As someone who not only made the leap from the US to Italy, but also struggles with both types of "vision", your piece really resonated with me. Thank you and I wish you all the best.
Thank you. I appreciate you telling me this. It helps to know I'm not the only one. And, you're a great reminder for me that the move really can happen!
I've often pondered if my inability to see far away (which began in elementary school) has to do with not seeing the reality around me clearly. I see fairly well up close for someone who is 62, which I think is a result of a ton of music reading that has kept my eye muscles in shape.
Thank you for your response, Loretta. Do you think there was a reason that as a child you didn't want to see the reality around you clearly? - forgive me if that's too personal a question - it resonates with my inability to see beyond my father which may have been a "not wanting to see" beyond him at that time.
As for music, not just good for your eyes but also certainly for your heart and spirit!
Hey! How wonderful to hear from you. And you, my friend, what are you doing these days with your "one wild and precious life"? Sometimes living is full of feeling one's way in the dark... one step at a time.
Would be lovely to catch up. (I'm not sure I'm a good example, but I do aim to inspire!) xo
The vision thing. I think I was born with glasses and have never been without except for a couple of doomed attempts at using contacts. I decided I couldn’t be bothered. The same with those bifocals they keep trying to upsell to me. If I want to see close up, I take my glasses off. How hard is that?
I hope your Italian residency works out. What a great place to live.
My problem is I’ve been to so many great places to live, I had to take Thoreau’s approach to buying farms. Find one you like. Ponder it for as long as your interest holds, then abandon it and move one to the next one. Switzerland. Zimbabwe. Costa Rica. Canada. Bolivia. Georgia. Even South Sudan, believe it or not, but after all the pondering, Idaho is my true love. It doesn’t get better than this.
Tom feels the same way about Idaho. Which is why he won't try to get a visa, he'll just visit twice a year for maybe 2 months and I'll come back in the summer. And one strong reason why I love Sicily is that it reminds me of the Wood River Valley, except that it's warmer and always green. :)
I have progressive lenses now. If I am on my phone w/out them (typing, reading, doing a language lesson), when I look up everything is blurry for quite a while. That doesn't happen with the progressives.
We moved from Hailey to Zimbabwe and several other countries later. The first time I read Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls was when I checked it out from the Bulawayo public library. His description of the part of Spain where the story takes place reminded me so much of the Wood River Valley that I felt homesick.
Last week, I read a news report I wanted to send you about groups of Amish carpenters and their families who were doing 6 day “shifts, in western North Carolina where they were building tiny homes for the locals who were still living in tents, even during the early snows. The Amish were paying all the costs of their project and asked only for a dry place to sleep. According to the report, they had completed about 100 tiny houses and people were moving out of tents and into the new shelters until a local building inspector decided the tiny houses weren’t inhabitable.
I can’t imagine the Amish building anything that might be structurally unsound, so its probably something insignificant in the greater scheme of things, such as ladders to sleeping lofts that are out of compliance with the UBC. He forced the people to move out and back into tents.
I’ve not read any updates about whether the good people of North Carolina hanged the moron, but I hope someone with common sense overrode the inspector’s pigheaded decision and allowed the people to move from the tents back into the little houses.
You sure look happy there! And you’ve worked very hard for these changes. February will be here soon.
Thank you, Tara! 🔆
Loved this catch-up. Miss you and delight in your journey. I move back to CA in Feb. Been on east coast three years. Much love, JB
Hey! Yes, 3 years of winters… please let me know where you land!
Interesting perspective :
All the best as you prepare for your appointment. It's the season of hope and I'm wishing you more hope for the future
Thank you, Jimmy. It is very indeed the season of hope. ✨ wishing you a blessed Advent. 🌟
I've always admired your vision, Jan.
Thank you, Mark. That’s very kind of you to say.
As someone who not only made the leap from the US to Italy, but also struggles with both types of "vision", your piece really resonated with me. Thank you and I wish you all the best.
Thank you. I appreciate you telling me this. It helps to know I'm not the only one. And, you're a great reminder for me that the move really can happen!
I've often pondered if my inability to see far away (which began in elementary school) has to do with not seeing the reality around me clearly. I see fairly well up close for someone who is 62, which I think is a result of a ton of music reading that has kept my eye muscles in shape.
Thank you for your response, Loretta. Do you think there was a reason that as a child you didn't want to see the reality around you clearly? - forgive me if that's too personal a question - it resonates with my inability to see beyond my father which may have been a "not wanting to see" beyond him at that time.
As for music, not just good for your eyes but also certainly for your heart and spirit!
I'd imagine yes, as my mother was abusive. So, I did sort of wander around in a Neptunian fog dream world, when I could.
Yes, that makes sense. We are incredibly resilient as children. And then it takes decades for us to unpack and heal as adults.
May your vision and your dreams collide!
thank you, friend!
Greeting my friend...this really hit home. You have done well and set an example for all to follow.
Hey! How wonderful to hear from you. And you, my friend, what are you doing these days with your "one wild and precious life"? Sometimes living is full of feeling one's way in the dark... one step at a time.
Would be lovely to catch up. (I'm not sure I'm a good example, but I do aim to inspire!) xo
The vision thing. I think I was born with glasses and have never been without except for a couple of doomed attempts at using contacts. I decided I couldn’t be bothered. The same with those bifocals they keep trying to upsell to me. If I want to see close up, I take my glasses off. How hard is that?
I hope your Italian residency works out. What a great place to live.
My problem is I’ve been to so many great places to live, I had to take Thoreau’s approach to buying farms. Find one you like. Ponder it for as long as your interest holds, then abandon it and move one to the next one. Switzerland. Zimbabwe. Costa Rica. Canada. Bolivia. Georgia. Even South Sudan, believe it or not, but after all the pondering, Idaho is my true love. It doesn’t get better than this.
Tom feels the same way about Idaho. Which is why he won't try to get a visa, he'll just visit twice a year for maybe 2 months and I'll come back in the summer. And one strong reason why I love Sicily is that it reminds me of the Wood River Valley, except that it's warmer and always green. :)
I have progressive lenses now. If I am on my phone w/out them (typing, reading, doing a language lesson), when I look up everything is blurry for quite a while. That doesn't happen with the progressives.
We moved from Hailey to Zimbabwe and several other countries later. The first time I read Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls was when I checked it out from the Bulawayo public library. His description of the part of Spain where the story takes place reminded me so much of the Wood River Valley that I felt homesick.
Last week, I read a news report I wanted to send you about groups of Amish carpenters and their families who were doing 6 day “shifts, in western North Carolina where they were building tiny homes for the locals who were still living in tents, even during the early snows. The Amish were paying all the costs of their project and asked only for a dry place to sleep. According to the report, they had completed about 100 tiny houses and people were moving out of tents and into the new shelters until a local building inspector decided the tiny houses weren’t inhabitable.
I can’t imagine the Amish building anything that might be structurally unsound, so its probably something insignificant in the greater scheme of things, such as ladders to sleeping lofts that are out of compliance with the UBC. He forced the people to move out and back into tents.
I’ve not read any updates about whether the good people of North Carolina hanged the moron, but I hope someone with common sense overrode the inspector’s pigheaded decision and allowed the people to move from the tents back into the little houses.