Ladybug Invasion!

A few months ago, just as the weather was turning cold, we had an invasion....Ladybugs. Thousands of them. In the afternoon, when the air was cool but the side of our apartment was warm from the sun beating on it all day, these happy insects would literally bounce off the wall, fly into my hair, and crawl along the walls, windows and railing for hours each evening.

I have always thought of ladybugs as a 'sign' of good things coming my way, and initially I thought it could have been a major sign (like a baby in my tummy?!?) but this was ridiculous. Funny how things can change...
We had to be careful to shut all the windows tight each afternoon or there would literally be 30 ladybugs crawling around the inside of the window frame each evening.

At first, I thought of this as a confirmation, a sign like I had in the past, of me being in the right place, doing the right thing, needing only to be patient...then I realised that it was just a lot of friggin' ladybugs, searching for warmth in the the cold fall air...I wish I was able to go back to the time when they were a talisman, a lucky charm, a reason for hope.

Now, somehow even through the winter, we continue to find ladybugs in the house. Though not in the crazy numbers we found them in the fall....and the sad part is that because they are sluggish and obviously not finding all the yummy aphids they need to survive, more often then not, they end up under one of our slippers...crunch.

Dreading the Haircut- In 3 parts

For as long as Marco and I have been together, whenever he meets someone new and sometimes when he's with an old friend, they ask...'how long have you been growing your dreads?'.

The answer is more than ten years.

So when this summer he looked me in the eye and said he wanted to cut his hair, I only half believed he'd actually do it.

Ten long years of his adult life he's been growing the dreads that I fell in love with him with, that people have identified him with, that have grown along with him in all the twists and turns life has presented...
 
He says it every summer, when the heat is made unbearable (I imagine) by the hair-blanket that covers him down to his waist. It's also a big decision, to part with a part of yourself...But this summer he actually did it. Well, I did it.

No matter how nice it sounds to say 'what you look like doesn't matter', it really isn't true. And when you've had dreads most of your adult life, I'm sure that having the dreads is even more of a big deal, compared with having say, another hair style or hair colour.

When we were living in London, dreads (most of them Jamaican I guess) used to give him what we called 'brother love', a smile and a fist proudly raised to their heart in a salute...Marco usually just returned the greeting with a smile...

I'm sure that a lot of people also thought that Marco smokes a load of weed. My father did for sure...and Marco was always getting stopped in the streets asking if he wanted weed or if he had rolling papers or a lighter. He'd always say no and send them to me (not for the weed but for the smoking paraphernalia!)...alas he couldn't uphold the stereotype.

Over the years I've asked him if he thought it made a difference- having the dreads- and if people treated him differently. I thought he'd say that yes, in a negative way, people perceived him differently. But I was mistaken. From his perspective, people were nice to him and open to finding out more about him, partially because of his 'alternative' hair style. I grew up in a conservative world, working in the 'service' industry at 16 years old and appearance (a conservative, 'presentable' one) has always been pushed on me. Serving fish in Red Lobster with dreads to my waist was unfortunately never an option. Instead, I had to wear my hair tied back to match my khaki pants and shirt with fish all over it.

So his choice to cut his long, beautiful dreads was a practical one. And an emotional one, for both of us.

The first cut happened one sunny morning in Angera in July. We had heard and read online that the best way to cut really long dreads was gradually. They are super heavy and the strain on the scalp and follicle are pretty great, so best to be conservative and take it slow...

 We cut the longest at the root and the rest at the halfway point. I got a nice dread bouquet, how romantic!

A month or so afterwards, we cut them again. This time they just reached his shoulders. He looked like a teenager! And even though they were much more manageable and light, he said that he'd cut them all off soon enough...
 
We went camping at the beginning of September and after pitching our tent and sleeping there the night, Marco dropped the bomb..."cut it all".

 It was seriously difficult and strangely stressful. I was sweating and shaking...Marco took it quite well.

 And as the pile of dreads grew, Marco was revealed in his currently form, at the beginning reminding me of a baby bird. His hair so soft, the back of his neck almost like baby skin after being protected and covered for so many years.

He was not too happy when it was all said and done, but within a few days he'd adjusted and is now completely comfortable. It probably helps that since cutting his dreads he's beat me in swimming races at the pool, taken record fast showers and walks straighter. I think he really likes his new (old) haircut and although he sometimes sees guys with beautiful, long dreads and watches them with a look of nostalgia, when I ask if he misses them, he says no.

Hand Embroidered for a special friend

I embroidered this for our friend who lives in Rome to celebrate his new, snazzy apartment

...a Roman from Zaragoza

Book Review- InterRail by Alessandro Gallenzi

Months back I was offered a copy of  InterRail to review.



It's a travel narrative written by Alessandro Gallenzi. While the summer flew by, family came and went, travels of my own were taken, I eventually got to read the book.

It's a good book for a person who hasn't travelled before but wants to know what could happen if they go on a solo journey. It might also be appreciated by someone who's taken a few solo trips already and wants to reminisce, with literary prompts by the book.

Gallenzi's travelling Francesco makes the most out his encounters and takes time to enjoy all that travel has to offer, from opening his mind, getting into bits of trouble and even beginning new relationships, which I can certainly identify with. While it was, at times, too far fetched and difficult to get absorbed in, it was an entertaining read.

You can check out the publisher/ author's site here.

Happy travels.

Val D'Ultimo...a getaway good for the soul

Shortly after hitting a wall in terms of optimism while living here, we took a few days to get away with dear friends. Picking them up at the airport, we drove north towards the Austrian border and didn't stop until reached our guest house, at more than 2500 meters.

We hiked during the day, picnicking on speck and bread...

And the scent of the apples we munched on beckoned horses that were out grazing on the hills for the summer...

We walked through villages with perfectly ordered gardens, which inspired the artist and the gardener in me...

We paused at mountain refuges and met the locals...

We enjoyed the view and listened to the absolute silence that was only interrupted by the whistling of the wind and the ding-dong of cow bells...

We felt small...in a good way...how incredible nature is...the mountains, so enormous and powerful...yet so calming...

We had more than one excellent pint...

We found amazing perspectives all around us...

Even from the road, while waiting for a religious procession to wrap up...

I discovered that Elderflower water, an exotic and sublime drink I hadn't had since my teens, is actually a regional speciality... called Succo di Sambucco...

I began to feel less and less anxious...able to enjoy more 'moments' and worry less about the future...

Being at the top of mountains does something to my way of seeing things...helps to take you out of your own head and out into the atmosphere...

And of course, the special moments (and local treats) shared with friends and my husband were abundant...

And of course...a monopoly tournament is a must in a mountain cabin, when it gets dark and the village is asleep at 9pm.

 

Art

This is a very special song...and video...really speaks to the suffocated artist inside of me :)
Enjoy!

Anxiety Report

Snapshot Report

Existential Anxiety

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You have a high level of existential anxiety, which can be best explained as a sense of dissatisfaction with life and a feeling that things are somehow beyond your realm of control. Overall, people with such an outlook often feel helpless, as though nothing is predictable or stable, and wonder why they are not as happy as other people appear to be. They may sometimes feel out of control, afraid of the future or even question whether life has any meaning. Your regular flashes of existential anxiety could send you on a downward spiral if you don't get a grip on them. Adopting a more positive outlook could have a profound effect on the way you view the world, your role in it, and your level of anxiety.