La Vita Alessandria

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Sister Wendy Speaks....of Family.

It's been a whirlwind few days of visiting with Rachel's family--I must say that when they get together, it does get quite loud. There's so much laughter and bantering that it's hard for me to stay in a meditative state because it's fun to listen--never knowing what's going to come out of someones mouth.
But today we did step away for a few minutes to take a walk. Rachel took me to a place she loves to apologize to me. Yes, apologize. Last night she forgot to take me home (we were at her sister, Andela's home) and the next thing I knew, she had left. Well, even though I do love her family, I was surrounded by 6 of society's future and I knew I wouldn't be able to have my quiet time. So, thankfully, Rachel's cell phone was on and I called her just a bit miffed. Yes, I admit it; I did not show my normal Christianly patience. To Rachel's credit, she turned right around and came back to get me and as part of her penance, promised to take me out to a quiet place today.
Here is where we strolled. It was so peaceful and quiet. I listened to the birds singing and took in the fresh air (what there is of it--oxygen that is) and I was just enchanted. I caught Rachel humming a tune and when I asked her about it she told me that it was a local Albuquerque television program "jingle" from her childhood. It goes something like this:
"Riding down the trails to Albuquerque, saddle bags all filled with beans and jerky. Heading for K Circle B, TV ranch for you and me, K circle B in Albuquerque....yooooodle lay de oh, yooodle lay de oh, K Circle B in Albuquerque". (Praise be for long term memory!)

The trail...

After our quiet time, we headed over to sister Andela's for a gathering and celebration of baby sister Carol's birthday (June 21) and Father's Day. Here is a picture of her brother in law, Denis.
Denis works at the laboratory, is a computer genius, jack of all trades, and most importantly, a fine caring father, husband, and brother in law. (He also makes a mean brew--ooh, I've slid a bit on this trip!)

Here's Bill, her other wonderful brother in law and across the table is Dave, a good friend who lives across the street from her parent's home. Dave is so brave. He always is willing to come to
these Diaz family gatherings and shows no judgement over their wackiness.

An anxious group waiting for dinner. Yes, Rachel did cook. The platter was waiting for grilling kabobs. L) Sister Andie/Andela; daughter Elizabeth, Thomas, son of Carol (R) and Madison, a friend who tagged along with Carol's family. They hail from Carrolton, Texas, down the trail from Dallas.

Briana, niece and Andela and Denis' eldest, waiting for her dinner.

Look at those faces!

With dinner over, Carol works to put out her cake; my what flames! (always a reminder to be good!)

Later, Rachel rounded up society's future and had them pose. These are the cousins getting to know one another better. Three on the left, Elizabeth, Quintin and Briana are sibs. Thomas and Rachel are sibs. Oh, my, now to add a word about "Little" Rachel, "Old" Rachel's name sake. "OR" couldn't be prouder to have such a lovely niece named after her. And my, these future voters are all so tall! I caught Rachel musing, "but I was only gone for one year....")

Later, in the beauty of the sunset, the sisters got together for a pose. Left: Carol, Rachel ,Gloria (G L OR OOOOOO, OOOOOO, OOOOOREA; praise be! How I love that tune!) and Andela.

I overheard the brother in laws talking, saying that those Diaz girls are all soooo different, that it was amazing. How can children raised under the same roof be so different? I say, it is one of life's mysteries. But, I can tell you this, those girls care fiercely about one another and would be there

at a drop of a hat if they were needed. Rachel learned a lot about herself and family on this trip. Like with age, they can get better.

Amen. sw

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Sister Wendy Speaks....and Visits The Land of Enchantment

We are at high altitude and to tell you the truth, I'm a bit giddy! I've learned that Los Alamos is perched at 7500 feet above sea level and the decreased oxygen reminds me of a time in Amsterdam...oh, but I digress.
We took a trip to Santa Fe and guess where we ended up? The train station! Astute readers will know the significance of this event. We were told that this train was the dream of NM's governor, Bill Richardson. Some of you may remember that he attempted to run for President. When he did not win the democratic candidacy, he soothed his soul by creating a train system. It currently runs from Santa Fe to Belin which is just south of Albuquerque.

Santa Fe Train Station

The Road Runner Railway
Note of interest: The roadrunner is the NM state bird. beep beep.

Native Indians selling their wares.

Local cabs...

An antique convertible.

Doors of NM. Yours for only $999.00

Afterward, we drove to the Santa Fe National Cemetery to visit Rachel's parents and two siblings, Michael and Angela. It's a very beautiful, calm, place.

Moments were taken to contemplate and smile. This is Rachel's sister, Gloria, and big hunk of a brother in law, Bill.

Driving from Santa Fe, northwest to Los Alamos, a beautiful sky guided us all home,

back to the higher altitude where we are closer to the sky and....

Beep, Beep to all of you. Amen. sw

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Big B speaks up

I am a little miffed that my sister in life and crime, Wendy, went off with Rachel and left me and Kim behind. How is poor Kim to manage job hunting without Rachel, and especially, without Wendy's very well rehearsed Catholic guilt trips? She, Wendy, managed to outdo herself today. During goodbyes at the airport, Wendy says to Kim: "You, Missy, have been gone for over a year and all those mentally ill people have just been waiting in that hospital of yours, not to mention in all those clinics everywhere, for your help. How can you even spend a minute unpacking- or resting SOME MORE- or looking at eagles in Seward Park- when there are so many people in need? What are you waiting for, a g-d* invitation?? Send out those resumes NOW! Don't you know that you will be lucky to find anything in this economy? You think some employer is just going to call you up and beg you to come to work when you FEEL like working?" And as God is my witness, Kim's reply of "well yes, Sister, that's kind of what I'm hoping for," brought Wendy straight to her knees right in front of the departures terminal, loudly imploring her Father (up in heaven) to DO something with such an ungrateful soul, beseeching Rachel for a little support, finally wailing and clutching the rosary beads to her breast (which personally I think has been a little overdone lately). This scene at the airport, witnessed by countless travelers, was really embarrassing for me. Drama queens, the both of them- each holier than thou.

Now I take a subtler (and more private) approach. When Miss Put Off Today What You Can Do Tomorrow just starts to fall asleep I prefer to whisper from the nightstand "What YOU need to get a job, Miss Privileged American, is a really, really big push to that gigantic tush of yours!" And Miss Superficial Lazybones lies awake for a long time wondering where the voice is coming from, first wondering is her tush really so gigantic and then eventually swearing she'll get right on it... as soon as she gets her beauty sleep. Ha! Well, a) she has not become any great beauty even after sleeping a zillion hours in Alessandria, b) when she says she'll get right on it- is she referring to the size of her tush- or to her life of privilege, laziness, and joblessness and c) in either case, do I look like I was born yesterday??! What a crock.

But the whispering campaign is only a few days old and I will persevere- or my name isn't Buschkaka**!

Oh, and one of these days, I'll tell you why I'll never be able to call Wendy, Sister Wendy. We go waaay back and I know far too much. Let's just leave it at that for now.

* gosh darn, of course

**the strongest, smartest, and most famous woman warrior of all time, I swear. She beat everyone in arm wrestling all the time- even the men- back in the day.

Sister Wendy Speaks....Reunions....

Some of you may know that Rachel is a very big cat lover. One tiny challenge for her over the last year was not being with Kim and Rachel's silly little cat named Hermione. Yes! The astute reader will know that our feline friend was named after the lead female character from the famous Harry Potter series. (I must add, what a book and series that was! We read it aloud to one another and it was a wonderful family bonding event. I know there's been some worries and criticism that "Satan" is behind the series--what with witches and magic and all, but I can totally reassure you that it is just not so! Let's not forget our Father's sense of humor and giving us such wonderful brains that create such "magical" fantasies. Ahhh, but I digress). Rachel was so excited to be reunited with Hermione (who is aka as, Her Royal Highness, HRH). HRH did show her happiness as well with some very heart felt purrrrring.

Rachel and little Hermione.

Later, the girls' adventure led them to a birthday party with a Mexican theme. Friend, Bernice was celebrating her 56th birthday. Ole'!!

The food was stunning and wonderful. The girls talked about how in Italy, despite the famous and wonderful Italian cuisine, they did have moments of craving Mexican food. AND, birthday girl Bernice made a killer chicken mole of which Rachel must get the recipe.

Oh my, I had my own reunion with dear friend Buschkaka. We stayed up all night swapping stories and sharing our "sisterly" adventures over the last year. She is quite the cook as you can imagine and she made the lovely carrot salad you see above. I am glad to see that she's paying attention to her roughage needs and swears it's her secret for keeping her "regular".

Well, my dears, please keep us in your hearts and prayers as Rachel and I travel to NM this afternoon. Rachel will be reuniting with her sisters and attending to some legal and estate issues from her beloved parents' home. Not always the easiest of activities but we shall not shed a tear because she did have such a lovely vacation and I do believe this qualifies as, perhaps, another vacation.

I look with enthusiasm to being back in the southwest. My, it is known as "God's Country" and I must tell you it's true. Just wait until you see my future posts where we will learn about "the land that was once under the sea"... My rosary beads keep clanking with excitement.
Stay tuned. And a big Amen! to us all. sw
PS: Do follow Buschkaka's advice and eat your carrots!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Sister Wendy Speaks....The Departure and Arrival

The last 24 hours in Alessandria for my girls was filled with tears, laughter and humble gratitude. From my perch I watched as the various compound neighbors and friends came by to wish Kim and Rachel a fond farewell. They were given a number of sweet, heartfelt gifts which reflected Italian and Alessandrian culture.

Their final packing was a sight to behold--weighing each suitcase over and over with scientific accuracy and packing with engineering precision. They happily gave away many items that made no sense to drag back to American and they strategized just how they would manage their carry on luggage in these days of higher security and greater restrictions. Rita hovered close by and kept saying how sorry she was to see them go. Kim cried, Rachel had a lump in her throat and there were many hugs, kisses, and hopes voiced that they we would all return someday soon. I am proud of the girls because words like "extraordinary people" and "big, big hearts" were used and invitations for future lodging and home stays abounded.

On Thursday morning, June 11th, 2009 at 8AM and a year to the day from when they arrived, they left Via Verona, 41. Rachel and Kim's last sight was of Rita sweeping the courtyard. Roberto, in an amazing act of generosity gave us a ride to the airport. This was so much appreciated because there was no way the girls could have managed--even with the special and reliable Italian train system, it just would have been too daunting.

Their luggage.

Leaving Alessandria

The last view of Alessandria and the church steeple
(left side of picture) that is a major landmark.

Goodbye Italy and red brick roofs....

Ciao, Alps.

Hello green patchwork of England--oh, and Rachel says to add that flying into London she had a birds eye view of Buckingham Palace.

A reunion. Kim with friend Mike at young son Conor's baseball game.

Chris, one of our Alessandria guests and family companion, Emmett.

Conor, catcher extraordinaire. Ooops, keep your eye on the ball!

We are staying at friend, Jill's, beautiful home until we can move back into our home on July 1. In the meantime, I have been getting my rest and recovering from jet lag.

Kim wins the award for sleeping the best and Rachel wins the award for getting up very early. I have tried to give Rachel some hints--like doing a rosary to help lull her back to sleep but I don't think she's tried that yet.
So, they are reuniting with dear friends, enjoying the cooler Seattle weather and ooohing and ahhhing over the stunning beauty that Seattle gives forth this time of year.

Beautiful Lake Washington where the girls are walking daily...

They arrived just in time to help celebrate Alex's 17th birthday. Kim and Rachel were honored to be coaches at his birth so this is a very important occasion. Dad, Peter, in the background and mom, Deb, lighting his birthday pie. Oh, and while they were driving home from the party, I did overhear Kim and Rachel discussing what a wonderful young man Alex has turned out to be...funny, kind, smart, handsome. Praise be, I say to you!!

Then, a little later, after the joyous birthday occasion, I heard Kim shriek and then sigh. What, I wondered, could be going on??? I'm not exactly sure but I think it had something to do with the fact, (to paraphrase Kim) "we've not even been home for 48 hours and we're already heading to the hardware store!"

Well, I don't quite understand what Kim's point was because this is now life in Seattle. It's a very special place and I am going to have a little chat with the girls to challenge them to view "their own backyard" as special as their recent journey. I'm going to help them view it through my eyes.
Amen. sw