In Love with France, At Home In Italy

Here she is, early in the season, before she became a jungle. Looks pretty peaceful, no? MY ORTO IS LETTING ME KNOW IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT SHE IS NOT PLEASED WITH ME. AND SHE IS QUITE RIGHT. THE POOL MAN LIKES TO SAY THAT A SWIMMING POOL IS LIKE A BABY. SHE REQUIRES CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE. WELL DITTO FOR A VEGETABLE GARDEN. Every time I have abandoned her, she has gotten back at me. Ordinarily a very devoted, even compulsive gardener with zero tolerance for weeds, I am full of rationalizations for my neglect. First it was a period of bad weather. Next a trip to visit family. Then trying to care for a husband with a pinched nerve. But she is not interested in excuses. This is existentialism in action. Good intentions mean nothing. It's only what you do that counts. Today I am trying to make it up to her. We'll see how well that works. INSECT CONTROL: LATEST ENEMY ON THE HIT LIST I'm beginning to understand why they call them soldier bugs. I've spent much of the ...

How many times have I had occasion to demonstrate my lack of artistic skill in the classroom? Fortunately, he's easy to draw:a stooped stick figure of a man rolling a huge boulder up something that looks vaguely like a mountain. Then an arrow pointing up, and one from the top pointing down. During my many decades of teaching French, he keeps popping up. A man for all literary seasons, he never fails to shed light on the conversation. And not just when it comes to discussing literature. He is equally at home in Bella Italia. Living as I do in the Italian countryside, I share my home with lots of dust, spiderwebs, and local fauna. Even though I make my dusting rounds several times a day, there is always more to be done. DUSTING DONATELLA I'm no great housekeeper, but in America, to have many spiderwebs and dead insects in evidence is not going to win you the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. But Camus says we must imagine existential hero Sisyp...