Lingering in Limbo

What Now?

Part I

In the past week I have found out that the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia remains closed and unable to honor our appointment of July 17, when we planned to submit our application for the Elective Residency. The appointment calendar has now been taken down altogether and it is currently impossible to make an appointment for a future date. Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic in the U S continues to have rising numbers of new cases ensuring that the EU’s ban on travel from America to Italy will continue. Although I have been aware for a while that the European Union will not admit American travelers I have recently learned that Italy has extended its emergency status until the end of December, 2020 virtually guaranteeing that we will not be able to travel there this year. Clearly, we will not be able to return to Italy any time soon–perhaps not until New Years Day has passed and we have entered the year 2021.

And, since we are powerless to alter any of these conditions, we have to accept that our time in the U S will stretch into months beyond our original plan. Now we need to hit the reset button–moping and watching the news constantly hoping for a positive turn while waiting for the months to pass doesn’t pass the carpe diem test.

Our first step was to buy a car. Originally we planned to rent one for a few months until we returned to Italy. But facing the likelihood of half a year of $1000.00 monthly rental fees did not make financial sense if we could buy an inexpensive car–one we would not fret over when we did eventually go to Italy, leaving the car in our parking lot for an extended period of time. So after a day or two of online searching we scheduled two appointments to see and test drive the selected vehicles. We arrived at the first appointment a few minutes before our scheduled time; fifteen minutes and one test drive later we were signing on the proverbial dotted line, abandoning our second appointment. Good-bye rental car, hello Ford Fiesta.

Ok, mobility problem solved. But what about living life? For the past year as we contended with ever changing circumstances, Terry and I both had put aside activities that enriched our lives in the past. Now that we see we will be in Hickory for an apparently lengthy time, we need to return to those hobbies that used to be a regular and pleasurable part of our daily life. Petanque, which we both enjoyed, seems to be on hold at the moment, so we needed to dig a little deeper to reconnect with former hobbies.

For Terry, that means painting. Our lower level is set up now to function as his studio: paints lined up against one wall, canvas laid out on the floor, paint clothes in place, a rocking chair for him to use as he consults his muse–all just waiting for the mood to strike. And I am a little tempted to join him, reaching very deep into a time in the past when I found painting to be enormously satisfying.

Since I had enjoyed a broader range of activities than Terry, it was easy for me to identify those that I would like to resume: mah jong, needlework, and gardening for starters. We are fortunate that in our townhouse complex all owners can plant a stretch of property extending a few feet from the exterior walls but we also have an extended space at the rear of our townhouse that is badly in need of attention. We had already planted a few things there before we learned that in doing so we had failed to properly request approval from the Homeowners Association–mostly a formality but necessary. Our desire for an attractive back yard, though, is not just a political problem, but a physical one.

Gardening here, while benefiting from an ideal climate, is a challenge with its heavy clay soil, sticky enough to be modeled into a little bird; and the ground bakes into a yard-sized brick in the heat of summer.

Not only is the soil very hard, but it is riddled throughout with rocks and roots, making digging holes and planting difficult to say the least.

Not only is the soil very hard, but it is riddled throughout with rocks and roots, making digging holes and planting difficult to say the least.

And it’s pretty big–the pictures below show just the lower end of the yard

Still, all these problems can be overcome: diligent care, lots of soil amendment, and choosing plants suited to grow on a mostly shady slope are only a few of the challenges but if we want to improve the area behind us we must accept them all–and hope for a compliant HOA.

Mah Jong: What great fun this game has brought to my life, not only because the game itself is interesting and challenges the brain, but also because it was an opportunity to gather with good friends whenever we played. During a recent Zoom gathering that included some of these friends, I learned that they had found a good online option-RealMahjongg.com-and I have begun to visit the site. After more than a year of not playing, I chose the “Slow” game and played only against the computer, not with human players, but after a couple of days feel that I’m beginning to regain some my former skills. Below is my winning hand of this morning, shown at the bottom of the screen shot, followed by congratulation from the computer.

Needlework: There was a time in my life when not a day went by that I didn’t engage in some form of this ancient craft, usually while drinking a morning cup of coffee and listening to NPR. I had abandoned the habit for the last several years but now my hands are itching to resume it and I’m imagining an afghan we can use to keep warm as the days begin to chill. Today, Terry and I will drive in our new/used car to the local Michael’s where he can find the one more paint color he needs and I can peruse pattern books, yarn and needles.

And finally, I have been very negligent in learning Italian. Before leaving for Italy over a year ago, I lined up several language aids including a CD set with workbook, on line instruction with Duolingo and the ItalianPod.101 word of the day, all designed to bring me to at least beginner level in Italian. In the beginning I was a pretty regular student of Italian on Duolingo, the language course favored by those of us who want to dip into another language in short, easy sessions. Duolingo not only keeps learning simple, but encourages students with a brassy fanfare each time a goal is achieved-Ta Da!-or a cartoon character cheering you on at the slightest success. And I continue to receive the ItalianPod.101 word a day via email, which includes a picture of an object and an audio pronunciation. Sometimes these are easy; delizioso not surprisingly means delicious, but who could guess that gara means competition, even with a picture of two women leaping hurdles to illustrate its meaning? As for the CD set–it’s in Italy waiting for me to return.

In spite of the language tools, once we were settled in Italy, I let Terry take over any real communication because he was so adept and I was so appallingly ignorant. In time I became comfortable with a few polite phrases, but far from able to have a conversation; my most complex sentence was asking my neighbor, “what is the pink flower?” When we learned that we had not been granted residency and would have to leave the country for ninety days out of every hundred and eighty, motivation fell away quickly. Though prospects for residency remain very much on hold at present, there yawns before us time, lots of it, to pursue whatever challenges we ignored in the past. I really can in good conscience no longer ignore Italian, even if I might prefer knitting, mah jong or gardening. We do, after all, own a house in Italy and presumably will spend at least six months of every year there. Almost as if making a resolution for a New Year, the time to make or renew a commitment seems to be now.

So, these are the projects I not only want to do but need to do. In order: The Garden–how much can we improve this difficult plot of land? Mah jong–will I speed up my game enough to play against human players, not just the computer? Painting–can I actually produce a work that can be hung without embarrassment? Knitting–I’m pretty confident I will produce an afghan, but how long will it take and will it be attractive enough to lay casually across the back of the living room sofa? Learning Italian–I will keep trying; that’s all I can count on–how well I will succeed, or if I succeed remains to be seen.

*******

Lingering in Limbo

Part II

Caio tutti! Come va? Yes, I have been practicing Italian on Duolingo and have acquired for my effort five lingots. I don’t know what these are or what benefit they are to me but they apparently signify success. Mostly I’ve been reviewing words and phrases I learned a year ago before losing interest when our Elective Residency visa was denied. Now, though, our move to North Carolina places us in the jurisdiction of a different consulate and the possibility of gaining residency in Italy after all inspires a renewed interest in the language,

In truth, come va and caio tutti are terms of greeting that one learns almost immediately in moving to Italy, and by no means indicate that I have furthered my skills to any great degree. But, I am learning, actually re-learning, the personal pronouns and their appropriate verb forms, eg the dreaded declension challenge. So, linguistically at least, He, She, You, We, They and I can all eat an apple, a fried egg, or a grape and drink water, wine, beer or milk in Italian while reading a book or newspaper. Again this is mostly re-learning but with the addition of a few unfamiliar words to add to my vocabulary.

Mah jongg, I have to admit, occupies a bit more of my time than it should as I squeeze a few games in between other obligations or in moments when nothing is pressing. I compete only against a computer, not with human players, and am still most comfortable playing the “slow” game, though it certainly doesn’t seem slow to me. As my speed and familiarity with the system improve, I will venture into, first of all, the “normal” pace of the game and if I survive the effort, will think about playing against real people, first of all my friends who have been on the Real Mah Jongg website for a while.

Ah, the knitting project. With all of my knitting materials left in Italy, I headed for the Michael’s store to purchase the yarn, needles and patterns needed to make an afghan. Finding a paucity of selection due to the problem of shipping and supplying as a result of the coronavirus, I opted for a chunky yarn, a pattern book with limited options, (which ultimately I ignored to create my own design) and the circular needle called for in the pattern books.

I soon learned that using chunky yarn on a circular needle produces a very heavy product, almost like a rug instead of an afghan. With the yarn crowded thickly onto a circular needle, I find myself constantly tugging, pushing and adjusting, essentially in a wrestling match with the ever increasing mass of the afghan. Moreover, in a Ruth Rendall mystery I read recently, a circular needle was used to garrote the murder victim, an idea that constantly intrudes as I wield the needles: Could that instrument of murder really work? Wouldn’t the thin plastic strand connecting the needles cut into the flesh of the neck? Why would a murderer choose such a weapon? As I work I speculate that between the wrestling and thoughts of murder, the afghan may have bad karma knitted into it.

I’ve also joined Terry in our ground floor studio where he had already begun a large painting. Normally he would tack the canvas to a board placed on a wall and work from a standing position. Here, in order to avoid damaging the walls, he laid the canvas on the floor where he had to paint while kneeling or squatting. Not surprisingly, he was frustrated by the effort and decided to stretch the canvas in order to lean it against the wall, so that he could attack it from a more comfortable and familiar position. Now he is meeting with his muse to finish the work.

For me, since I have few expectations of producing something wonderful, it was a pretty easy task to spread some colors over a pre-stretched canvas and call it my painting. A few more strokes to tidy up and it will hang on the wall.

And here is Terry’s painting, now hanging in our living room. Terry always gives intriguing titles to his paintings; this one is named, “You might get in but then what?” He thinks I should title my painting as well, though I cannot imagine coming up with something as inventive as his would be–perhaps I should give him the task of naming mine.

But the garden–now that is the project occupying most of my time, effort and money. In my view, having the opportunity to dig and plant is the single greatest virtue that Hickory offers over Italy. There we have no outside space beyond our tiny balcony and anything we plant has to be in a pot. Here we have an area both in front of our townhouse and in back. The front space had been mostly filled by the previous owner, but I added some herbs and a few impatiens to the already nicely planted beds. A small pleasure, but nothing like the greater challenge of the back yard, seen in its raw state in the photos of Part I.

Nonetheless, while this soil is the worst I have ever encountered, developing a garden in it was not only possible, but, except for the backaches, highly rewarding. The shoes and gloves below testify to the stickiness of North Carolina’s red clay earth.

The change from the barren and unsightly view of our backyard is notable in the first set of slides below. Terry and I both are pleased by how much its appearance has already been improved by adding a few plants and some “hardscape.” I lugged or dug the stones for the rock garden from nearby open spaces, working in the dim light of very early morning to avoid being seen, just in case harvesting stones from beyond our townhouse might be frowned upon.

The second group of slides show additional plantings–hydrangeas and a laurel bush now fill out the space on the right side of the garden. While the first few plants looked skimpy and inadequate in the mostly empty yard, bringing in just a few more suddenly made the plot look like a garden. There’s more to be done and some of these plants simply need to Grow to create the lush scene of my imagination, but we have a start and look forward to a backyard we can enjoy in the future.

As we adjust to living in Hickory, our minds returned to Italy this morning when we received an email from neighbors in Anghiari. They assured us that our house was just fine and that the plumbago in a large pot was blooming. Of course they wonder when we will return and little knew when asking the question that we are wondering too. It is good to know that while we are away there are those who are not only watching our house, but are interested in what is happening here and anxious for our return. We are making a life in Hickory, but Italy is our home.