LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE With November comes la nebbia, the fog that rises from Piemontese valleys and blankets the plain of Lombardia. On the day before the United States presidential election I watched it form above our prato, the damp air of a chilly afternoon…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE October has been kind from beginning to end—sunny days, cooler nights and early mornings, leaves of red, gold, flame, and russet filtering the incomparable light of autumn afternoons. As the month ends, I have taken my car…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE September is over. I’ve written next to nothing, but our cantina is filling up nicely with potatoes, onions and winter squashes, apples for cider, jars of salsa, fruit preserves, pickles. Any thoughts that might have been worth…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE It’s been 26 days since travel resumed between regions in Italy. We are watching 10 new coronavirus clusters, located in every part of the country, from Piemonte, Lombardia, and Toscana to Campania, Sicilia, and Calabria. Despite the…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE 15 May I got a call today from the receptionist in our dentist’s office, and now my appointment of 13 March is re-scheduled to Friday, 22 May. This feels like a momentous occasion; the cancellation of my…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE 8 May Forget everything I wrote earlier about getting accustomed to leaving the house with protective gear. I feel the way one does around the end of January–weary of arming myself against a harsh environment every time…
LESLIE MCBRIDE WILE 2 May Here we live slowly, synched to daylight and the weather (and the recycling schedule, but that is a topic for another day). Our bedroom windows face east so we are up early. Coffee, then breakfast,…
