And Forward

Doctor’s visits and physical therapy related to Dupuytren’s Contracture surgery I mention in my 5/24 post are finished. It’ll be a year before I know what stiffness or limitations I’ll be left with, but both my surgeon and physical therapist have declared the surgery a big success. Typing is a breeze, gripping thin objects remains iffy. The photo in my last post shows my healing hand, but the chocolate cake is truly more interesting.

The blowup I mention in my previous post continues to weigh on me. Distance is needed, perhaps long term. Blood relations don’t prevent vindictiveness. Religion has been used as a weapon.

My beloved cousins support me. If Half Italian is ever published, readers will meet some of them, on printed pages.

Out the window, shadows fall earlier each day, over my little Tuscany. Autumn approaches.

- PJ

Moving forward

I’ve considered dropping out of sight for a while, since I’ve been out of ideas on how to move forward with Half Italian. That project, after all, is the purpose of this blog.

Life has been jerky, lately. There was a major family blowup. Then, I learned that the surgery center where I had my hand surgery last spring was “out of network,” leaving me with a balance to pay of $19,237.00. It’s your responsibility to check where your doctor sends you, not your doctor’s office, my helpful and supportive insurance company told me -- after the fact. Supposedly this will be resolved to my satisfaction, but I’m still waiting. The visit from the French family helped offset these things, but when life is jerky, it’s draining.

Recently, I spent an enjoyable evening with some people I’ve wanted to meet, and from that evening ideas have come, some offered, some my own.

So for now, I look for places to submit travel articles, like those I recently made to Travelers’ Tales. The research isn’t always fun, but moving forward feels good.

The chocolate cake I made yesterday was…awesome.

- PJ

Awesome value

The family I mention in my 6/21 post returns to France tomorrow. Their older boy celebrated his fifteenth birthday while they were here, and from his birthday card they all learned a new word: “awesome.” In a video clip they later sent, standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, they cry out, “It’s awesome!”

When I visit a place where I don’t speak the language, I feel small, in a way. This couple’s two boys, fifteen and almost twelve, learned the value of knowing even a small amount of another language while they were here. During their visit I was the one limited, by speaking English only, while they were fluent in their native tongue and some of my own. When they asked me how to say something in English, they asked me in English. When I asked them how to say something in French, I asked in English.

By knowledge of English, they have the advantage whether they’re in France or America. I hope I helped them to not feel small, but to realize their awesome(!) value.

And speaking of awesome, their mother taught me how to make the cake she whipped up for her son's birthday, a simple chocolate fondant cake. Here's my first attempt, out of the oven just fifteen minutes ago. Thank you, Tiphaine!

- PJ