ROME--NEVER A BAD DAY THERE

The Coliseum, the Fountain at Trevi, the Seven Hills, the extreme heat. Well, I guess no place really has it all.

We had a few firsts this time in Rome. We had never been inside The Coliseum before. Lines and time had prevented us on one visit; restoration on the other. But it was magnificent.

To think that recycling of materials during some down economic times resulted in the current shape of the edifice. I had always thought it was just time, but no, some misguided leaders decided to use the materials for additional building. Thank goodness they didn't have a stimulus program or there would be even less of the Coliseum.

Another first was to see the spot where Caesar was assassinated. "His own son Brutus even helped to kill him," our miss guide told us. Having taught the play for a few years, I choked and wondered what else the heck she didn't know and was spreading to the tourists.

The fountain is always quite a site. I don't mind re-visiting some places like that. My memory's not great and I had, in fact, forgotten how large the fountain is.

Huge crowds, it was a Saturday, and a lack of enough time along with some extreme heat were the downsides, though in Rome, there are few. Sometime I want to have enough time just to take it all in. Just amble around the circus, the forum, the old structures and not have to be rushed.

One of my wife's favorite locales is Paris. For me all roads still lead to Rome. For one thing, they have a way of making a pretty good pizza.

PHOTO SHOOT

If I knew more about photography, I'd like to teach a class. I know, once a teacher. But I was reminded of that recently when on a European cruise I watched an Alabama co-ed with her camera.

She was just ahead of us on a tour of Venice when I had to stop or interfere with her shoot. And what was she shooting anyhow? I'm sure she would have snapped, you know as in snapshot, the image on the left had it been in Italy.

Our oldest grandson loves a camera and takes some interesting pictures. Sometimes I wonder about his subjects, but hey, he's 9 and very creative, so I would not want to quash any of that. Besides, he doesn't usually share and exclaim, "Look at this weird picture, G-Daddy." So I leave him and his imagination alone. Time for it to grow and refine.

But this college student. Honestly, had there been a beautiful rainbow hovering over one of the narrow canals, she would have ignored it and taken a picture of a storefront window advertising Vans. I'd talked to her and her parents a few times and they were really nice people though he kept calling me Jim. Finally, he decided I wasn't Jim but looked like him. The only Jim I met on the ship was much younger and leaner than I. I kept looking for me, but all I found was a Charlie Williams look-alike (a former fellow teacher friend).

But this college student. And my photography classroom. I'd have every student just go out and take pictures in a defined area. Then after a prescribed time, we'd meet and discuss what and why they saw. That might be the only way to see what was in the 'Bama girl's mind.

On second thought, I really don't need to go back into today's classroom. Even with a camera.

MOTHER NATURE

I have yet another beef. Yet one more irritation.

No. it's not about the brutal heat that seems to have a stranglehold on the world this Summer. When we were in Rome a few weeks ago, it was 103 degrees with the kind of humidity the Midwest bathes in. It didn't seem to stop our tour guide from having "her family" trek the Roman concrete for a 40-minute walk in bright sunshine just past midday.

No it's also not about a wall of humidity that slapped up, wrapped us up as our son, a friend of ours, and I walked the Cooperstown streets prior to the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Which in three hours showed us upstate New York variety from rain (the only time I've been cold for the past month), clouds, brilliant sunshine, more humidity, breezes, sprinkles, all without lightning.

What I'm referring to is the term Mother Nature. There is no such creature. There is no reason to give her credit, anymore than to cancel school because of inclement weather and call it an Act of God. That's redundant. Everything's an act of God.

Who spoke Creation into existence? And don't get me started with the Big Bang. If there was one, then God, the sovereign God, directed it. But don't leave Him out of the equation or you're really dealing with some astronomical happenstance that, well, just happened.

So the next time you refer to Mother Nature rather than God who is and will always be at the helm, just think that you've put your fingernails on my chalkboard.

BACK FOR AWHILE

As I intimated in yesterday's entry, I've been gone. How gone? How far gone?

Let me count the ways. Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary,Germany (again), Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, The Vatican, Sicily, Greece, Croatia, New York City, Albany, NY, Cooperstown, New York City (again), Chicago, and back home. The last four aren't countries. Neither is the Vatican though it is not part of Italy.

The highlight of the trip was when my wife was shopping for some Italian pottery and asked me if it would go in our bathroom. I tried to think what our bathroom looked like. I sincerely had to pause and concentrate: we had been gone that long. Then last night, when I got up in the middle of the night to pee, I honestly was having to struggle to think where I was. Now, as far as I know, my mental faculties are as strong as ever, though that is one debatable point. Or maybe not. Maybe they've never been too sharp--"Teddy's not working up to his capabilities," my report card echoed from all my grade school teachers. My friends got comments like, "Tommy was a joy to have in class this year." Nothing about his capabilities. I think Gladys Carpenter started it in the third grade and all my other teachers just copied from her. After all how many joys could one teacher have?

So how was that the highlight of our trip? Longevity. We were gone so long that I called it a vacation from retirement. A holiday from idleness. A repast from continuity. A break, because I never did work up to my capabilities. Or as the old coach, Red Eldridge used to say, "If a job is worth doing, that's all it is. It doesn't have to be worth doing well. Doing it is enough."

I'll have specifics in a day or two. If I can find my computer.

BEAR OR BARE WITH ME

You see, I can't find my pictures anymore. There's some kind of glitch that won't show me, only tell me by number. I took a guess, looking for a picture that I had saved that showed a pair of jeans with a torn out knee. That is my topic today.

Of course what appeared is a nice cactus flower. Unless I can rectify my inadequacies in technology that may be the future of my blogging. Get an idea from a picture, try to find it, if I can't write about it anyhow.

I really should be walking now instead of blogging. It's early morning and somewhat humid for Arizona, but it should be a scorcher today so exercise may be put of till manana for me.

But the jeans.

My last pair of purchased (boughten some used to say in SoIL) had a tear in the knee. They were expensive Polo jeans, but that's the price you pay for styling these days. Now why that's the style I couldn't conjecture. But it helps my childhood image because I was always wearing a hole in my jeans.

But Mom sewed them up or patched them, never quite as cool as a neighbor mom's circular spider web pattern. I pointed those out once to my mom, but she wasn't too impressed. But we only wore our "holy" jeans for the duration of the day. Then they went to the sewing or laundry room until we could look good again.

So you'll have to excuse me if I'm not too fond of my new jeans. Well-made, washed and washed a thousand times before being sold, at least they have that kind of comfort that my childhood stiff as a board jeans never had. The only advantage to them was being able to stand on their own after wearing.

Another recent purchase of mine was a fitted St. Louis Cardinal baseball cap. I got it in Cooperstown, New York. Our son was with me. I promised him I would never wear it backwards unless I was catching in an old-timer's game. I'm afraid I'm just not that much in vogue.