This will, perhaps, be a brief travelogue, as it is getting later into the evening and it has been a long day here. But, I thought I’d do a recounting of a single day. There isn’t really a typical day, but several elements of routine have developed, making it feel more like we are settled here. I started off the day with a walk along the path to the beach with Manny, which I do nearly every morning before breakfast. It is always a treat to see the early morning sun peak up over the ridge and light up the town of La Maddalena around the bend. This morning’s was a pre-dawn walk, as I was heading off to catch the 8am water taxi to Santo Stefano, where the Navy ship is based. So, it was darker than normal at the outset, but soon a beautiful light bathed everything around, the cormorants were doing their usual morning fishing in the shallows and Manny was, once again, contemplating going in after them, but quickly retreated.With a brief stop at home to put a small cappuccino in my large, American-sized coffee mug, using my revived skills as a barista and our hand-me-down cappuccino machine, I headed to the port to catch the water taxi. Dawn was still just breaking and, as the water taxi pulled away, I spotted splashing in the water, only to notice that there were dolphins alongside the boat, a rare sighting around here. I went out to Santo Stefano (dubbed "the site" because it is where the ship is kept) to meet with a few people who work in the Navy's Environmental Department in order to learn both about the native plants and animals and about the Navy’s environmental plans for closure of the base here.
After returning home, having lunch on the porch, and doing a bit of reading and work for my class, I went for a run down the beach and up the path to Punta Sardegna, fol
lowed by a brief plunge in the still-warm water. Later in the day, one of the Environmental Officers called me to meet him, his wife and some friends at Guido’s, a cafe at the port, for an end of the day drink and to watch all the people coming and going from the ferries. Several hours later, in true Italian fashion, I wandered down the railroad tracks back to our house, Manny in tow, and watched the sunset over Punta Sardegna before Chad returned home for dinner. Now, I am sitting in our living room looking out at the lights across the way, listening to music on our stereo, which is hooked up via transformer to the mostly reliable Italian electrical system, and thinking of how much our lives have changed in the last couple of months, yet how many things already feel familiar.
