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)