A Trip back Home 10.7.06

Bob and I have accumulated a few things over the course of the last year and a half and wanted to ship home some of the things we haven’t used much, like his 4x5 camera and all the paraphernalia that goes along with that. Since he got his nifty new digital camera, he hasn’t used it at all, as he thought he would. I bought a French easel before we left Phoenix and only used it a number of times. What I thought would be a fun thing to unfold out in the field really turned out to be too heavy to lug around and clunky so I haven’t used it much. Plus, our apartments really haven’t been big enough to keep an easel set up and it has mostly remained folded up in a corner of a room. And then some of the souvenirs and books we have collected that we wanted to send on ahead and not transport to our next place here in Italy. Our car is small and can only fit so much stuff! So we’ve been looking into shipping some of this stuff home and the costs have been astronomical. Not to mention the complicated forms and information for customs. These things are mostly used but you can end up paying huge tariffs on some other items and we weren’t anxious to do that.

When the shipping costs came in around 1200 Euros we laughingly said “it would be cheaper to just fly home and take the stuff with us!” We looked at each other and said “why not?” The more we thought about it the more we could rationalize that it would be easier to just pack a couple of suitcases with the stuff and fly home to the states AND (and this was the clincher!) if I went to Richmond, and if our son had room to store this stuff for us, I could get to see our granddaughter who we haven’t seen since the end of March last year. I will only stay a week, long enough to spend a little time with her and our son Chris and to see these things safely delivered back to the states. It will also allow me to carry on some of my paintings and journals that I would otherwise have probably sent via FedEx or some other secure means of transport, worrying the whole time. This way I can keep them with me and Chris can store them for me until we get home in April.

So impetuously, we purchased airline tickets for me. Bob will remain here in Verona and have some time to himself and I will fly home for a quick in and out visit. Unfortunately our daughter Jessica is busy working on a show in Milwaukee and can’t join us. My sister and her girls are too far away in Colorado for a quick visit with them and everyone else is just too far away and spread out. But they will not have changed that much by the time we get back in April, while our little Kyla is at this stage where every month makes a big difference. I have contented myself with the fact that I will get to see her often when we return and are living in Delaware. This little visit was something unplanned but I really am getting excited at the opportunity to see her now. She’s talking so much now and has grown so much since we saw her last and she was only a year old. She’s now almost two and half. Chris sends photos all the time but it will be wonderful to actually get to play and read stories and sing songs and maybe really feel like a grandma. Jessica asked me if I thought it would be hard to leave after being with her. I’m sure it will be. But I’m also thrilled to be able to do this now and I can’t wait!

And then I have the Amalfi Coast to look forward to and exploring the Campania region and Naples, Salerno, Pompeii…

Con anticipo,
Rosemary & Robert