In Love with France, At Home In Italy

No matter how hard you try, I doubt you will be able to figure out what's going on here. Never mind the dead fruit tree at the left. Mystery photo #1 Mystery photo *2 Mystery photo #3 Under that pile of ???, beneath the limited winter sun of the next few months is a rest home for plants that have no business being outside at this time of year. The shadow is of the wacky woman who should be packing right now instead of conducting nutty plant experiments. In just three days, she's set to head back into the serious winter weather of the US Northeast where no gardenia, hibiscus, or geranium cuttings would stand a chance. A sensible, non-hoarder would say, as do the clergy at funerals, something to the effect of: "So-and-so has enjoyed a good life, but her work on earth is done. Now it's time for a well-earned rest."  Instead, I am pushing the envelope, trying to see if a little more life can be squeezed out of these pla...

There's a reason that ours is mostly the road not taken. Actually there are two reasons. We live in a beautiful valley accessible only by two possible routes, each worse than the other. Further, with respect to our so-called roads, just when you think they couldn't get any worse, they do. This resigned attitude comes from living in this part of Italy for six years. How many times has there been a rumor that the roads would be fixed? The last one was a close call. The funds were found and the workers were about to come. But then it rained. And when it stopped, something happened to the window of opportunity, and the money for the project got diverted. Next there was a mayoral election which led to a promise: "Vote for me, and I will fix the road." He won, even without our vote, but still, no road improvements for us. So you can imagine our shock at finding one day that some of the worst parts of each of the two ways to approach our house--es...