Rome

"Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city." - Anatole Broyard

I wanted to wait to write this until I had spoken to a few people on the phone but with the time difference, that has proven tricky so I just can't wait any more.

Rome was amazing. If Paris is the city of love, then Rome is the city of passion! Everything about it just seems robustly alive. This energy coupled with the surrounding antiquity takes the breath away. We had a marvelous time. It was extremely hot so we would get up early and see the sites and then go back to our flat for chilled wine and olives and cold cold showers. Then we would venture out after dark for Gelato. If you ever go to Italy and don't have Gelato I will find and slap you. Divine.

We got up at 5am on our last morning. It was just dawn and we made our way blearily to the Trevi Fountain. On previous visits we found the fountain crawling with tourists and we wanted it to ourselves. When we got there we were alone (except for one policeman.) Mark took a few pictures and then we sat on one of the benches for a moment and then he got down on one knee and proposed!

So we are officially engaged! People have been asking us for details already but we don't know anything except that we are enjoying being engaged for now and we'll deal with the details later!!

Sigh!

Where we've been...

I'll tell you a story tomorrow when I have had a chance to unpack and to process it all. The places we've been, the things we've seen and the things we've done have left us reeling with the romance, the heat, the beauty and the passion that was and is Rome. Yes, you read that right. We spent a long weekend in ROME. sigh.

Magical Mystery Tour!

I am just moments away from a magical mystery tour! Mark and I are off for our first holiday in months! We have been slogging and working and trying and writing and creating and painting and we are running away for a few days of none of that!! I have NO idea where we are going. All I know is that I MIGHT need a passport and that Mark slipped and asked what he should use as a 'carry-on!'

I am very excited!!

xo

Mom, Dad, Dave, don't read this.

A couple of years ago I spent a day at the London Zoo. When I got to the Elephant enclosure, I was shocked and saddened to see two beautiful elephants standing side by side, swaying back and forth. Anyone with any sort of empathy could see that these incredible creatures were experiencing massive amounts of stress. Although it was only a few weeks later that I heard that the elephants had been removed from the zoo, I often think of them and wonder about where they are and if they are feeling better.

Last night, I went into the bathroom and a few minutes later I realized I was doing exactly what the elephants had been doing. I was standing still in the middle of the room, staring off into space. I was even swaying a little. I told you before that I am a very bad DIY’er. Well, I officially hit a wall last night. I am stressed. It’s more than my house being in chaos that is getting to me, but it used to be that at least when I got home, I could relax a little bit. Now I have added another level of ‘shoulds’ to my life and it is really affecting me.

This morning Mark said, “I feel like we are chopping our way through a jungle, and there must be a clearing around here somewhere, damnit!” We have so many plans and dreams and really when you step back and really look at our life, it’s not bad at all. But every single thing around us seems to have a leak that we have to plug, and I am rapidly running out of fingers. Is everything always going to be this hard?

big things ahead!

I subscribe to Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology horoscopes.
This is what I got this week:

"SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I suggest we title this chapter of
your life story "The Perplexing Joy of Hundreds of Emotions,"
or maybe "The Wild Peace of Way Too Many Feelings." That
may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's an apt reflection of
your immediate future: extreme, expansive, melodramatic,
spectacularly educational, and filthy rich with intrigue.
You may not break the world's record for most mood shifts
in a good cause, but you could very well smash your own
personal record."

Oh dear.  Should I be excited or terrified?