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Without thinking.

I sat down at the computer—completely in the moment, and a word unexpectedly popped into my head—spontaneity. “Why not write about that?” I thought.  “Okay!” You are now reading the words that flowed onto the page from that stream of consciousness.

The word spontaneity triggered an image of my friend from 40 years ago, Jed Free. Yes, that’s a real name! I have no idea what ever happened to him, but he was clearly a “free” spirit, so to speak, an unusually independent person, a loner of the nth degree. He only spoke on rare occasions, and when he did it was in a rather cryptic but meaningful way. Mostly, he just silently shuffled along with shoulders rounded, as if clutching his latest Bob Dylan album to his heart—always looking down in the vicinity of his frayed gray sneakers. I can’t say that I ever really made eye contact with him, but in some strange way, I have to admit that the guy actually changed my life. (more…)

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Well, autumn is just around the corner and it’s mating season here in Italy for the Caprioli, Roe Deer. We hear them in the dusky hours every evening and in the misty dawn, making their unusual call of the wild. What a sound! It’s unbelievable. Seriously, the Roe coughs out a disgusting guttural grunt/scream noise that would put a halt to any possibilities. The first few times we heard it, we thought there must be some monster of the woods—some creature both dreadful and loathsome. We wanted no part of it. The only deer references we had were 1.) the sweet, docile and perpetually hungry ones that live in Indiana and Ohio; and 2.) Bambi. (more…)

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It was some sort of modern day eco party that was pretty spectacular. Evidently thousands were invited unbeknownst to us. There was more than enough room for everyone to either sit down or flit around—their choice. Drinks were plentiful and unlimited while there also seemed to be an endless supply of goodies to eat. No fights broke out as the day of drinking wore on. (more…)

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We just finished our first year of this blog and had a blast writing for you! We thought it might be fun to share the most popular stories as voted by clicks from our readers around the world. Of course, writing daily, we never really know what will strike a chord with anyone, but remain committed to write from the heart about what naturally happens in this life of two Americans “trying to live as Italians.” We hope the experiences and lessons learned are both amusing and also thought provoking, as we all learn and grow together through shared experiences. Well . . . blah, blah, blah—let’s get on with the results! (more…)

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We realize that our approach to writing is unorthodox, but that is exactly what we want. It provides a way for us to literally write as partners on “one story.” We enjoy a “volley” process of writing, whereby we edit each other’s work until there is nothing left to change. Both computers are set up so that each of us has an inspiring place to work. (more…)

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The first few days have been filled with writing and processing what we have written. It is both emotional and uplifting. The stories so far have covered “Our Brush with the Law,” “Em’s Second Language,” the “Concert We Refused to Miss,” and our “Meeting with the Notaio (notary public/judge).”

We are surprised at how vividly the “happenings” over the past 10 years come back to us. With the help of journals and conversation we are finding the recreation on paper to be quite engaging and fun. As always, we find that it isn’t really about the creation of the book as much as it is a way for us to further process what really happened. (more…)

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Today we begin the process of writing, blogging and filming!

Here we go on this wild adventure of writing our book (working title: Under the Tuscan Thumb—10 years of trying to live in Italy as true Italians). As usual, one of us begins a story then the other rewrites it any way they think might improve it—no questions asked. Then back to the other for further revisions and so on, until we agree that there is nothing left to change. At that point it is finished. (more…)