Steve is making all new drawings for his show in mid-March.

The Dog Donne spotted Mary & Steve in today’s paper (Mariella cut it out for us).

The Amici delle Terre (Friends of the Earth) give a list of reasons against the "cementification" of the park.

The tree he's sitting in is not slated for removal.

I am glad someone is complaining about it!

We knew the day would arrive. Construction on the new parcheggio (parking lot) in Parco San Giorgio started yesterday. This is where we meet the Dog Donne and walk Mary almost every morning. It's slated to be an underground garage, so the Commune is removing many of the large old trees. They are also "improving" what's left of the park area, adding more lights and turning the Austrian moat into a dog run.

The entire area is cordoned off right now (and who knows how long this construction will go on????) so we have to walk further along the river to let Mary off the leash. Last Spring, our friend Roberta was ejected from a city planning meeting for objecting so vehemently to the proposal, and no one in the neighborhood —sinistra o destra— is happy about it. The moat, with it's variety of residents, the rats and the drunks included, will never be an ideal place to walk our dogs. Because it's at river level, about 15 feet below the rest of the park, it's muddy and damp and there's rat poison everywhere.

As the crews started installing the construction fencing yesterday, a lone "tree-hugger" also arrived and set up on a branch in a gnarly pine with a view of the river. He was there again today. Let's hope he gets some attention from the right people.

UPDATE : I was very wrong about this. My level of comprehension is terrible! Or the plans to build the garage changed. Or both. At some point, I think the plans to build the garage were scrapped. Anyway, they tore down some diseased trees and gussied up the park – added more lighting, a new path, etc. etc. How did I get it so wrong? When will I ever learn this language? Argh!

Cascata by Pippo Borrello,
the nice Napoletano gentleman whose studio is down the street from us.

For three days straight Lawren and I must hide out at the Bixio. We don’t want to see anyone if we can help it. I am especially torn up by the jet lag, feel like a true depressive. We hunker down on the shredded old couch with our little Mary and watch episode after episode of downloaded Battlestar Galactica reruns. Roberta, who kindly met us at Catullo Airport and drove us to liberate poor little Mary, is wondering where we are after a couple of days. Michael is still in the States. We’ll get back on the horse. I must start work for this show coming up in March.

See Peg and Paul New Year’s Day. We are leaving on the second. Brett played maybe his final career game last night, a meaningless win over the playoff-bound Chicago Bears. Without Brett Favre, what is football?

Sad to end the holiday season, as always. There’s a big old tree in Piazza Vittorio Veneto which the Veronese strung with beautiful lights in early December. Every time I walked Mary there it gave me such a warm feeling of seasonal anticipation. I imagine the lights will be taken down by time we return.