LANCIANO

Back in Lanciano

...

Bologna too

The smell of chestnuts is in the air...the odd sight of bright yellow pumpkins and other halloween paraphanelia jumps out of a shop window every now and then...it really means nothing here but it has caught on...I think of M and G here and how they might like how young people their age live their lives...sure, there is a lack of green space and it's a completely different environment from what they are used to...but there is so much to see and do here that one almost feels deprived in not being able to take advantage of it more...

Bologna

Hello and ciao

I am in bologna...nice being back...I will be giving two talks at the university tomorrow and thursday...city has changed in the last few years...a lot of nice things happening here...less dog do do on the streets and people actually pick it up most of the time...no smoking in any restaurant or public place and that makes a big difference as well...the streets and piazza are always very busy...protests and strikes today everywhere...I think Mara would enjoy seeing some of the things young people her age are doing here...and Giuliano would also like it very much...Peggy thinks we should come back and that L could even possibly teach a course or two in the Political Science dept. that is connected with law...well...I cannot figure out how to post photos yet but I will work on it when I get back to lanciano...baci to you all...miss you...

babbo

Flowerama

A few favourite flowers (and a prehistoric bug) in panoramic mode

Missile Phenomenon

I was out behind the garage the other night and just happened to look up to see this...what the!!!
Looked like a scene from Independence Day...the beginning of an alien invasion...but it was just
a missile launch...

August Storm

There is always a huge August storm in the works to see us off at the end of August. This year it was a good one. It announced itself with thunder and lightning. I went down to the beach to have a good look at it and snapped some shots of the dark clouds moving in. The storm front was drifting toward Savary from Vancouver Island. Off in the distance I could see wind and rain whipping around, so I ran to the house to put away the camera and down again to check the solar panels and kayak. When I reached the beach again (a matter of a few minutes) all I could see and feel was a huge wall of wind and rain coming toward me, obscuring everything from sight. Everything beyond a hundred feet from me had vanished...and it was coming closer at a good speed. I turned and ran back to close the windows with the storm right at my heels...got back just in time to close everything but did not keep from getting soaked. If the windows had been closed I would have stayed on the beach to feel the storm come in...wonder if I could have stayed on my feet though it...
and get a load of that weird rectangular cloud!!!

Out and about on Savary

Summers on Savary are always wonderful. We all enjoy being there. It's a small island, but there is plenty to do and see in walking around the various trails, along the long expanses of sandy as well as rocky beaches, or all around the island.
There is plenty of wildlife to see and observe, from eagles to otters, from seals to seastars, as well as nudibranchs and anemones in the pools and, if one is lucky, even a killer whale or two. The starfish are plentyful. Of course the most common purple stars dominate, but there are also plenty of others such as the leather star, the sun star and, depending on the tides, a variety of other species.

An odd visitor to the seashore is the snake. There are always plenty of snakes slithering among the rocks and around the tidepools. Every once in a while one might even be seen skimming along in the water. They obviously feed on sea life...most probably on the small crabs, the odd sculpin, and possibly the anemones. Hard to know. I've never seen one feeding. And as to what type of snake they might be...some say a variety of garter snake, others say bull snakes...they range from the common garter snake colouring to jet black to a rattlesnake type of colouring...the black and the latter are often very aggressive. One of them, a little one, jumped at me as I walked along the rocks.

Photo51

WALNUT CANYON

Photo47

GIULIANO WITH TRINLEY AND VAJRA

G and P on the road

Well, we've been gone for about 10 days now...travelled through a LOT of desert to Vegas and then into Utah and Colorado...very very hot all the way except for a couple of times as we climbed into the Rockies...G took everything quite well and we stopped at Super 8 Motels with pools to cool off in the evenings and mornings before we hit the road again...
At Shambhala Mountain Center for a week now...weather is up and down with a lot of wind but mostly hot during the day and at times very cold at night...tents are comfortable but full of pollen that blows from the trees costantly with the wind...so there's a layer of yellow dust on everything...
G's Shotoku camp is going very well...they are making masks, they've put on a play, he is doing cave drawings for a portion of the classroom wall, and last night we had a fire and marshmallow roast for the children in the camp...the food is another matter...his habits are taking quite a while to die off and he sometimes goes with very little food...especially since so much of it here is meat based...and I must say that I find that a little hard to take as well...
The Center is wonderful...a valley in the mountains...but there is too much traffic at the Center itself...more traffic in front of our tent than in front of our house in SD...not just staff, which is necessary to cover distances, but also residents and visitors (all of whom could very well do without driving...and most are one per car)...that could be one of their goals for the future here...reduce traffic...
in any case...things are going well and I'll post more later...
haven't posted any photos or voice logs because there is no cell reception here...we lost it way back as we headed into the valley last sunday morning...but as soon as we get out you'll see our faces again...
For our way back we might go down to Santa Fe and then across...see some Native American sights on the way home...

greetings to all
soon

PV

Photo38

Fruita dino museum

Photo36

Toward Green River

Photo32

Photo26

Wo guts

Wo guts
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

The interesting interplay of signs and symbols, icons and objects, constantly expanding the possibility of meaning and interpretation.

Man, alone

man, alone
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

Dangerous Animals

DangerousAnimals
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

PYRAMIDS

To the top of pyramids
I will not go
with a broken rewind crank
and a necropolis to explore.
Deep into the opposite shape
cut into the earth
are of no interest
to the dogs who follow us.
The sun is a stretch for them
the surface more of interest.
Barking is reserved
for matters of suspicion;
growling as a definition
of proximity.
Tall shapes are not for dogs
low shade is ideal, a place
to nod with them
in the projection of negative shape
as sand flattens to sleep.

Cactus flower

cactusflower
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

Garden
Beautiful thing
Flowers blooming in spring
I sit relaxing and dreaming
Nature

Poem by Giuliano (10)

Chai

Blend together the spices listed below, by either grinding them yourself in a small grinder or with a mortar and pestle, or by purchasing them already ground. Begin with small amounts of each, favouring your preferred taste in the blend. You will have to experiment with various blends until you find the one you find most palatable and appealing:

Cardamom
Cloves
Cinnamon sticks
Pepper corns

grind, blend and mix into hot black tea and milk...common teas such as darjeeling and orange pekoe are fine blends.

Enjoy!

Designer Attack

DESIGNER ATTACK
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

A precious jaguar broach prowling the designer mall in Bologna ready to pounce on distracted shoppers.

An island in the Salish Sea

An island in the Salish Sea
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

Savary

I am on
an island

I see islands
sometimes clear

or as muted shapes
through haze

and
sometimes water

so flat
to walk across

seems possible
here we are

surrounded
by ourselves

the sea
and the house

residence
in pieces of us.

Bench, Savary

Bench, Savary
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

This bench is in front of our house on Savary. It looks out over the beach and the boulder pictured in the next photograph. Sit and rest a while!

Solitary boulder

Solitary boulder
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

Every summer we spend a few weeks on the island of Savary, a few hours north of Vancouver, B.C. This boulder is on the beach right in front of our house. The colour of the sea and the stones changes with the changing light of day. It goes from a stark gray to a bluish tint on some days to a more golden red during certain sunsets.

Temple, Baia

Temple, Baia
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

Images are "enigma that are solved through the heart."

Giordano Bruno

Four Pieces for Egberto Gismonti

Um Anjo

I can hear a guitar
make its way down
toward the ear of corn
I can hear the string
tug at the tethered hand
I can guess as to the location
of the world
at this very moment
I can almost imagine
its rotation tilted
on assumption
A year and more
has gone by has been
or is it all to no avail
You hold out your hand
wait for the shake
but it just hangs there
I feel the air
press against my palm
and squeeze tight
holding on
for dear life.



Orixás


After the initial hit
strum chord impact
it continues up and down
the neck of repetition
and the guitar is an envelope
look inside and see
what is playing there for you.
Take a ride on this train
that stumbles across
the landscape
never missing a beat
always blowing in effort
to reach a quiet destination.
The guitar is an envelope
full of dreams and notes
that fly as the wind picks up
and blows into the dark
of your eyes
into the oracle of your ears
into the mouth of change
into the drone of day.



Carta de Amor


In the face of danger
there is an opportunity
grown apart
so the desert provides it
space and throttle
slides over the sand and stones
it’s a study in patience
and the road evaporates
into your eyes
so hot it’s hard to breathe
now this time of year
so unusual for now
this time of year
that comes at an unusual time
of year more than any other
wraps itself around your face
tight as a veil
and suffocates.



Forrobodó


Egberto listens to the metronome
in the other room
as he pounds the keys and shouts
it’s a distraction a way
to chase away those who are not
in the least there
in fast succession
for the last supper
has already left
awful tippers
down to the last one of them
A bad impression
some call it
I can’t forget their faces
it’s a trick
I know it or
should know it
but then there are only points
of reference and our cover
is blown inside of a second
just the same
you want to
take a chance
rake the
leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Anza Borrego

IndianHillBoulder
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

A magnificent boulder in a beautiful landscape. This is one of my favourite areas in the desert. The boulder looks over a significant archeological site and itself bears a petroglyph.

Flowers Yucca

Flowers Yucca
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

This year Southern California has had more than its share of rain. The deserts display the result of this extra available water in their more than abundant blooms. Everything seems to have flowered, from the tiniest bare stick to the largest shrubs. Dry branches break out with leaves and/or flowers; those that usually flower, even under more strenuous circumstances, grow thicker coats of greenery and blooms. The range of colours is itself a whole other experience. Temperatures are still comfortable to take a trip east, to Anza Borrego or Joshua Tree.

Babbo May 2002

BABBO May 2002
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

This is the third anniversary of my father's passing. The photograph was taken during his last days.

Words cannot capture
what will not be read
working against
the weight of his bed
against the tidal pull
and gravitational hold
of this bed-boat
as it holds its own
against impossible seas

Baia

BAIA
Originally uploaded by pverdicchio.

In honour of my father, Mario, who loved places such as this and did his best to introduce me to them when I was a child.


The Heart Sutra


The noble Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,
while practicing the deep practice of Prajnaparamita,
looked upon the Five Skandhas
and seeing they were empty of self-existence,
said, “Here, Shariputra,
form is emptiness, emptiness is form;
emptiness is not separate from form,
form is not separate from emptiness;
whatever is form is emptiness,
whatever is emptiness is form.
The same holds for sensation and perception,
Memory and consciousness.
Here, Shariputra, all dharmas are defined by emptiness
not birth or destruction, purity or defilement,
completeness or deficiency.
Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form,
no sensation, no perception, no memory and no consciousness;
no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body and no mind;
no shape, no sound, no smell, no taste, no feeling and no thought;
no element of perception, from eye to conceptual consciousness;
no casual link, from ignorance to old and and death,
and no end of casual link, from ignorance to old age and death;
no suffering, no source, no relief, no path;
no knowledge, no attainment and no non-attainment.
Therefore, Shariputra, without attainment,
bodhisattvas take refuge in Prajnaparamita
and live without walls of the mind.
Without walls of the mind and thus without fears,
they see through delusions and finally nirvana.
All buddhas past, present and future
also take refuge in Prajnaparamita
and realize unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.
You should therefore know the great mantra of Prajnaparamita,
the mantra of great magic,
the unexpected mantra,
the mantra equal to the unequalled,
which heals all suffering and is true, not false,
the mantra in Prajnaparamita spoken thus:
Gate gate, paragate, parasangate, bodhi svaha.”

(from the commented edition by Red Pine)

Napoli Courtyard

Napoli1
Originally uploaded by CCDorje.

Naples is a city full of hidden treasures...courtyards like this are to be found all over the city, waiting for the curious explorer and offering insights into the everyday life of Neapolitans.