requires another bag! I've packed three pair and am thinking about sandals and slippers. What a wuss! What happened to the days when we left for three weeks in Europe with nothing but a backpack?

This afternoon, I converted all my music (at least all I want to take with me) to MP3 files instead of WMA files so it will play on my Sony Reader while I'm reading. That is sweet. I have an 8 GB SD card with books and a 4GB Memory Stick with music. Plus the library that is on the internal memory of the reader. I have more with me to read and listen to on that one little device than I've ever taken with me on a trip before. I wonder if I'll read and/or listen to any of it. I also ripped and loaded up my walking tours and maps of Venice, Rome, and Florence. And a quick little language lesson. I can learn Italian on the plane, right?

Well, nearly 5:00 now, so I guess I'll go see a movie. Why panic?

• 22:26 tinyurl.com/o2dsx9 The Truth About #eBooks By Christopher Harris -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2009 #
• 22:29 tinyurl.com/mot2s3 Borders today relaunched borders.co.uk as a retailer for #eBooks #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I'm planning to do a near-daily update this month as we head for Italy on Saturday. I'm going to post pix and reports of what we did and saw in Milan, Venice, Umbria, Rome, and wherever else we decide to wander. I think I can post from my phone now, so that will be one way that I manage it.

Funemployment has been great, but when I get back from Italy (July 5) I need to seriously land a job to support my entrepreneural endeavors. We are making a contract offer for another book at http://www.longtalepress.com this week and should have it out in about two months. http://www.6-oh.com and http://www.baldguys.com are interesting experiments in building out social sites for baby boomers, but the next one promises to actually be a business. We will be collecting and publishing memoirs for people, giving them a place to post, and print-on-demand copies of their little books. But all that takes time, and in order to have time, you've got to have money.

Today we started our no-jetlag diet with a large, high-protein breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Lunch is also supposed to be fairly large and high protein, then late dinner will be heavy on carbs. (Spaghetti anyone?) So, just for starters, here's where we'll be staying in Umbria for three weeks. Jealous yet?

• 08:46 tinyurl.com/ltynv3 Google to sell eBooks by end of 2009; what will Amazon do? Better pricing. Open format. Can they make a dent? #
• 08:48 RT @kindlenewsNews: TECH BYTES: Google gets in on e-books - abc7news.com: TECH BYTES: Google gets in on e-books. tinyurl.com/n2r5g3 #
• 08:53 RT @kindlenewsNews: TECH BYTES: Google gets in on #e-books - abc7news.com: TECH BYTES: Google gets in on e-books. tinyurl.com/n2r5g3 #
• 08:53 tinyurl.com/ltynv3 Google to sell #eBooks by end of 2009; what will Amazon do? Better pricing. Open format. Can they make a dent? #
• 16:24 Got the daughter registered for fall classes. What a pain! Blame it on the computer system. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 10:00 We're close to a new book for publishing. Read excerpt of "The Offering" at www.longtalepress.com. Just needs a few more points! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 09:18 Independent Science Fiction Writer Experiments with Revolutionary #eBook Distribution www.pr.com/press-release/155032 Mike Luoma #
• 09:25 RT @en1: Tina Brown Bashes $9.99 Digital Books - mediabistro.com: GalleyCat ow.ly/9SQq | #bea09 #ebooks #
• 09:29 RT @TimOBrienNYT: RT "Publishing will survive. It just won't look like anything that we're used to." bit.ly/zLdHO #ebooks #
• 09:34 #FollowFriday @asuen1 @TimOBrienNYT Both posting from #BEA09 #
• 09:39 "$9.99 is a paltry pitiful sum," Tina Brown of the Daily Beast bashes Amazon. #ebooks #bea09 ow.ly/9SQq #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 08:35 Why e-books aren't cheaper tinyurl.com/os7j9d. Gordon Haff rebuts based on numbers publishers gave him, not facts/experience. #ebooks #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 09:32 Figured out how to use my WM smartphone as a modem for laptop. Simple process successfully obscured and hidden from sight. #windowsmobile #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

• 17:29 RT @Booktin #eBooks - Friend or foe?: Bound Books - Soon to be obsolete? Book [n]: physical objects consisting of tinyurl.com/r45zqx #
• 06:55 @jefferyedoherty I'm conflicted. I believe in #ebooks (inventor of some tech), but I, too, like the feel of paper. Perhaps cultural? #
• 06:57 Finished reading "The Book of Air and Shadows" by M. Gruber. Read #ebook on Sony Reader and was very pleasant. Checked out from library. #
• 07:00 Have you written your memoirs yet? When you do, who do you want to read them? #
• 14:58 @viviennemorgain A lovely sentiment and nicely put. So, you wouldn't expect that someone is going to pay to read your memoir in a bookstore? #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter