A C. T U. A L. L Y

It’s April in Tuscany and the flora is waking up, shaking off its winter sleep, rolling out its green carpet, and hanging its leafy drapes.   We’ve had quite a lot of rain since we arrived on the cusp of Spring on April 10 th (see photo above--the "before the rain.")  The streams are now loudly rushing, the fields are resplendently verdant, buds are daily swelling, fruit trees are fragrantly flowering, and I've planted pink and fuchsia geraniums in those planters (see photo below--the "after the rain.")  Mother Nature!!   She always shows up---even if we look the other way. Last Saturday I took a walk from our Borgo Valuberti down to Borgo Fiume, another small settlement of stone houses on a hill overlooking the Nestore, the river that gives our valley its name.   iPhone in hand, jaw dropped, eyes popped, and heart filled, I took these photos.   This is the old lilac bush at the edge of our field. This is our small orchard.     Our gard...

David Axelrod, Democratic strategist and former counselor to President Obama, was recently quoted in the New York Times as saying:   It’s kind of a perfect storm. The economic dislocations caused by the pandemic and war in Ukraine have led to record gas prices, and with them, tremendous pressure to encourage more oil and gas production. All in an election year. The New York Times article continues: Experts say that it is now impossible for Mr. Biden to meet his pledge to the world that the United States will cut its emissions in half by 2030, the amount the scientists say is necessary if the planet’s largest economy is to do its part to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of global warming. Mr. Biden’s best hope for climate action is in the $2.2 trillion climate and social spending legislation stalled on Capitol Hill, which includes about $300 billion in tax incentives designed to galvanize markets for wind and solar energy and electric vehicles. If enacted, i...