There are no chickens. There is snow.

The local rooster - our Italian alarm clock.

My Equipment shirt drying in the Italian sun.

Our final days in Italy...

Lilac - Lee's favorite flowering bush

On the terrace.


We are home from Italy. I should be wrapped in a straightjacket. The sky is not blue. (Please notice the color of the sky in the 2nd photo.) The temperature hovers at freezing and there is snow this morning. I had to scrape it from my car so that I could safely see to drive.

We are lame at planning. The deal was this: we go to Italy Mar 14 to April 14 and, when we return, winter will be a shadowy memory.

Wrong.

Oh, well. The Italian lilac sweetly swirls in my memory. As does the rooster's crow and the ringing of the bells and the breeze that dried the clothing and the beer on the terrace and the morning cappuccino and the sleepy mornings.

Spring will come to Minnesota too.

Right?