I did it. Boldly, I declared what I needed from the friendship. She stopped by for an impromptu visit, full of complaints and criticisms, and I said, “Enough! I don’t want to talk about other people or problems. I want to talk about the lack of balance and the direction of our relationship.” She was […]
Cerilla, Cheryl and I will meet for the first time tonight! Ready to Meet Cerilla Yes, I know it’s hard to believe after so many years, but it’s true—tonight is the night of our first date. You might even call it a blind date, and I’m actually getting a bit nervous about it. All I […]
The first time I experienced the Italian hunters I was shocked! BB Guns for the Suburban Hunter Growing up in the wilds of our Indianapolis suburb wasn’t what anyone would call an encounter with nature by any stretch of the imagination. Other than Dads’ Sears BB gun that we used to scare away the squirrels, […]
Thread, string—whatever We like to play a little game called Follow That Thread. It’s really simple and great fun because we never quite know where things are going. It’s also good exercise for slowing down, paying attention and trusting the process. It leads to the most curious things, but to make it work, judgment has […]
Maintenance is a good thing, right? Of course it is! Without good maintenance, we wouldn’t have anything in our lives for very long—especially relationships. Patina? Taking good care of physical things in Italy is often something of a contradiction. Surprise, surprise! Stucco and stone really don’t need much care and feeding. They take care of […]
We hit a snag. Verbal Arm Wrestling It was an ordinary evening—or so we thought—when the dinner discussion morphed into a mild debate, which then turned into a significant disagreement, just before the fight broke out. Now, it seems to have been a strange topic that neither of us really remembers at this point. We […]
Following is our virtual CD, which was our original way of sharing new music, posted immediately after writing and recording in our home studio—exactly as it happened on that day. However, as of August 1, 2013, we opened a new site which not only includes the latest music, but ALL of our music beginning in […]
Making a commitment to someone you love may seem easy. No big deal. But, as we all know, living out that commitment is something else entirely. Here’s a brief sketch of our trail of ad hoc commitments—some of it may sound familiar, particular, or perhaps even peculiar. 5th Dimension We met at Miami University in […]
“Check that latest draft message and send it on if you’re ready!” Communication Link Morning voices bounce through the hard-surface stairwell with collaborative news. We each sit in front of our own computers on different floors typing away. We are once again reminded how connected this life has become. Most of our e-mails are signed […]
Documenting real life is tricky business. Tangled Together It probably would be much easier if our story was just our life alone, in some isolated way. But our lives are all tangled together with those of so many other people. To complicate matters, being in Italy means that there are also cultural tightropes as well. […]
