Gratitude/Gratitudine

      We woke up this morning to one of the strangest things. It had been raining heavily all night, a continuation of the steady rains we had been experiencing for the past 4 days. Our daughter, Siena, readied herself for school in her normal happy way; dancing and singing. We stumbled around in our usual way being as sleep deprived as life permits. We rushed our daughter off, arriving just inside the ancient, over-sized school doors as the church bells chimed to recognize the 8am hour. Bill, my husband, reached for his phone on his way home after receiving a text message from a friend. She was contacting us to notify us that her son would not need to come to our house after school like we had planned because school was cancelled for the day. You see, part of the medieval wall that eventually connects to Porta dell'Arco, a treasured Estrucan doorway,  FELL. Thus, leaving 12 families without homes and a few businesses without clients to enter into and exit from safely. The earth softened and loosened beneath a road that had existed for ages. It was a landslide. The wall tumbled below to a depth of more than 30 feet. The miracle of it all is that it occurred in the night and no one was harmed. The buildings still stand like they are glued at a cliff's edge. If you were inside and opened your door to exit, you would plunge into treetops which stand above once beautiful pathways and shaded stairways. Below that, is the main thoroughfare. The road was closed and huge ancient stones, rock and rubble lined the path and pushed into the road. They surely would have killed someone had this happened during daylight hours.
      As the day went on, I ventured out in the misty rains to buy some much needed items for an upcoming dinner I was planning. I asked shop keepers how they felt about the landslide and tried to discuss how much of a sad event it was. And most, if not all of them, shrugged their shoulders. None of them expressed shock or despair over their treasured wall that had held their ancestors in... especially in those extraordinary 5 years when they were continuously held under siege by the Florentines/Medicis.  I am a visitor and had enough shock for all of them. Perhaps, since no one was hurt, they were taking a healthy attitude. So long that everyone was safe then, the wall can someday be rebuilt. Hmmm. Then it hit me. These were Volterrans I was speaking to. They are survivors, It is in their blood. Descendants of Etruscans and Romans. They already know destruction by lay of the land that their city sits upon. Volterra, or it's original spelling; Velathri which means flying land. The city, when the fog rolls in, is covered at it's base, the deep valleys below. Causing the city to look as though it is floating in the air, a very mystical sight to see. Thinking about it now, Volterra has been active for over 3000 years and experienced many landslides and sinking land formations called Balze. This morning was nothing different. The emergency crews rolled in to assess damage,  repelled down the remaining walls to determine the next steps. I suppose this is the exact same feeling Costa Ricans feel when an earthquake rolls in, just another day in the life.

     Thinking back to the day prior, Our daughter was gathering all the receipts, tickets, pamphlets, guides, and natural mementos from our travels here in Italy so far. It was ironic, she began working on a scrapbook because she wanted to remember all of her experiences. There was so much that we experienced together, some forgotten and here she had her own relics like chronological bread crumbs that lead to where we are right now: protected within the medieval walls. She is expressing gratitude for her experience. Even with the fallen wall, she feels secure and wants to celebrate her acquired language, strong friendships and culture of this ancient town. I remain astonished at how much we've changed thus far and how much more we still need to share. I fill myself with gratitude right this second that we are safe, surrounded by love of family and friends and living out something that we are still not realizing it's impact as yet. As days roll in and out, and as I walk these streets and touch these stone walls while hearing familiar conversation, I keep reminding myself how much we are going to miss living here once we leave. I try to treasure and savor every experience as deeply as I can so that my heart can pour it all out and keep me solid on the day that we head out of town into the sunset for the last time.