"And the Trees will clap their hands"
My mother has told me that as a baby, I loved to lay outside and watch the trees sway and the leaves rustle in the breeze. I am not ashamed to say that I could spend hours (if I had hours) outside watching leaves flip and turn in the wind. I will also say that on the majority of my walks I take, I stop when a good breeze comes through so I can listen to the leaves. While living in Italy, we didn't have the luxury of a lot of trees in our neighborhood, but I'll admit the palm trees and pine trees we did have did a decent job at meeting this underlying need of mine. Ask a few friends what I was most excited to see, aside from family, when we got back to the States, they'll say trees.
After spending most of June and July tying up loose ends and unpacking boxes upon boxes as a result of our move from Italy to Pennsylvania, I needed to commune with God's creation. I needed to be immersed in a forest...I just needed to get out to my trees. We attempted for a couple of weekends, but found we needed to hunker down and get some household chores done. So, with Sean traveling to Ohio to get our cars titled and plated over my birthday weekend...bummer...and being new to the area with pretty much no friends yet, I knew just one thing I wanted to do that I could drag the kids along with me. Through divine intervention though, the Spirit pressed on me a plan to give the kids a break from each other. Adin could go with Sean and Emma could stay with me! Praise the Lord! A break from refereeing squabble after squabble about the unfairness of anything and everything. I will neither confirm nor deny that I have said quite loudly that my constant refereeing of their petty arguments "IS GOING TO SEND ME STRAIGHT TO THE LOONY BIN!!"
I told Emma that I wanted to go on a hike for my birthday. There was groaning, but she reluctantly agreed that I was the birthday girl and it was my choice what we did. I assured her it was going to be a short one to just check out the trails and wander around a little. So we set out on Friday morning for Boiling Springs and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I will say one thing about these central Pennsylvania natives, they are a kind and welcoming bunch. From the butchers and deli counter clerks to the rangers at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, each one is interested in talking with you and helping you with whatever you need. We arrive, find our maps with the help of a ranger, and set out on the north trail because they advised it would be full shade and with 95 degrees, I think that's what we want.
There are many things I love about being in the woods, the previously mentioned stopping mid-hike to listen to the wind rustle in the leaves (which I did), feeling small in their grandness, meeting other hikers along the way. I am generally not someone to start up a conversation with strangers, but it's been something that has been occurring so much since we've moved here. On this hike, Emma and I met a wonderful woman, Marcia. We met her as she was tromping through the thick brush on the side of the trail. She emerged in her coveralls (which she later stated she had jeans on underneath because the thorns are so big), long sleeve shirt and a bucket full of fat blackberries. We talked about the different berries found on the trail, wine berries and black raspberries in addition to the blackberries. She walked with us for quite a bit so she could point out the wine berries. I asked her what her plans were with the berries and she said they make country wine. They have grapes, but it's generally just country wine they make. We talked more and come to find out, her husband flew helicopters for the Navy and she visited Naples in 1984 when he pulled into port during a deployment. We talked about where she visited and how the traffic scared the daylights out of her! It was a beautiful interlude during our hike and a gift from God to chat about Naples. We said our goodbyes to Marcia and finished up.
Famished when we got back, we found some lunch at Cafe 101 after wandering around the pond laughing at the geese with their rear ends in the air searching for food beneath the surface of the water and checking out the south side of the trail that runs along the creek. We both agreed it was a beautiful day spend together, and it was just what this frazzled brain needed.
Later in the weekend I was reading an article in my InTouch magazine titled, "And the Trees Will Clap Their Hands." The author sites Isaiah 55:12 in the article:
"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing,
and the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
She also goes on to site Romans 1:20, "For His invisible attributes...have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made..." My study Bible note makes is so much clearer, "The natural world bears witness to God through its beauty, complexity, design and usefulness." When I am in the woods, I am in awe of God's creativity in the berries, leaf structures, details in the bark of trees, variety of birds and small animals and of how in all of it's gnarly, knotted, viney chaos there is still beauty and peace. It is direct communion with our Creator, all encompassing wonder and awe...it's no wonder I come out of the woods feeling renewed.
Adventure on amici!
It's go time.
A few days ago, a dear friend of mine posted on a mutual friend's Facebook page, "I really miss the Italy I knew before you left. It is like a totally different place." These statements affected me in a few ways; first I was sad for my friend who is missing her adventure buddy, talking late into the night buddy, go to friend for getting lost on the tight streets of southern Italy and much more. After I too mourned the departure of this dear friend whose trademark saying was "I'm free that day!" I felt a fire ignite in my spirit, and with only nine weeks left before we return to the US, I said, "It's go time." I've spent the last year working through my first time presiding over a Christian organization. I was given the incredible opportunity to sit as president of PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel), the organization that helped me to meet all of these amazing women and build so many strong friendships over the course of our three years in Italy. But, as this year winds down, I will be honest...I'm tired and I'm feeling that I haven't been able to put much effort into actually spending quality time with these women I've known or getting to know the 100+ new women we have welcomed since September. (100+!!! God is building this ministry!) Please don't get me wrong, this experience of leading this group is definitely in my top 10 of experiences I won't forget, and I mean that in the best way. It has been a massive year of growth for me, I have sought, leaned on, and depended on God more than ever. I have loved every trial, challenge, triumph, lesson learned and warm hug I have received at PWOC. These women have watched me laugh, cry, stumble, rise back up and, just recent, dance my tail off.
As my friend's words bounced around my brain, I said to myself, "If I get on that plane in June exhausted, I want to be exhausted from spending time with these ladies adventuring around our piece of the world. I don't want to sit on that plane thinking about the things I could have done in my last two months with them, I want to reminisce about the sites we soaked up during a hike on the Path of the gods, or the laughs we had over cappuccini and cornetti at one of the million cafes around us, or the flat tires we changed on the side of the road (this really happened), or the plans we made to adventure around the States when we all get back there." With that, I mentioned my thoughts to three friends who said in their own way, "I'm free that day!" I set out to make my list of places I want to go, adventures I want to take before I say "Arrivederci, bella Napoli!" Here's a few:
One more cooking class at Porta di Mola, (now scheduled for May 9th),
The English Gardens at Caserta Palace (have never been, hence no photo)
Hike the Path of the gods
Tile Cove and stairs climb
A Vietri trip
A day on the island of Ischia
Gaeta
And whatever else my adventure seeking friends bring to the table!
Milano: more than a yummy cookie
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to go on an overnight with my hubby, not just any overnight though, we went up to Milan to see Dave Mathews Band!! I have no pictures of the concert...none. I must say, it was nice to walk around not carrying my bulky camera, no purse, nothing!
I did carry my camera around for the rest of the getaway...I mean seriously! Let's talk about Milan though. The day before, I ran to the library praying that a Rick Steves Milan book would be available. We enjoy his commentary and walking around knowing what we are looking. His walking tours through cities are pretty fun too. Luckily, there was one available. There isn't much to see in Milan, and fortunately our main goals were to get to the concert and see the Duomo...it was a very laid back 36 hours.
The duomo is outstanding! It is the fourth largest in Europe, behind the Vatican's, London's and Seville's. Let me tell you, it was cavernous. The Steves told us there are more than 2000 statues on the inside and 100's of statues on the outside...they are everywhere! "Made between the 14th and 20th centuries by sculptors from all over Europe," says Rick, and each one is different. We did the tower walk first, walking amongst the spires and getting a closer look at the statues gracing the tiptop of the cathedral.
A few tidbits about the cathedral:
The first stones were laid in 1390 and the work was completed 1810
Steves says, "This construction project originated the Italian phrase for "neverending": "like building a cathedral."
It is built from marble, the entire thing. Not just any marble, but Pink Candoglia marble rafted in from a quarry about 60 miles away.
Inside there are "52 one-hundred-foot-tall, sequoia sized pillars" representing the weeks of the year, each pillar topped with 8 statues.
It was built to house 40,000 worshippers, the population of Milan when construction started.
The interior of the church leaves you feeling miniscule.
The size is hard to take in all at once and you have to allow a few minutes for your eyes to adjust. From the stained glass windows to the 2000 statues, it was a bit overwhelming and magnificent. There is one very noteworthy piece in this church, and two other pieces that stood out to me. The first, and unless you know it's there you will miss it, is the tiny red light above the altar. Rick Steves tells us that this red light on a cross indicates the home of one of the nails from the crucifixion of Jesus brought to Milan by St. Helen in the fourth-century when Milan was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. I have no words for that...just WOW.
The second is the statue of St. Bartolomeo, "an apostle and first-century martyr skinned alive by the Romans." It is an incredible work of art, grotesque and magnificent. The Steves told us to walk behind to see that St. Bartolomeo is carrying his own skin, wearing it like a robe in fact. The statue was carved by a student of da Vinci's. Sean and I had a great time showing other tourists this detail of the statue.
The third piece to not miss is the huge plaque outlining the uninterrupted rule of 144 local archbishops starting in the year 51 A.D. Now that's history through the ages! No picture for that one, but here's a few more from the cathedral.
Sean and I did get the opportunity to wander the streets of Milan, stare in amazement at the Dolci & Gabanna dresses for $10,000+, check out the multiple Lambourginis, Porsches, Rolls Royces, and belly up to the cappuccino bar in the theater district amongst the uber-chic Italians going to the theater. It was fun and entertaining, and the concert was awesome, in usual DMB fashion.
I hope you enjoyed a taste of Milan.
Happy Halloween!!
Mackenzie
Tomato sauce at Porto di Mola
To close out the summer in the last week of vacation for the kids, I signed us up for a Tomato Sauce making lesson through a cantina named Porto di Mola. I have been told by many a friend who've attended that this educational class was a must do in the late summer. I was lucky enough to attend the everything eggplant class in the late spring, learning to make traditional Italian eggplant dishes by a wonderful nonna (grandma) of the family. The process of a day at the cantina is you help them prepare the food, cook the food, set the table for the whole group for lunch (between 30-50), then they serve you a full Italian lunch with a lot of their delicious wine. If you want my opinion, this is a fantastic way to spend a Monday and everyone should try it at least once a week ;-).
I called my dear friend, told her I wanted to sign us and the kiddos up for the Tomato Sauce day since the summers here are crazy and you barely get to see your friends due to travel, family, stateside travel, etc. She happily obliged. This dear friend is 99.9% of the time early for everything and this day was no different, even after the GPS guided us through someone's vineyard-normal everyday occurrence here, you just have to commit to it and pretend that you know where you are going-we arrived early. Her punctuality rewarded us in the best possible way...almost one full hour of just the five of us with the Italian ladies of the cantina prepping tomatoes for cooking, crushing and canning. And they remembered us for the rest of the day.
The kids had a chance to try every station in the process of making and canning the tomato sauce. They had a great time and didn't mind the cheek pinching and head rubbing from the nonne (grandmas).
It was an incredible day and I'm thinking that any day I get a chance to bask in this scene, smell a wood burning fire and enjoy some delicious homemade Italian food and wine....that's a great day.
The beauty and simplicity of true Italian tomato sauce: washing, cooking, crushing, canning, sealing...tried and true for Lord knows how many years on this land.
A few more of the grounds.
Preparing delicious antipasti for our lunch.
The scene inside the cantina.
Some friends who gave us a "Buon viaggio" on our way out.
No Italian land is complete without a fig tree.
Preparing the batter for our fried zucchini flowers.
These ladies are rockstars feeding 60+ adults and children pasta for lunch with a four burner stovetop.
Ciao!
My beautiful friends
It may have been December...no, no...it was January. I was going through a workout on the spin bike, and God gives me an idea. A day, a full day, of portraits for some beautiful women that I have the privilege to call "friend." I have been wanting to do this for months, but the thought of building a backdrop, storing a backdrop, setting up a backdrop, and planning five separate days like this....seemed a bit daunting in my tiny apartment with my tight schedule. So, this idea of one day, one full day, seemed less daunting. I could move my son out of his bedroom for a couple of days, set up a backdrop...this could happen. Thanks God! Let's do this! I felt excited, creative and motivated which led to an amazing finish to my spin workout that day!
As I researched and read to find out how to build the backdrop I wanted, I realized that Italy and my apartment may not be the best mix to do just that. Good thing, I have a beautiful friend who is able to think outside the box for me and she looked at me and said, "Why don't you try wallpaper?" Hmmmm. I will tell you that Italy has an outstanding wallpaper collection! It was a very creative and easy solution to my dilemma (this is the norm here, we are often trying to come up with creative solutions to dilemmas whether it be substituting ingredients in recipes, fixing our cars, or crafting in any way to name a few instances). So, I found two papers, a gray solid and a cream pattern. I sent out invitations to my friends, asked two of them to help with hair and make-up, made a schedule for the day and took off running with this idea.
The whole day was inspired by Sue Bryce. She is a glamour photographer whose passion is to get women to get out from behind the camera and exist with their families in photos. She has been doing this for over 20 years and is an amazing portrait photographer. I had been watching some of her webinars on CreativeLive, and was truly inspired at what she does for women. It started a fire in my heart to do this for a few of my friends here. My whole goal was to show my friends how I see them, as the beautiful, creative, loving, welcoming, strong women they are.
It was a superb day with them. It, also, was an exhausting day for my brain, but I learned a ton through this experience and I hope I was able to give these beautiful mothers, wives, daughters, granddaughters a photo of themselves that they love and their families will cherish for years to come. Enjoy these photos, it was a labor of love for me and I can't thank them enough for following my directions no matter how strange they were!
Alison
Alison
Kelly
Kelly
Danna
Danna
Thea
Thea
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Never, never forget....whenever you are having your photo taken, weight on the back foot, hand on hip, chin forward and down. :-)
Grazie amici!
Mackenzie