On Sicilian friends who love us.

I have to share a special incident from last weekend that touched my heart. I had decided long ago that when I turned 60 I would have a huge party with many people there. But...when the time grew close and I thought of who to invite, the only people that came to mind were Giusseppe and Mimma. So instead of the big party we invited our neighbors to have dinner with us after church.

Because they are older and it's more difficult for them to get around, Giusseppe and Mimma don't often attend church on Sunday morning. Every Sunday, though, I hear their television tuned to a station with a church service whether they have company or not.

Palm Sunday is a very important time for the Italians and a day not to miss the service for the blessings of the time of Easter. Guisseppe came over that morning to ask if we would like to go and I wanted so much to say yes. But I had important things going on at my church and really couldn't miss.

When they came over to eat in the afternoon Mimma brought me a large palm branch tied to an olive branch with a piece of ribbon. She told me she had gotten one for each of her children (Antonia, Mariella, and Roberto) and one for me. What a privilege to be considered important by such a gracious lady.

I never want to leave our wonderful Italian friends.

A great coming of (old) age

Those of you who know me well, know that my birthday was last weekend and now I am officially old. I've been telling friends that I feel oh, so much wiser now and if the Dali Lama really quits as he's threatened to I may apply for that job.......(does he have to do anything other than be wise?)

We had a really nice weekend with many things going on. But, it was the little, unexpected things that made the weekend great.

On Saturday we decided to drive to a little town, called Castle Mola,above Taormina. Literally above, as in skyward, like a cap on the top of the mountain. I had seen some things there last June that stuck in my mind as things I would like to look at more closely so we got our things ready to get into the car and go.

On the way out to the car we saw this unusual assemblage of caterpillars. Yep, they are really caterpillars. They were uncurling from a hole in the corner of several stones in the patio/driveway and for some reason felt it important to parade to some unknown destination. Of course, when we got home four hours later, time and possibly the birds had done their work and the caterpillars were gone except for a few who didn't make it to the "upper world" alive. Anyone ever seen this before?

We had a great time at Castle Mola, took some pictures, bought a few souvenirs and gifts, had some coffee, tea and biscotti and were ready to leave by 11:00 (it really is a small town). It seems that every shop we went into the proprietor was related to the person at the previous shop. This little shop had a wide variety of vintage Sicilian aritfacts, crafts and such. If you look at the left-hand corner under the staircase you'll see a circle of bells. The frame is made of iron and there's a wind-y thing (kind of like on the old, old cars to start them) that makes the bells go around and ring. It's a kind of doorbell. That's one of the things I wanted to look at we found and bought one. So ....when you come to my house after we move back to the States you'll know how to ring my bell(s).

Since it was early we decided to stop by another small town called Linguaglossa and visit our favorite winery. (Especially for Ken and Lynette----we did not use the GPS this time) At the family-run business of the Gambino winery the owners are gracious, the land is beautiful and the view is indescribable (you're actually more than halfway up on Mount Etna and can look out from their patio clear to the sea---but not in this picture).

Again, anyone who knows me well, knows that my very favorite flower in the world is daffodils. The big trumpet kind and bright, bright yellow. When I was growing up in southeast Kansas daffodils were always in bloom on my birthday and were the first sigh of spring for me (the h is not a typo--sigh). Not crocus, not hyacinth, not even jonquils.............daffodils. Because the bulbs need to freeze we're not able to grow daffodils down where we live and I've missed them. What a great surprise it was to walk up to the house at the Gambino winery and see daffodils growing all along the walk. What a wonderful birthday present. What a wonderful day.

(A paraphrase of Psalm 37: something says: Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Over the past 60 years, I must say, God has truly given me the desires of my heart and I praise Him)

Belated photos of carnivale

Tracy and Bill got here on February 4th toting backpacks, pillows, DS game systems, and ten giant suitcases. Bob and I rented a larger car for their visit and it took that car (a station-wagon), our little Sunfire and a friend's car to get them and their belongings to our house. You'd be surprised what a family of five can get into a suitcase for a move to South Africa. If you want to know why they're moving click on their link from our page. They left us for their new adventure on the 20th (well, Tracy left the 20th, Bill left a week earlier to get things ready for the family's arrival) and we are missing them a lot.


The first full day they were here was sunny and bright, typical Sicily. That night was the final night of carnivale (don't forget to pronounce the e at the end) and a parade of costumes in Misterbianco. The brochure from the town said there would be a parade of bands at 4:00 and the costume parade would start at 5:00. We got there a little before 4:00 and found (surprisingly) a parking place. We walked around the town thinking it was pretty quiet for a parade about to start. Not many people there. So, this being Bob's and my first time at this parade we thought maybe we had taken the family to a real putz of a parade. How wrong we were. However, back to my story.



We walked all over the town and saw railings up and down the streets as if to hold people back but.....back from what. Four o'clock........five o'clock. Went to the little store for a gelato.....walked some more. Walked to the park for a beautiful view of the surrounding area and other little towns. Six o'clock, finally a band came marching through the town. And then nothing. One band--a small one, at that.













About then, someone turned on music. Huge speakers were set up all over town and typical Sicilian music blasted forth from every one. More people started showing up and a few vendors of confetti, silly string, and noise makers set up stands along the sidewalk. We found a spot and very soon it was evident that something special was going to happen. Many of the bystanders had costumes on, especially little children. People crowded together along the streets waiting for whatever would come.




Seven o'clock (no, we didn't read the brochure wrong) the parade came down the street. And what a parade it was. People in costumes so elaborate I don't know how they could ever hold together. So heavy that sometimes when the parade stopped for a bit people would come out and hold the costume up to let the wearer rest.
Everyone, even those in huge costumes, danced down the street to the music and the parade went all over the town.








Costumes depicting Rome, Felix the Cat, ships at sea, gardens complete with bench and fence, card games, (oh, yea, and Alice in Wonderland). Way too many to describe. Here are just a few photos of some of the parade but there were many many costumes and "floats" (only way to describe them).



The air of festivity that can only happen in Sicily. People talking loudly, laughing, cheering, and a few teenagers walking along the street having silly-string fights. By the way, the silly string, for some reason, is shot at the floats and people in the parade--and anyone else standing in the way
We were parked far away from the parade area and even our car was decorated with silly string.

It got really cold as soon as the sun went down and we were all freezing by 7:00. We left about nine-thirty so the kids could get warm. We walked up the way the parade was coming so as not to miss anything. I don't know what time the parade finished but I'm sure it was late (for Americans--not for Sicilians). There were fireworks scheduled for midnight.