La Dolce Vita - Palm Sunday in Florence, Italy

Today, Palm Sunday, is a busy day in Florence. Those people who carry neither palm nor olive branch after church services instead participate in an "Avon Running" event on the streets of Florence.


Meanwhile, I awakened to two messages that notify me of a heavy workload that begins today and must be completed by Friday.  The nature of my work is feast or famine, and recently it has been famine. Today, this beautiful spring morning, it seems, begins the feast.  I suppose it appropriate, though, as it is spring.  So begins anew the cycle of growth.

And yet I find it a challenge to stay indoors when the outdoors calls me to come out and play.

With work to be done, I may not be able to play, but I have chosen a compromise. 

You can find me in Giardino Bardini -- once the backyard of the Bardini family, now a public garden (my recent post) -- doing my work, but outdoors in a gorgeous setting.  A gentle cool breeze keeps the warm sun from becoming too intense. When I lift my eyes from my work, right in front of me are dozens of yellow butterflies that fluter about on the spring flowers in bloom.  I have a rooftop view of the historical center and Brunelleschi's Duomo.  And in the distance I can see the hills of Fiesole and Settignano.  The music I hear is a surround-sound medley of melodic birds, church bells each quarter hour, and the calm, tranquil sound of two fountains just off to my left. Sure beats being indoors!

There is a kind of sliding scale between polar opposites, and finding the right balance is like hitting a tennis ball on the sweet spot of the racquet. Although the work must be done by me, today I find a way to compromise and still reap the benefits. Sometimes we must make the best of what is.  And sometimes when we surrender to what is, we come to find out it's not so bad after all.  In fact, it can be pretty good. Today proves one of those days. Today I experience that balance of steadfastness and ease-filled relaxation while I work and still enjoy this special day.

Such is the beauty of life in Italy.  La dolce vita!
[Written Palm Sunday, posted Easter Sunday, and I met the work deadlines.]

Along the Arno River, Florence, Italy

An everyday autumn day with light so spectacular I have to be outdoors.

View of the Duomo taken near Ponte alle Grazie, Otrarno

Ponte Vecchio

Santa Croce 

I admit this foto was not taken from alongside the Arno, but I like the light.

Buon Anno 2011

 Out with the Old 

31 Dec '10

Duomo, Florence, Italy

A view I like

In with the New

New Year's Day 1.1.11

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy

A new day, a new month, a new year, another new beginning. Always a good time for reflecting on the past and setting intentions and mapping our course for who we want to become and where we want to go.

I will say no more because I have work to do in creating my way.  

Nina Simone's Feeling Good

What are your intentions for the year ahead?

Buon Anno!

Nevica Oggi / It is Snowing Today

On the cusp of a change in season

What is it about snow that brings out the child in each of us?

A dusting of snowflakes

Especially the first snowfall of the winter.  Especially for this girl from sunny Southern California where Santa Claus spends his time at the beach in shorts, holding a drink with an umbrella rather than drink a hot toddy, and Santa's elves wear string bikinis.

The girls ...

... only an hour or two later ...

... on Ponte Vecchio

I love weather's many changes.  I love the sunshine warming my soul.  I love the wind making me feel alive and frisky.  I love the rain, thunder, and lightning, being childlike and splashing in puddles, coming indoors and watching the rain fall, raindrops on the window, and steamy windows, and having that someone special with whom to cuddle.

Duomo

Palazzo Vecchio

Piazza Repubblica

Duomo

Piazza del Duomo

Snow...something so fresh, new, pure, clean, calming, quiet, and peaceful about fresh snow.

Piazza Signoria (above 3 fotos)

The elements when they keep changing, instead of staying the same, cause me to feel vibrant and alive. If only I could embrace this attitude with the continual changes in my personal life...

We just had to go out and play.  Everyone is happy, smiling, and laughing.

Arno

We'll see how much I love it when the snowfall turns to rain and the snow on the streets turns to ice and it becomes frightening to walk on.

Lungarno

But today, as the snow continues to fall, Florence is heaven and a playground for all.

Sledding outside my house

One of about three streets in Florence with a slight hill

The Glow of Sunset

Gesto dell' Ombrello

A friend recently brought to my attention this particular angel on the facade of the Duomo in Florence, Italy.  Perhaps not so innocent an angel.

The umbrella gesture -- the Brits are known to carry their umbrella in the pit of the elbow -- is a hand gesture used throughout Italy to say an entire sentence:  Vaffanculo, a vulgarity I cannot completely translate on a public site, "Go **** yourself!"

The things we learn...

-- Josslyn "Giosalina"
Firenze, Italia