Florence Duomo

It’s always a little awkward to pick up on a project that’s been left idle for a while…..even if the blame can be laid at the pandemic’s door.  But that wouldn’t be the whole story and this blog, ever since I started it back in 2014, has been a pretty honest and contented recounting of our life as it unfolds in Italy and the US.  

To some it seemed strange that after retirement we embraced life in a small New England town after living and loving our life in Florence Italy for the previous 15 years.  But it didn’t seem strange to us.  Florence, for all the astounding wonders it offers, is just a small home town to those of us who choose to live there and like all city dwellers, your neighborhood is the nexus of your life and all the other attributes it may offer are just icing on the cake.  

Montpelier Vermont Capital Dome

The comfort of small-town USA as personified by Montpelier, Vermont was a fine….in some ways perfect… place to live out the constraints of pandemic lockdowns.  We had farmstands for food, a good library for books, an internet connection for movies and communication and since we were used to spending lots of time together, it wasn’t a difficult transition.  

Also, being in the same country as our two daughters and their husbands after all those years of seeing each other only once or twice a year was very sweet.  We were finally able to get a chance to share in their lives  (one north and one south)……and what a joy it was to see that they are all thriving.    So………we got to experience the comfort and peace of small town life in the mountains of Vermont and during the long winters we decamped to experience the comfort and peace of tropical life on the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.

Christiansted, St. Croix, Clock Tower Dome

Like I said……maybe we’re just attracted to domes!!