searching for bugs

Elliott has a four-day weekend starting today (hip hip hooray!), and so we decided to kick it off with a hike down into the valley below our house.  Lena is lately obsessed with bugs, which you might remember from a recent post about our walk to the orange groves.  Here's a little video that I took of her searching for bugs while Elliott and I relax on the picnic blanket with our books. 

And yes, it's chilly here!  Clear and cold, a perfect day for blogging by the fire with some hot chocolate after a beautiful hike.  Of course I also have a huge pre-baby to-do list, so it won't be all relaxing around here this weekend!

What are your plans for the weekend? 

New Year's Day in the orange groves

On New Year's Day we took a long hike down in the valley below our home.  We were tired when we started out, discouraged from an argument, wearily determined to turn the tide for 2013.  I hoped the blue-sky day and the outdoors would refresh our souls.

And, amazingly, that happened.  I guess sometimes you don't know how soothing an afternoon will be to your soul. How quiet hours can reset you when you spend them lying in the grass and eating oranges... and talking or not talking... and just being still.

^ Lena has become especially attached to these shiny black beetles lately.

^ more bugs

^ 36 weeks pregnant, Lena's first orange of the day, and our town in the background on the cliff's edge

^ picking olives and clutching her prize

I love these photos because they capture a moment in our lives, a moment that will soon be past when our little boy arrives in just a few weeks.  They also capture so much of what we enjoy right now, from the Sicilian oranges hanging from the branches to Lena's complete fascination with bugs to the hugeness of my belly to Lena's love to snuggle on top of us whenever we lie down.

They also capture my husband in so many ways as a father: the way he is completely at home in the outdoors, his playfulness with Lena, and the quiet way he encourages her to explore creation: to hold bugs, touch amazing plants, pick olives straight from the trees, and sit peacefully in the grass watching bees buzz from flower to flower.

Our lives are so complex.  Yes, there is eager anticipation.  Yes, there is crippling sorrow.  And always there is deep, abiding joy.

Wednesday morning at the market

 

Many times I worry that I am not living in Italy enough.  Do I appreciate the food, the language, the culture of this beautiful land?  Am I learning the food, the language, the culture?  What ways can I more fully embrace living in Italy?

Once a week I have a ritual that is entirely Italian: Lena and I walk to the Wednesday outdoor market in our town.  I have come to rely on the stalls full of vegetables and fruits to stock my pantry and refrigerator, as I cannot find better prices or fresher produce anywhere during the week. 

I love these trips: pushing Lena's stroller through the streets of our town and waving at our acquaintances (the old man in the general store, the boy who works in the bottled water store), the arrival in the hustle and bustle of the market, the ritual of tearing off a number printed on thin colored paper from the stack dangling in front of my favorite vendors' stall, the meanderings from stall to stall until my number is finally called, the routine of ordering in Italian as best I can and being helped along by the vendors (father, mother, and son, I think) who by now smile in recognition at me, love Lena, and know when my baby is due.

Today Lena and I arrived at the market during the morning rush, so while we waited for our turn to get fruits and vegetables, we wandered around the market and took some pictures.

At last it was our turn to buy fruits and vegetables! Afterwards we checked to see how our car wash was coming along.  We borrowed our friends' van this week while they were out of town and our persnickety old Honda was in the shop.  I decided to get their van cleaned while we were at the market.  The men washed it inside and out by hand... and all for the equivalent of $20.  I'm coming back with our car next week!

three for thursday {and some thoughts}

From our walk this morning: persimmons for Elliott (he loves them), Lena enjoying her red Christmas ball from the grocer, and the colors of our Italian neighborhood that make me happy.

Currently reading: Blog, Inc.by Joy of the blog Oh Joy!  She's giving me so much to think about for my blog.  I am trying to read quickly, though, as I have less than four weeks to finish my book goal (read a book a week in 2012) and six books to go (yikes!).

Currently listening to: Ordinary Time.  Elliott and I bought their Christmas CD (< you can listen to the whole CD there) when we heard them perform at our church in Cambridge, MA, back in our courtin' days.  It's one of my favorite Christmas CDs.  Any other good suggestions?

Currently thinking about: How I really need to sweep the floors.  Honestly... our floors.  I have to sweep them at least twice a week to keep on top of all the dust and grime.  How often do you have to clean your floors??

Currently planning: Pretty much nothing.  I'm so glad that Night of Noel and the craft fair are over and I can just relax a bit!  I am getting excited about making these cinnamon rolls for breakfast for the single sailors in the barracks this Saturday, though. 

Currently making me happy:  The sweetness of life during this holiday season.  Elliott and I are so happy these days and are having so much fun together in the evenings as we work on our projects side by side.  Lena is cheerful and responsive and sweet, a delight to be around as she learns and grows each day.  We all pat my growing stomach with thankfulness and awe.  These are precious days before our family expands in less than two months!  After many years of waking up in the morning and often dreading what the day held (I hated math in high school, I was stressed by exams in college, I feared the chaos of work, etc.), it is so wonderful to wake up each morning and be thrilled to start the day.  To kiss my husband (who is actually beside me instead of deployed) and go get my baby girl from her crib to snuggle with us in bed for awhile, to make warm oatmeal for breakfast to give us a toasty start for the day, to go on walks with Lena around our lovely neighborhood, to spend Lena's naptimes cleaning and writing and reading and creating, to cook a meal for dinner every night and welcome Elliott home with peace and joy...

... oh, I am so blessed!

Mt. Etna in the autumn (or... hiking with kids)

The weather these days in Sicily is just perfect in every way.  Clear, refreshing days with big bowl-of-blue skies and light breezes.  Rain once every week or so, just enough to turn the earth green again and give you reason to break out your cooler weather gear.  And then there are the hints of changing color on Mt. Etna, which we are taking every opportunity to see.

Last Saturday we joined our dear friends the Arthurs for another hike on Mt. Etna.  It was a perfect day: a picnic, a fireplace (even if we forgot marshmallows), a beautiful climb, and a magnificent view.  Oh, and kids wearing themselves out with happy play!

Elise in her new hat 

Mama Arthur and her brood

Lena and Lucas

The fire builders and their helpers.  (Josh: "It's easier to wear Elise's hat than carry it for her.")

How young families hike.

 

The final push and then the summit.

Beautiful Sicily!

"There's our town, guys, can you see it?"

my gentle husband

we three and Mt. Etna