Mandi, Biele!

That's "ciao, bella", in Friulano, and is a phrase which will be part of the name for my new website just as soon as I can figure out how in hell a website is created.  Have decided to ditch good ol' blogspot in favor of wide-opener, greener pastures.  Hopefully I'll have that spot up and running in the next couple of weeks, but until then I'll keep writing here.

Is too terrifying (i.e. hot and buggy) to go outside, so I've spent the day in my magical bedroom, fiddling about on the internet while the portable fan blows directly into my back.  Have been back home here in Friuli for exactly one week, and I can say that this is the most confident, comfortable and exciting return to date.  Regular readers of this site may recall other "re-entry" blogs that detailed bouts of shock, hysteria and homesickness which took place during the car rides home from the Venice airport.  There was one gem of a moment when I demanded to be TAKEN RIGHT BACK TO THAT PLANE, and clawed at the car window as though FL were a kidnapper and not my patient, blindsided lover.  

This time, however, I was nothing short of thrilled to find myself back in Italia, in Friuli, at Bosc di Sot, in the loving arms of FL.  This summer sort of set me strait.  I had a chance to really get back into the groove of things in Georgia, in the US, and came to a number of conclusions, including the following:

- I do not have children yet, so I best run amuck and lose myself in vineyards and mountain passes as much as I can before there is anything in my life to worry about other than what varietal of wine to drink with supper.

- I do not ever want to deal with dating BOYS ever again, because from what I witnessed in the NYC/DC/ATL/ATH scenes it seems just beyond excruciating, all the more so because WE ARE NOT IN COLLEGE ANYMORE, PEOPLE, so really, I am just thanking my lucky stars and God and whatever else there may be for FL.

- I am doing just fine, better than fine, and need not worry about my lack of a "career", one of which I imagine would have to be either handed to me via charity or taken by force in the US right now, as everything seems pretty much in the dirt job-wise, and my response to the "what was your degree in, again" question was continually met with either an awkward silence, laughter, or the even more painful, "and how much did you pay for that?"  Instead have recognized the possibilities for me to create my own career over here because, good grief, this place is an anthropological/culinary/travel-adventure goldmine.  I am capable, creative, flexible, inspired, and under no sort of time-restriction what so ever.  So let the juices flow!

- If I lived in the US again, I would get fat.  This is just something that I am sure of, and I wish to avoid it.  So Italy it is.

How wonderful to come back to the language, to the food, to the smell of the grapes ripening on the vines.  I missed having pasta at lunch, and spending the rest of the day figuring out wonderful ways to burn off the carbs.  So motivating, especially when there are miles and miles of hills to explore right outside my back door.  

The garden is a mess, but it's late August, so I am both reveling in the full-blown, over-grown wildness that summer has produced, and not touching it with a ten-foot pole.  The mosquitoes, hornets, spiders and gnats are just brutal, and until they go away I'm not even willing to go pick the vegetables without first slathering myself in Off and putting on a protective bee suit.  

Outdoor activities that I am not opposed to at the moment include mornings at Porchis pool, riding the hills of Collio on my new vespa (!!!!!!!!), and weekend trips up the river Natisone...

About a 20 minute motorcycle ride from Cormons is the town of San Pietro Al Natisone.  More of what one might refer to as a "hamlet" than a town, it is a charming place to stop for an espresso or a bite of fresh-caught trout before finding a secret little inlet, and taking a dip in some of the cleanest, shiniest, clearest, coldest waters I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

There are deep spots, and shallow spots...pools where the waters are calm and vast, deceptive in their depth as one can see the rocks clear as day even 10 feet down...and areas slight enough to recline on the smooth stones, letting the water trickle over your shoulders, your mouth an eyes free to breath and see...

On Sunday FL and I went up early in the morning and scouted out our own little private bend.  As there is nothing and no one for miles near the Slovenian border, we spurned our bathing suits and went in the river as we were the day God made us.  FL splashed and spied on passing trout, and I reclined on a particularly smooth bed of stones and let myself get clean.  In the afternoon, just as the sun began to scorch, we got back into our there-are-other-people-in-the-world-who-don't-want-to-see-this clothes and rode back down the mountain, fresh as a couple of blissed-out daisies, hankering for some grilled trout.

Tonight I am making supper for Marion and Kallah, who have come to Cormons for vacation.  I am excited for them to see the house, all the improvements that have been made since March when they first saw it, and also excited to teach them to play Briscola, the Sicilian card game which FL and I are both obsessed with and pretty decent at.  Will make, now for the 3rd time, the pasta dish which is featured on the cover of this season's La Cucina Italiana.  If you have an opportunity, and the cherry tomatoes, try the dish at home!  It is simple, quick, and unbelievably delicious.  I think the key, actually, are the really really ripe tomatoes, and the important-but-often-ignored tip to put some of the pasta cooking water into the sauce.  Makes such a difference!  Will post pictures and the recipe for the dish tomorrow, for those of you who don't have $6 to spend on a magazine.