Va dove ti porta il cuore!

Follow your heart! 

 Venice, July 2011

Maltempo, terremoto

Bad weather, earthquake

I've been keeping up with reports of the heavy rains in Italy, causing widespread devastation in many regions of the country. The hardest hit have been Liguria and Toscana, but Piemonte and Campania are also reporting widespread damage. In Liguria, Genova and le Cinque Terre have had heavy flooding, and the paesini (small villages) ofi Vernazza and Monterosso are digging out of the mud left over from landslides that coursed through the towns. In some towns, the mud covers the first level of homes and businesses. In Naples, flooding extends to Pompeii. As the storms move east, fears of the Po river flooding increase. Rain continues to fall throughout Italy, and other rivers are being watched as they rise closer and closer to the flood level stage.

In contrast, we still have sunny weather here in Kansas, with cold temperatures at night (0 C), but warming up into the 60's (17C) during the day. Last night, however, I was awakened by the sound of my house shaking, as doors and windows rattled for about a minute. Earthquake! Sure enough, there was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma, which is 300 miles (483km) south of here. We don't often have noticeable earthquakes in this part of the U.S., but this is not the first one I've encountered. I awoke in a similar way some years ago when my bed started shaking, caused by an earthquake in Missouri. Fortunately, the Oklahoma tremors caused little damage, and no injuries.

Compared to the events in Italy, a few tremors is hardly worth mentioning. I feel fortunate to be safe, warm and dry while so many are dealing with widespread devastation due to heavy rains and flooding in Italy.

How can we help? One easy way to help is through la Croce Rossa Italiana (Italian Red Cross), which has created an English language website where anyone can send donations via credit card or PayPal. Here's a link:

Italian Red Cross

Autumn Poetry: Poesia dell'autunno

 

Japanese Maple leaves in my yard

"Lo spettacolo era magnifico;  i larici dorati accanto agli abeti sempreverdi e agli ontani con le foglie rossicce formavano un quadro vivente. L' azzurro intenso del cielo rendeva ancora piu' pieni quei colori; le ombre lunghe davano profondità alla visione."

The view was magnificent: golden larch trees, amidst evergreens and red alder leaves, created a live painting. The deep blue of the sky rendered the ​​colors even richer, while the long shadows gave depth to the vision.

These words arrived today in an email from my friend Luigi, as he recounted a recent trip to Val d'Aosta in northwest Italy. Luigi has been a steadfast companion since the early days of my journeys in Italy, nearly six years ago, and we often spark each other's creative spirit. Inspired by his words, I took a walk down a tree-lined street in my neighborhood this afternoon. The weather was balmy and windy, and I watched as leaves swirled along the streets or joined piles of other castoffs already accumulating in empty yards. Fallen leaves crunched noisily beneath my feet, dry and dusty, before scampering away in the wind.

Backlit by the sun, the trees that lined the street, one after another, created a vibrant luminosity. It was like gazing through a large kaleidoscope: brilliant hues and combinations of colors swirled together, creating a masterpiece of autumn beauty. I could see patterns of various colors mixing together in magnificent combinations. Hues of green, yellow, orange, red, and brown, often blended together in one leaf, created a wondrous feast for the eyes. Like snowflakes, no two leaves were alike, and the mixture of  colors seemed infinitesimal. I stood in awe under one particularly large and colorful oak tree, struck by the hues of green, yellow and red in each leaf. Even after one of the hottest summers on record, autumn is dressed in her finest and most colorful gowns this year. I'm happy to be a witness to this splendid beauty.

 

 "Insomma il paesaggio era una festa per i miei occhi."

In short, the landscape was a feast for my eyes.

Cold fusion - a breakthrough in Bologna?

Thanks to my friend Massimo, I've been privy to some exciting, possibly revolutionary news from Bologna. Most people are unaware that some extraordinary experiments are going on with a machine that can generate energy from cold fusion (fusione fredda). Cold fusion is a type of nuclear reaction that occurs at low energies or temperatures. The invention, called the E-Cat machine (energy catalyzer), was developed by Dr.Andrea Rossi , an entrepreneur, and is now undergoing worldwide scrutiny after a successful test of the device was run on October 28 in Bologna.

Rossi has "developed what he claims to be a simple system for generating what would be, essentially, endless and incredibly cheap energy." (Mark Gibbs, Forbes online, Oct. 30, 2011, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-in-cold-fusion-and-the-e-cat/)

This "technology utilizes tiny quantities of nickel powder and hydrogen gas as fuel, while producing large amounts of energy in the form of heat. Importantly, the energy is produced without emitting any pollution, utilizing any radioactive materials, or producing any nuclear waste. Simply put, the E-Cat offers the world a source of cheap, safe, and clean energy."  (Sterling Allen,  PureEnergySystems.com, from  http://pesn.com/2011/10/28/9501940_1_MW_E-Cat_Test_Successful/)

I first heard about Dr.Rossi's experiments from Massimo in March, but due to the skepticism that has been a constant factor in the reports coming from Bologna, little mention of it has been made in Italy or the rest of the world. (In fact, Massimo is the only one of my Italian friends who had heard about it.) However, Dr. Rossi performed a test a few days ago that has won over many of the skeptics and it now looks like his invention has the potential to change the world as we know it. Still, Rossi is viewed as either a madman or a genius, and there are many unanswered questions about his invention. Is it a scam or the real deal? Chissà? Only time will tell.

Massimo was present at the test last week, had his photo taken with Dr. Rossi, and can be seen in the background with his wife Sofia in several news videos that are online. They were even visible in one shot on the national news televised in Italy. Perhaps some day soon he can say that he was a witness to history in the making.

Andrea Rossi (on the left) with Massimo

Since science isn't my field, I won't attempt to explain how the E-Cat works, and I have not been able to fully comprehend the implications that this invention could have for the world. But some say that if Rossi's invention actually works, it will be the most important invention in all of human history.

A special kind of treasure

One of the treasures I brought home from Italy this year is a small bottle of homemade balsamic vinegar, made by my friend Marvi in Modena. To give you an idea of how small the bottle is, the photo below shows it sitting next to my Bialetti Moka Express coffeemaker. So I'm using the vinegar sparingly, a few delicious drops at a time. 

the bottle seems dwarfed by the Bialetti

One way that I can do this is by pouring a few drops of the intensely flavored, thick, syrupy liquid over jagged pieces of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Squisito!

Parmigiano Reggiano con l'aceto balsamico di Modena

I was telling Marco and Marvi that I used their l'aceto sparingly, and they laughed, telling me not to worry: when the bottle is empty, I simply need to come back to Modena to fill 'er up again!

All in good time. Meanwhile, the weather is still warm and sunny here, and I have time to work in the yard and watch the leaves changing colors.

(While visiting me in Zagarolo, Marvi brought with her a small bottle of l'aceto balsamico made from the family's 30-year-old stash of grape must. For those who don't know, Modena is famous for its balsamic vinegar, and the best variety, aged at least for 20 years, is VERY expensive. Most versions of balsamic vinegar in the U.S. have little relation to the real stuff. )

La vendemmia Bolognese

The wine harvest in Bologna

It's time for la vendemmia!  All over Italy, grapes are being harvested and transformed into many kinds of vino italiano.  Lately I've been hearing from my friend Massimo about the vendemmia that is taking place near his home of Bologna.

First Massimo told me about a food festival that he and his family (wife Sofia and daughter Erika) came across one Sunday afternoon in Bologna's centro storico. There were many booths selling fall fruits, vegetables, jams and wine, among other things. They also came across a booth where children were allowed to jump in a vat and stomp grapes, the way wine making was done many years ago.

i ragazzi pigiano l'uva (children stomping the grapes)

Massimo's family was also invited to attend la vendemmia at his friend Fabiano's house in the country, where a machine called il torchio (winepress) is used to squeeze the grapes. Il torchio has been in existence in one form or another for many years, so la pigiatura dell'uva (grape stomping) nowadays in Italy is done mostly for fun. Massimo sent me a few photos of the wine making process that went on at Fabiano's house. The end result: vino Moscato (Moscato wine) for family and friends.

 le uve arrivano in ceste di legno (the grapes arrive in wooden crates)

Fabiano e suo madre riempiono il torchio
(Fabiano and his mother filling the winepress)

Sofia preme l'uva sotto gli occhi attenti del padre di Fabiano.
  (Sofia pressing the grapes under the watchful eyes of Fabiano's father.)

Grazie mille a Massimo per le foto e la famiglia di Fabiano per la vendemmia!
Many thanks to Massimo for sharing his weekend outing at Fabiano's!

Massimo also sent me a link to a High Definition video he created and posted on YouTube about the wine-making. It's fabulous!

Wine Harvest in Bologna

Hopefully I'll have the chance to see a similar operation at the Cantina del Tufaio during my stay in Zagarolo next fall. For more on la vendemmia, here's the link to an article with more information from the Florentine, an English bi-weekly magazine published in Firenze:

Grape stomping time in Italy

Food for Thought

 

Dante, Firenze, 2011

"It is our choices...that show what we
truly are, far more than our abilities"

- J.K. Rowling