Another foggy cloudy rainy day in Pietrabuona. Stella asked me several times if today was Saturday. I tell her, no, it’s Tuesday. Domani, Wednesday, is the day you go to the airport to pick up your son, I tell her. Oh yes, of course, she says. His plane lands in the evening which means that she will drive to Florence at night. By herself. I can’t go with her as I have another commitment. I texted her sister-in-law in Florence to see what she thinks. I am hoping she offers to get Luca, bring him home and then stay overnight at Pietrabuona. Nope, she tells me Luca can take the bus and stay in his apartment in Florence. A weather advisory of possible flooding has been issued for tomorrow and none of us should be on the road.
Stella and I watched the news at lunchtime. Parts of Italy have already flooded and some houses have sustained damage. It is now 3:30pm and, again, from my bedroom window, I cannot locate my car in the fog. It looks and feels like the opening scene of a Fellini movie.
Across the ocean, another hurricane, Milton, is brewing in the USA, only days after Helene ripped through parts of GA, NC. FL, VA etc. Oi.
Strangely, there was less fog around 6 when Giovanni came to pick me up for dinner at his house. Emanuela is still recovering from carpal tunnel surgery so we feasted on a very simple meal of, among other things, toasted Tuscan bread with freshly pressed olive oil. From their olive trees at Podere Gori. There is nothing better than this, absolutely delicious!!! Giovanni made my favorite dessert, neccio, a kind of crepe made with freshly milled chestnut flour and filled with fresh ricotta. Again, there is nothing better than this! I thanked Giovanni for coming to get me and taking me home. No small thing as it is a one hour round trip in the dark. He says to me, why are you thanking me? It’s the least I can do, you came all the way from America.
We had an interesting conversation about garbage collection in Italy. It is collected every day. Every household puts out their refuse depending on the day of the week: Mondays only paper, Tuesdays, only plastic, Wednesdays only compostible material, etc. Also the trucks have automatic forks on the side of the truck (not in the back) and the fork lift picks up the receptacle, dumps into the truck and puts the receptacle back exactly in the same place. All done with just one driver. It makes soooooo much sense.