Her/his name is Wolfie

click on photos to enlarge - cliccare sulle foto per ingrandirle

She (or he?) stares at me from a very safe distance and I stare back. Mi fissa da una distanza sicura e io ricambio.
It's a little like hanging out with a pack of wolves, and some of you know how I have a thing for wolves. E` un po' come farsela con un branco di lupi e alcuni di voi sanno quanto mi piacciono i lupi!
http://annamariastone.blogspot.com/2009/09/just-having-fun.html
http://annamariastone.blogspot.com/2009/09/whos-predator.html

On the road again- Si riparte

I was very lucky that while in Naples I found a small Kodak store in an alley, run by a very kind and knowledgeable man, who discovered that the problem with my camera was neither the camera, nor the battery, but a damaged memory card. He fixed everything for me and even managed to save the photos that  I had been unable to download from the card. If you are ever in Naples in need of help with your camera you must go to Kodak Express in Via Donnalbina, 5 and see Mr. Bruno Colucci.
Sono stata molto fortunata che mentre ero a Napoli ho trovato un piccolo negozio della Kodak, gestito da un signore disponibile e capace, il quale e` riuscito a capire che il problema della mia macchina fotografica non era ne` la macchina ne` la batteria, ma una scheda difettosa. Ha aggiustato tutto e mi ha anche salvato le foto che non ero riuscita a scaricare dalla scheda. Se vi trovate a Napoli con problemi di macchina fotografica, andate dalla Kodak Express in Via Donnalbina, 5 e parlate con il signor Bruno Colucci.

I am so happy to have my little Panasonic Lumix back! Sono tanto felice di riavere in mano la mia piccola Panasonic Lumix! 

A few more shots of Naples  Ancora qualche foto di Napoli

Traveling down to Puglia - In viaggio verso la Puglia

Back in Ceglie Messapica in time to have dinner with new friends (Irish expatriates). Di nuovo a Ceglie Messapica in tempo per andare a cena con nuovi amici (irlandesi espatriati).

Scenes from Naples part two - Per le vie di Napoli parte seconda

It's amazing how beautiful the sun can be when you haven't seen it in just two days. 

Sono rimasta meravigliata da come e` stato bello vedere il sole dopo solo due giorni di grigiore.

Piazza del Gesu`

Via San Gregorio Armeno is a street in the heart of Naples, famous for its shops selling nativity scenes. Once upon a time they were all made in Naples, but now many are made in China, so some stalls have signs saying "non Cina".

Via San Gregorio Armeno, la cosiddetta "strada dei pastori". Un tempo tutti gli oggetti venivano creati a Napoli e dintorni, ma oggi molti sono fatti in Cina, per cui alcuni espongono la scritta "non Cina".

Sorry, but I don't remember the name of this church.
Mi dispiace, ma non ricordo il nome di questa chiesa.

Scenes from Naples part one - Per le vie di Napoli parte prima

Roasted chestnuts - and they were oh so good!

An alley

Three of the waterfront in the rain

Why a tree stump?

This video is from a few days ago, and I can't quite figure out why two or three of them at a time like to hang out together on top of the stump of a tree that was cut down a few months ago. Is it somehow warm or just drier than the surrounding grass? Drier doesn't make sense because in that case there are vast areas of cement that they could choose.

The weather report

This morning I left sunny Puglia to come to Naples for two days.

On the bus in Puglia.

Just shot this a few minutes ago from my window in Naples.

I'm still alive....the wind had ripped the shutters out of my hand.

It may not be "o paese do sole" at the moment, but it still has its charms.

Accidental video

Sometimes my favorite videos are the ones I shoot by accident.
A volte succede che i miei video preferiti sono quelli che faccio inavvertitamente.

Dogs, dogs, dogs

There are more dogs in the pack than I initially thought, because some of them stay on the land next to mine and never come over to my place, at least not while I am there. The two large white ones are of a breed called "Pastore Maremmano" and they belong to the man who owns that land. The rest are unfortunately just multiplying. I've been told that a local vet has come over several times to try to capture the two adult females, but has had no luck. I'm sure many of them have never had contact with a human hand. Since I don't live at my place yet, all I can do right now is to walk over there almost every day and take them food. There are also a father and daughter and another person who lives in the neighborhood who have been regularly bringing them food for a long time.

There are six pups and usually only four come over to eat. A couple of them are beginning to get a little braver. 

Last night I found myself worrying about "Little Runt" - he's the one you see at the end of the video, in profile: not much of a chin, very little fur, and back legs like a hare, but he does manage to hold his own at dinner time!

Post lunch walk - passeggiata post-pranzo

Part two - parte seconda.
In a food, wine and overall good mood induced trance I walked to my place to feed the strays and space out.
In un trance provocato da cibo, vino e benessere generale mi sono incamminata verso casa mia per dare da mangiare ai randagi e per sognare ad occhi aperti.

It's good thing I'm walking a lot - meno male che sto camminando molto.....

Part One - Prima parte
Sunday lunch with my guardian angels. Pranzo della domenica con i miei angeli custodi.

To be continued.... alla prossima puntata....

Then and now - Allora e ora

The way it was - Come era

and the way it is....... e come e`.

A sad state of affairs, but not a hopeless one. Una situazione triste, ma non senza speranze.

Going for walks, eating, feeding strays, eating.....Si fanno passeggiate, si mangia, si da da mangiare a cani randagi, si mangia....

Versione italiana sotto

Unfortunately my current internet connection will not allow me to upload any videos of a decent length, so this is the best I can do.
Today, before the daily 6 km. walk along country roads (my friends go every day, but I don't because I walk into town once or twice a day anyway), I went to a favorite local restaurant, "Da Gino", and ate two of their specialties: homemade spaghetti, with fresh tomato sauce and organic wild-foraged greens that the owner gathers every morning on his 25 hectare "masseria". On the side I had a dish of pureed of fava beans and potatoes on a bed of more wild greens. No wine, because of the long walk right afterwards.
I've been sleeping really well since I got here, that is when I don't wake up wondering if I will be able to afford fixing the house.
Sfortunatamente il mio attuale collegamento internet non mi permette di caricare video di lunga durata e questo e` il meglio che posso fare al momento.
Oggi, prima della passeggiata di 6 km. per le stradine di campagna (le mie amiche la fanno tutti i giorni, ma io no perche` gia` vado a piedi in paese una o due volte al giorno), sono andata "Da Gino", un ristorante locale bello e ben conosciuto, dove ho gustato alcune delle loro specialita`: spaghetti fatti in casa con sugo di pomodoro fresco e verdure spontanee e biologiche, raccolte ogni mattina dal proprietario del ristorante nella sua masseria di 25 ettari, e purea di fave e patate sopra altre verdure spontanee. Niente vino a causa della lunga passeggiata subito dopo.
Da quando sono qui la notte dormo profondamente, cioe` quando non mi sveglio che penso se ce la faro` economicamente ad aggiustare la casa....

Walls, paths and a pack of dogs - Muri, sentieri e un branco di cani

Yesterday's walk to my place as the sun was low in the sky. There's a pack of very frightened dogs on my place, apparently with mange and litters of puppies. I was going to keep my distance, because packs of dogs can be dangerous, but they were even more interested in keeping theirs. I was told that there are a couple of women who feed them as well as other stray dogs in the area. Good girls. I want to get to know them. And guess where I'm going this evening? The buy some kibble. Wish I knew a vet who would spay the females and treat the mange. Will have to work on that.

La passeggiata di ieri alla mia campagna mentre il sole stava calando.
C'e un branco di cani sul mio terreno, a quanto pare con cucciolate e probabile rogna. Volevo mantenere le distanze, perche` un branco di cani puo` essere pericoloso, ma ci tenevano ancora di piu` loro a non farmi avvicinare. Mi e` stato detto che vi sono due donne che girano la campagna dando da mangiare a loro e ad altri cani randagi. Brave. Le voglio conoscere. E indovinate dove vado questa sera? A comprare un po` di mangiare per i cani. Vorrei conoscere un veterinario per far sterilizzare le femmine e curare la rogna. Ci pensero`.

The Big Adventure

versione italiana sotto

I haven't posted since March, so let's see if I can remember how to do this.
A lot has happened since my existential musings on the meaning of life as I walked through Golden Gate Park, in fact I am no longer living in the United States. Two weeks ago I moved from San Francisco to the town of Ceglie Messapica in the region of Puglia, in southern Italy.
I spent my last two years of high school in a nearby city, lived in a house in the countryside outside of Ceglie from 1974 to 1977 and visited this area every time I came to Italy on vacation, which was probably on an average of every two years.
The house that my father had built on land he and my mother purchased in 1972 is still standing but has not been lived in since 1987, and is in pretty bad shape. It's not the one in the photo. The one above is of a place nearby and it's a "trullo", the cone-shaped structure that the region is known for.

So for years I thought of the house and pined over it every time I visited, wondering what I should do about it. Finally in May I decided that I would come here spend some time alone in the town and make a decision once and for all.
Since you know that I have moved here it's obvious what the decision was. However.........I am now wondering if I will be able, psychologically and financially to do what I would like to do, which is make it livable, and maybe even profitable.
As you can see the surrounding area and the land the house is on are beautiful.

It's the house that's the big problem........

In italiano

Non scrivo qui da marzo, quando passeggiavo nel Golden Gate Park e mi ponevo questioni esistenziali, vediamo se mi ricordo come si fa......

Molto e` cambiato da allora, infatti non vivo piu` a San Francisco e da pochi giorni mi sono trasferita a Ceglie Messapica, in Puglia. 

Il luogo non mi e` nuovo perche` ho trascorso gli ultimi due anni di anni di liceo a Brindisi e da allora durante ogni visita in Italia, in media ogni due anni, sono sempre venuta anche a Ceglie. 

Nel 1972 mio padre fece costruire una casa su del terreno che lui e mia madre avevano comprato nella campagna cegliese, dove sono rimasti fino al 1987. A quei tempi la casa era splendida, bianchissima e circondata dai fiori che mio padre cresceva, ma da allora non e` stata abitata e adesso e` in pessime condizioni. Non e` quella in cima alla pagina, ma si trova nelle vicinanze. 

Per anni ho avuto nostalgia per questa casa e per questi luoghi e cosi` a giugno di quest'anno ho trascorso alcune settimane a Ceglie e ho finalmente preso la decisione che mi ha riportato qui. 

Il tetto e` stato gia` ricostruito, ma non so quant'altro riusciro` a fare per la casa, perche` non so se avro` le necessarie risorse psicologiche e economiche. Si vedra`. 

Come potete vedere la campagna circostante ed il terreno intorno alla casa sono bellissimi, ma e` la casa che e` un gran disastro..........