Julia's Birthday Party

Tomorrow is her birthday, but Saturday we had a nice party for her.
She invited only the girls from her class plus a few other friends.
We also did a bbq for the parents. The weather was supposed to be
marginal but it turned out perfect. Everyone seemed to have a good
time.

Julia is 10

On Monday Julia will be 10. It's always hard to realize how fast they grow up. In fact how fast they turn 40 and have kids and stories of their own. But today I'm reminded of those so frightening months when Luisa was pregnant with Julia. At six months Julia thought about being born. A routine check up which happened to be at the hospital took Luisa from the exam room to a semi intensive care hospital bed and a series of drugs to stop contractions and effacing of the cervix. The drugs were strong, Luisa had hallucinations, and at one point her breathing capacity was in danger. She was very scared and so was I. We had a conversation with the doctor specializing in very premature babies telling us to think about what we would do should she be born so early - there was little chance of survival and potential problems with brain development, among other concerns.

Luckily things stabilized and then Luisa stayed in the hospital for 5 weeks and more or less so did I, having driven from Carlsbad to San Diego every night to stay with her in the evening. Once she came home it was total bed rest for the rest of the time. Then of course Julia decided to make things still difficult by refusing to put her head down which necessitated a C section.

Now though, Julia is 10 and a beautiful, bright and healthy young girl. I'm thinking about her and the first time I saw her little heart beat on the ultra sound monitor and the great love and sacrifice her Mom made to bring her to life. I'm reminded also of how mothers everywhere do so much to create the miracle of life.

Back to School

 
 
 
Julia is in fifth grade and Giovanni is in third. The school put on a great back to school welcoming a combination of faith and singing and simple encouragement to do well this year.

corso Buenos Aires

Di questo corso, Hemingway ha detto: "That's my home", qui mi sento in America".

"That's my home, here I feel like I'm in America." He also said which I can't find the quote something like it being where the real life of Italy exists. Luisa's parents home is just a block away and I've spent a lot to time there, most of it fallowing her around to all the various shops. It's always full of people no matter the day, but Saturday is of course the worst. For a country boy it takes a lot of getting used to, a New Yorker would feel right at home I imagine, but I am beginning to appreciate it.

We hit the stores there today and fitted out the kids for school. Great fun, Giovanni wore a new shirt home from the store and I think Julia will be the prettiest girl in her school, well she doesn't need new clothes for that but they help.

Kids Bedrooms

They have been gone for a week so we took advantage of the time to
clean up, paint and rearrange their rooms. Kind of a Fall get ready
for school cleaning.

A Wedding Reciption

After 15 years together they decided to get married so it was not a
conventional wedding or reception, but great fun and food at an
agriturismo.

Camper Parking

When driving a camper one must not be afrad of driving in the city and
parking on narrow streets.

Gothic Church Gothic Clothes

Early in the day in Urtrecht The Netherlands, they are getting ready
for a big Gothic festival.

Dutch Girls

Seems that this is the way Dutch girls dress in the Summer.

Random Holland Pictures

Everyday Beauty and another excuse to eat too much

It's too easy to ignore the beauty here sometimes. Yesterday we drove along a road we have passed many times especially in the winter to go skiing. It fallows a river and steep glacier cut mountains rise on either side. This time of year everywhere one looks one sees a lush mix of colors tending towards green, with a splendid blue and white sky above. The restaurant has probably been there for a hundred years but we just drove by thinking it was nothing. Someone else decided to try it for lunch. Inside it has the original rustic character but it seems the cook is well trained and somewhat modern. Thus we see traditional dishes cooked and presented in a mix of old style and modern. Presentation makes a difference and they do it well. But of course the food must be well prepared and it is. I'll just mention the deserts as an example. A simple dish of vanilla ice cream served in a little bowl on a rectangular plate, with a separate little square cup of chocolate sauce a small cookie and three red berries. Then there is the "cornucopia", a large round plate, a freshly made cone of sweet pasta, flowing out of it a golden mouse, sweet but not too sweet, reddish berries over it and a little sprig of mint. The plate sprinkled with white powdered sugar and a swirl of chocolate.

Back from our trip

We made it to Holland all the way to the island of Texel. I will post some pictures and a few notes later. For now it's clean the camper, go through the email put everything at home back in order.

Michael Giovanni Jackson

Hochdorf the Swim Pool and Lake

Some pictures from Belluno to Hochdorf.

At the Beach, Bibione

A few pictures of a day trip to the beach with all the kids and my
granddaughter Davis.

Simple Bruschetta

I've been serving this lately at BBQ's and everyone so far loves it. It's one of those things that proves that sometimes simple is better.

Slice up some nice firm bread. Toast it on the BBQ. Rub one side of the toasted bread with a clove of fresh garlic. Drizzle some olive oil over the bread and then sprinkle a little course ground salt over it. Serve - be ready to make more.

What we've been doing

Lately, we spent a bunch of time in Pradipozzo. Luisa's dad had some minor surgery that got scheduled at the same time her brother arrived for a visit. He lives near Toronto, Canada; so we were called upon to take mom and dads place for few days. Of course we planned to visit with him and his family anyway so it was no problem. Just some extra work for Luisa mostly in the kitchen.

While there we hit some of the local stores, that are all having sales, Luisa scored some goodies at the Guess store and I also picked up a couple of things for the camper. It's hot and humid in that area so it's nice to be back in Belluno for a few days where it's much cooler, mostly on account of the weather being bad, lots of rain.

On the 4th of July while in Pradipozzo I did a pretty successful BBQ American style and we did an all family toast to the good ol USA. In fact of the 18 including kids that were there 7 are more or less Americans. I say more or less because 2 are naturalized citizens who don't live there now, two kids born to a US citizen Indian mother in Canada and an Italian father, my two with an Italian mom but born in the US. At any rate I tried to emphasize the American connection. In fact I am somewhat proud of my connection to the revolution that includes at least 4 of my ancestors who fought in it.