Well, here we go again! Third time this winter, no less. Today and tomorrow will bring us a mixture, or not, or snow, sleet, and rain. It started to snow around 8:am, and is to continue through tomorrow, with a total accumulation of between 6 - 18 inches, depending on where one lives. The last time we had a storm that started like this, a very fine snow building over time to the big heavy stuff, we ended up with 18 inches, with the top four being sleet. It was almost impossible to shovel.
For the future, they are calling for some freezing rain followed by more snow come Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. It's funny to hear people blaming global warming for this. I wonder what they will blame next year when it repeats the snow...
Saw "When in Rome" a few nights ago. Predictable, but we knew that already. We went mostly for the scenes of Rome. The last time we were in Rome was the year 2000. That year we also visited Florence, Venice, and the Cinque Terre, five little villages along the northwest coast of Italy.
While in Venice we were enticed, or hijacked if you prefer, by a sales job about visiting an island not far away call Murano. Murano is the world capital for glass blowing. So, we decided to go, and hopped on one of the many speedboats that take you there, free of charge, as they expect to sell you some glass once there.
As we hopped on, yours truly hopped a little too late and proceeded to drive his head down into his shoulders, creating a nasty headache in the process. It was one of those jams where you can hear the bones in your neck crunch, and your head feels like it is being flattened, literally.
However, once there, we enjoyed the trip around the island, and being abel to watch a demonstration of glass blowing by a master. While I cannot remember the man's name, I do remember that he was the one hired to replace all the glass that was destroyed in a fire in the Windsor Castle. (I think it was the Windsor). He had to create the glass for the chandeliers so they looked exactly like they did before the fire. So, we figured he must be pretty good at this.
We have pictures, and someday when I figure out how to add them to my blog, I will do so. Of course, back then, they were actual photographs, not the digital kind, so I need to learn to use the scanner I have as well. Always something!
While there, we did purchase 6 wine glasses. They were shipped to us, and we received them several weeks after we had returned to the states. The place where we bought them keeps records of everything that was ever sold there, and to whom. This is because if one of the glasses were to be broken, it could be replaced. One can tell the quality of the work, because the glasses sing out when tapped.
One of the other things we chanced upon while in Venice was a shop where we found an artist's set up in miniature, complete with easel, tiny brushes, tubes of paint, a seat for the artist, etc., It was amazing detail, and even though it was not in our budget we had to purchase it. As delicate as it was, we managed to carry it around with us for the rest of our trip and return home with it without damaging one single thing! Amazing!
We also saw two homeless men in Italy. The homeless in this country, the US, while not having an easy go of it, seem to have it better in many cases than these men. They were literally filthy, covered in rags - and by rags, I mean clothes that were ragged, shoes with no soles. They had long stringy hair and beards, all matted down with filth. Their eyes, what one could see of them behind all the hair, were watery and bloodshot. I do not know how they lived, if they ever had enough to eat. I had never, nor have I since then, seen two human beings as destitute as they were, although I know there are plenty of them, especially now during the depression.
