airing my clean laundry

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I'm smiling just knowing that so many of you enjoyed the photos from yesterday; it was a pleasure to share a beautiful Calabrian morning with you.

Had I thought ahead, though, I would've worn red to stop all that malocchio coming my way from so much envy.

Just kidding, of course--I know it wasn't *that* kind of envy.

On yesterday's post, fellow blogger Stefanie commented that sometimes my life seems like a movie, which got me thinking...and you know what? She's absolutely right. Sometimes it's more romantic comedy and other times horror or drama, although hardly ever Van Damme action (quite by design).

And isn't this more or less how all of our lives are when you think about it?

I tend to focus on the positive in my daily life, and that's what I like to share on the blog as well. Do I never stress about anything? I wish, but I'm human. I have rants and whatnot, but I like to get them out and then be done with it.

Sometimes that's here on this Internet thing, but most often it's on the phone with my mom, or even better, with P. Venting in Italian is *so* much fun--probably because it's the only time I talk really fast in my second language without a care as to whether I'm making sense.

You see, P nods and agrees no matter what. He's a smart man.

What I'm getting at, I suppose, is that I don't dwell on mishaps or frustrations because then I feel like the nasty forces in life are winning.

And I hate to lose.

So besides bringing some warm sunshine to cold, snowy days with yesterday's photos, I also hoped to encourage all of you to appreciate the simple things, the everyday sights in your life, whatever they might be.

And today for me, the sights are laundry (so much that it will spill into tomorrow), a translation project that I need to finish today, and lesson planning for tomorrow and Thursday.

So in lieu of a longer post, I'm going to share more pictures from yesterday's Marina adventure.

I'll start with a woman doing laundry the old-fashioned way (note: I use a washing machine although I do hang out the clothes like most of us here...don't get us started on the dryer situation, right expats?).

"Maria Concetta!" she called out when she saw me, mistaking me for her granddaughter, but she didn't act the least bit disappointed when she realized it was just a straniera with a camera. She even offered coffee, but I was on a tight schedule so I could catch the bus back up the mountain before lunch.

"La prossima volta!" Next time, I promised.

Just a few steps away from this woman's house was this view through the stairway:

And here's a leftover shot from the beach area:

The flower stand at the small market in the Marina on Monday mornings:

A wider view of the mercatino. That's my village nestled into the mountains:

And this was my view while waiting for the bus home:

OK, so this was my view *after* I pushed down a plastic orange fence surrounding the property with one hand and leaned over the squished barrier to take the photo with the other.

Sometimes you just gotta go for it and make your own pretty pictures.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!