Morning edition:
200 years of political history, in less than 3 hours.
2.5 hr morning Italy education. We learned about the recent history of Italy, from 200 years ago to the present. The evolution of the area as a country, as a divided country ruled by a monarch and the top rich 2%, and then its progression to a citizen republic/coalition government where everyone has voting rights, and disparate groups work together towards common political goals, is complex. 67 governments since WWIi. The rise, fall, and then rise again of the Mafia, resulting in the recent presidency of Berlisconi, and the criminally subversive economic influence of the Vatican, almost up to the present day was documented. The north and the south are still antagonistic towards each other due to historical abuses from the north. Italy is becoming stronger as a nation slowly; but surely..
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Road Scholar brings enlightening understanding to we who don’t already know everything, and whose minds are not yet closed to new understanding. They always provide local experts in all manners of culture, politics, religion, and the arts.
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We become better informed, we improve our understanding, and we are more inclusive of other cultures and their points of view as a result.
On to a farm in the countryside later this afternoon, where we will learn Italian cooking.
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No grandson last night or today, doing what young people of his ability and inclination do, having fun in his own unique way, while, perhaps, suffering from “grandparent fatigue”.
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evening edition
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Evening on the farm after wonderful driving tour on Amalfi Coast. Learned how to make gnocchi, limoncello, others.
Spiritual experience. Our guide Domenico is a priceless treasure, a storehouse of history, culture, spirituality. Our other guide Vincenzo, may well be the funniest, most engaging human I have ever met. Between the two of our guides, I feel that we all have been blessed at the highest level.
(left to right) Domenico, Jan, Vincenzo
I am not certain as to what our grandson is doing this evening, though I am sure he is experiencing his own version of fun. He has learned well from his parents as how to drink, and, perhaps, drink too much. This trip was to help us reconnect with our grandson, Mitch, who was the victim for several years of his parent’s poor attitude towards Sharon and myself. His father Brad (Sharon’s son from her first marriage) had friends state to him that they would have divorced their wives if they had treated their own mothers the way that Brad’s wife, Dawn had treated Sharon. Brad defers to Dawn, not wanting to battle, and expresses himself through several “passive/aggressive” patterns of behavior Yes, Brad has problems of his own. One of his friends claims that Dawn has Brad’s testicles stored in a jar by the bedside. According to Mitch, Brad now smokes pot daily, in addition to whatever alcohol he still consumes. Whenever we see him, he consumes liquor excessively, as well. I counseled him thirty years ago about his drinking as he neared entry into the Navy. I may have well been talking to the wind.
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At a New Years Eve party two years ago at our friend June’s home, in Tuscon, where the whole family was staying for several nights, Brad got so drunk that his wife treated him like he was a helpless baby. I was appalled, and disappointed in Brad, yet I knew he had to play out his “passive/aggressive” persona through excessive drink with his disabled and disfigured understanding of his relationship to his wife, and to his world. There is no one who can save him, save his Self.
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Wow, dysfunctional, alcoholic families, what a KARMA to have to live through.
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Dawn created a rift, probably inspired by her own excessive drinking, that lasted for many years, from 2012 through to the present. Her own “religious” self-righteousness prevents her from even attempting to offer amends for her abhorrent hateful behavior, and she does not understand forgiveness at all, though she pretends to be a “Christian”. She makes us wrong for her misperceptions, which is all too common for the dark side version of human behavior.
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That is so common in “religious circles”, but not in Spiritual Awareness.
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Oh, how grateful that I am that I survived my ’20’s! The real immersive learning experiences of life begins after that humbling period, and the emergence from repressive excessive drinking and drugging episodes.
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Some people never emerge, however.
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We know that Wisdom is at hand, when we can let go of the need to be the world’s “corrective savior”. It has taken me a while, but I still attempt to embrace this difficult wisdom with compassion and understanding, though I have pumped out eight long books in my own attempt to bring healing to a disfigured, dysfunctional, self-destructive world.
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Why do I bother?
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I still care about humanity.
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(the following was written as a byline on one photograph)
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To become a parent or a step parent is often to become ignored, misunderstood, or invisible. To become grandparents to the children of these discontented children is to become an alien being.
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I just wanted to give our #1 grandson one final chance to get to know us, before adulthood and irs oppressive responsibility, and the family history and its misunderstanding, kicked into high gear. The hijacking of yet another victim into family Stockholm Syndrome and other folie-a-deuxs, with the subsequent self justified condemnation of the innocent becomes normalized within the spiritually and emotionally disrupted family system..
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I am no longer chasing the image of a grandfather that I was never allowed to be. I am now the person that God intended for me to be. I had momentary disillusionment, then a feeling of liberation.
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Be well, Mitchell, Tony, and Jasper, you are free to be who you are, without no further influence from me parading around as the grandfarher you do not need. My apologies to the family for trying to assume a role that I was never welcomed by the family to accept.
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Andiamo avanti !We also continue to face our ancient and insistent companion on this infinite journey, Morte.
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I just wanted to give our #1 grandson one final chance to get to know us, before adulthood and irs oppressive responsibility, and the family history and its misunderstanding, kicked into high gear. The hijacking of yet another victim into family Stockholm Syndrome and other folie-a-deuxs, with the subsequent self justified condemnation of the innocent becomes normalized within the spiritually and emotionally disrupted family system..
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I am no longer chasing the image of a grandfather that I was never allowed to be. I am now the person that God intended for me to be. I had momentary disillusionment, then a feeling of liberation.
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Be well, Mitchell, Tony, and Jasper, you are free to be who you are, without no further influence from me parading around as the grandfarher you do not need. My apologies to the family for trying to assume a role that I was never welcomed by the family to accept.
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Andiamo avanti !We also continue to face our ancient and insistent companion on this infinite journey, Morte.
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FULL STOP.
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Piano piano troveremo un equilibrio
Piano piano troveremo un equilibrio
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Anyway, I am amazed by this tour, and the incredibly gifted local support.
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I will attempt to leave the image of a dysfunctional family behind, so that I can fully enjoy the rest of the vacation.
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Off to the Amalfi Coast in the morning by boat!
