it is friday

Today's guiding was relaxed, not too high pressured and no difficult technical questions. I enjoy days like that. I was still really tired so I am afraid it was a rather scruffy guide today, in loose linen clothing dressed for comfort in the heat. It was only 29 degrees and in the afternoon a lovely breeze came up, so not uncomfortable for my Kiwi companions.

I came home to an email which had a link to Gianfranco Molle, an Esperanto singer friend performing on YouTube, (one song from his CD La Fiskaptisto ISBN 887036). It was interesting to watch the video and find a kiwi connection in the images. There is a photo taken in the New Zealand section of the Commonwealth Cemetery, where I was this afternoon. It is a very small world that we live in.

The Wikipedia entry shows a younger Gianfranco; the bearded singer on the YouTube video is the friend I know.

Gianfranco doesn't just sing, he is also a fantastic cook. He and his family are responsible for feeding me more than they should, and encouraging me to speak Italian. The battle of the waistlines is fairly even as I take Kiwi baking to them. His daughter and son have each spent a year in America, and refuse to speak English with me as they understand so well the need for full immersion.

I am forever grateful to the families who include me in their lives, and are so patient with me and my impoverished vocabulary.

***

Look at what they are doing to my castle. Soon my skyline will change. I am so sad about it, but can't do a thing to stop it. Others have tried. "Progress" is not always welcome. Conserve, conserve, don't rebuild!

Enough is enough, I say!