VACATION TIME!

If you’ve been reading the blog regularly, you know that I’ve announced the arrival of spring at least twice so far, and I was about to go out on a limb (again) and announce it’s arrival FOR SURE this time, but I’ve decided to just shut up and see what happens. Yes, the temperatures are mild and the days are getting longer, and yes, I know that April is supposed to be the month of showers, but it seems that we’ve had more clouds than rain. These cloudy days also make it stay cooler…..if only the sun would be out all day, every day, things would warm up quickly. As it is now, the buds are not really popping so much as inching their way open. I have put out some annuals and a few basil plants, but it just doesn’t feel very spring-y….it still feels like those teaser days in winter, when it’s mild enough to believe in spring, but when your head tells you that the REAL spring is still weeks away.

Right now I’m in get-ready-to-go-on-vacation mode, which means things are crazy around here. Going back to the states is always so much fun…it really is like being on vacation, but with a lot more conveniences. Yes, we’re still guests in someone else’s home, but that’s a small price to pay for being able to catch up with friends and family, to visit familiar places and to eat some foods not found in Italy. I can stop at SuperAmerica and get a super-huge 44 oz. Diet Coke (with as much ice as I want!) for probably less than a buck. I can check out the Target ad in Sunday’s paper, or spend a lazy afternoon in a bookstore. I can watch HGTV or a current episode of CSI. I can meet my daughter for lunch, spend the afternoon with my grandson, or just hang out with my sister.

The one thing that usually drives me crazy about being in the states at this time of the year is that I can’t plant anything!! All the stores are filled with flowers and seedlings and cutesy stuff for the yard…..and I can’t buy any of it! I’m sure my sister or daughter would be happy to set me loose in their yards, but it’s just not the same. I won’t be there to see or eat the fruits of my labor, and I won’t be able to make decisions based on what I would do. Still, it’s a small price to pay for being on familiar turf again, for the freedom to hop in the car and DRIVE!!! If you’re in Louisville during the next several weeks and you happen to see someone singing oldies at the top of her voice while driving and drinking a Diet Coke, there’s a good chance it’ll be me!