Intermezzo

May 14, 2009, evening...We have just the time to unpack, freshen up, and stroll around the yard a bit. In the process we discover, among other treasures, a swallow’s nest daubed and woven over an outside light fixture, a wood pile stacked under an exterior staircase, bushes at the side of the house tumbling with roses, and skittish lucertole, little green lizards the size of salamanders wrested from their drowsy sunbathing along a stone path. Turning from these to face the glory of the valley landscape beyond, I can’t decide if what I’m feeling is more akin to Maria von Trapp twirling with joy in the hills of the Salzkammergut, or Dorothy Gale stepping into Oz. Whatever it is, it’s giddy and delicious.