Una Idea Grande

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We spent a long time preparing for this morning’s meeting with Gianfranco, and it essentially went just as we had hoped. We popped in at about 11:30, and Tony announced, smiling broadly, that we had come up with an “idea grande.” Then he turned to me so I could explain that we’d gotten email addresses for all the consulates, and thought we could contact them so they would respond to his faxes.

Gianfranco replied that all had responded but two. Manila and (of course) San Francisco. To be fair, San Francisco the most work to do to confirm that nobody renounced citizenship, since Tony and all his ancestors lived in multiple locations within the consular jurisdiction within a space of over 150 years.… Read more

Nature Study

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday we biked out to a nice little meadow we spotted some distance away from the road. Charlotte Mason’s idea of nature study has begun to make an impression on me. At first, I only pretended to be interested in the insects and view them as sweet, delicate little creatures. But I have begun to develop a real appreciation and even affection for them. Which is good, since the long summer grass is full of them. We saw several varieties of grasshoppers, a big black beetle, a small white bug with five black stripes on its back, each apparently ending at an eye (maybe some were decoys?),… Read more

Il Ministro

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

On Monday we showed up at the Comune with homemade cheesecake brownies for Gianfranco. He showed us a responses from the Los Angeles and Chicago consulates to the effect that Tony and his ancestors have not renounced Italian citizenship. That was the good news. Then he said that as soon as all had responded, he would forward everything to the “Ministro,” and “we will see.” Now I’m left to wonder why he feels he needs to send the documents to the “Ministro.”

He failed to specify to which Ministry he needs to send them. As far as I know (i.e. according to detailed reports of others involved in their own jure sanguinis adventures), the Comune is supposed to make the final decision and declare the applicant officially Italian.… Read more

In Fangorn Forest

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

One thing I have learned from the Italians is the importance of planning work and similar responsibilities around home, family, and other beautiful things in life, rather than the other way around. We enjoy running our business, but it doesn’t hold a candle to our children, or our relationship with each other and with God, or even a good cheese course (well maybe the cheese).

In San Diego, I was convinced that the whole world suffered from overscheduling. Nobody seemed to have time for anything except work (adults) or school and extracurricular activities (children). Oh, and going to the gym. The typical way for a conversation to end was, “well, I know you’re busy, so I’ll let you go,” or “well, I have to go.”… Read more

Bicycles

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday we biked up to Certosa di Pesio, a 12th century monastary high in the Alps. It took us an hour and a half, since it’s uphill all the way. I think it’s nine kilometers from here. It was only half an hour back. We stopped when we arrived at a pretty little picnic spot near the river. The Pesio River is beautiful up there–full of moss-covered rocks. We saw several lovely pools one might swim in (although even in August it’s none to hot up there).

We also saw a deer on the way up. It watched us ride by and then went back to trimming weeds.… Read more

On Wheels

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We had another marathon market day in Cuneo yesterday. It was made longer by the fact that the 1:30 bus inexplicably never came, which left us stranded till the 2:45 bus. The bus schedule is exceedingly complex. Some busses come only on weekdays, others only on weekends, others only on school days during the school year. There are a few other nuances we have yet to understand completely.

However, in the intervening time we found a local beekeeper selling honey and pollen. The pollen comes in a jar, and it looks just like those little yellow balls of pollen one sometimes sees on the back legs of bees.… Read more

My Food Credo

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

How we choose to nourish ourselves is deeply significant. Food provides our bodies with the means to think and act, to heal themselves, and to reproduce; in short, to fill the measure of their creation. Proper caloric intake is only the beginning of our need for nourishment. The quality and variety of our food, and our skill and intent in preparing it are vital to our well-being on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Food was intended by God to “please the eye, . . . gladden the heart, . . . strengthen the body, and . . . enliven the soul” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:18-19)

One’s relationship with food (which of necessity must be renewed daily) can be a source of joy and fulfillment, or of frustration and destruction.… Read more

More Sentimentality

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Every day while Tony was gone, we each wrote memories of each other to share when we got back. Here are mine:

I remember being newlyweds at Villa Maria. You carried me out and spun around with me in the rain. We took long walks in the afternoon, talking about our feelings and getting to know one another. We got memberships at Gold’s Gym, and we used to sit on the edge of the jacuzzi and talk. On Valentine’s Day, we shopped for clothes at D.I., and then went to Tucano’s for dinner. You asked me what color of roses I wanted 🙂

We drove out to San Diego for our first Thanksgiving after we were married.… Read more

Chocolates, Take Two

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Tony got all dressed up yesterday and went down to the Comune to ask Gianfranco how things are going for his citizenship. He took Axa with him, but Raj and I stayed home, since Raji has finally come down with the chicken pox too. When Tony arrived, the Mayor happened to be there, so Tony greeted him on the way in. Then he delivered some nice chocolates to Gianfranco.

The chocolates were genuine Chiusa Pesio artisanal chocolates, made by a charming lady and her daughter in the only chocolate shop in town. She gave us all samples, and then put an assortment of chocolates (artistically arranged, of course) on one of those attractive little gilt-paper trays they use for sweets here.… Read more

More Raw . . . . (no, not milk)

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

We found raw honey two nights ago. It was easy to find, just like everything else here (well, no, not everything. Not coconut oil or books in English). We just popped in at a house down the street with a sign that says “Miele.” They had three kinds on hand: castagno (chestnut. a very strong flavor, and one that we’ve been enduring since I bought a kilo of chestnut honey in Saluzzo months ago), dandelion, and melata.

Coincidentally, I was just reading about melata honey the other day when I was researching apitherapy (healing with honey and other bee products). We’ve done a few rounds of royal jelly, but I wanted some unprocessed stuff straight from the farm.… Read more