The past couple of days have been quiet, except for the occasional visits we get from cousins who are still popping in to say hi.
The water has been a bit rough. Because of this, we haven’t gone out on the boat again. But still we are having quite a vacation – or staycation since we’re pretty much rooted in Santa Maria. We’ve been swimming, feasting on Nutella for merenda, and basking under the Mediterranean sun.
I started a new book - I, Mona Lisa, by Jeanne Kalogridis. I am loving it. Mike is not a big fan of the book, since he has to compete with it for my attention. Too bad for him, my books usually win.
Aside from enjoying a handful of leisurely activities and savoring my precious reading time, I with Mike have also been getting back in touch with nature. Everyday, we enjoy the sight of purple and orange sunsets. We take pleasure in sitting on his balcony at night, listening to the waves crash while looking up at the sky to look for the Big Dipper. We’ve been tracking the size of the moon, and the direction that the wind blows. Is it maestrale? In which case the wind comes from the northwest, and brings with it nice and sunny weather. Is it scirocco? In which case the wind comes from the South (the direction of Sahara). It brings with it unbearably hot weather preceding stormy winds and big waves that take away the sand in front of Mike’s beach house.
I’ve learned so much the past few days about things that put me back in touch with nature and the world. Back home, I don’t even look up to see if the sky is still blue.
Before leaving for vacation, I busted my chops while making sure that I finished my list of tasks for work. Of course, task lists never truly end. I was still thinking of technical issues even on the plane en route to Rome. Now with all the beauty of nature around me, I’ve come to realize that whatever was going on at work, whether it was a pending change control or configuration issue, is all quite trivial, really. There IS a bigger picture, and there exists a world such as this – a beautiful one too!
The world’s wonder is beyond the four walls of the office and its beauty extends farther than the laptop monitor. So much is out there for us to explore and experience. And to appreciate it, we simply must open our eyes, utilize our senses, and recognize the goodness that surrounds us. Along the way if we’re lucky, perhaps we’d learn to see and cherish those things that truly matter and let go of all that’s trivial and small.
