To dream of Tuscany!

To dream of Tuscany, the peace and tranquility, another life, fine wine and robust food. A hard working playful and friendly people, greener grass as it were. It is that longing, that feeling of something missing from your life amongst all the chaos. We all want to slow down, take a breath, feel life for a change instead of it always molesting us. We look through that fence at the leisurely lunches, the siestas, the incredible wines and incredible vistas and we say, that grass is definitely greener.

I would have to say, I am sure that the grass really is greener. The friendships, the air, the earth, it all seems filled with magic. Il mare! People just seem relaxed, sure there are small issues like a lack of full time jobs, everything costs a fortune and people drive like maniacs! But these are small issues when balanced with the quality of life, the enjoyment one can get from choosing the days vegetables at the local market or smelling the fresh baked bread from the bakery at the corner and knowing that there will always be a tomorrow.

It would be nice if we Americans could take a lesson from their playbook and try it out for a while. I know I know, they have lousy health care etc. honestly things don’t look much better in this country anymore do they? I heard the other day that people are all worked up about cameras being posted at traffic lights and as speed traps. This seems to be a huge problem over here. Seriously they have been using them for years in Italy, you know how they deal with it? They passed a bill forcing the state to have to advertise that you were entering a zone controlled by a camera! Sounds like that shouldn’t be too hard, the reason being is that when people saw a camera they would slam on the brakes and cause accidents. Sounds similar to the complaints over here! Another way they deal with the issue is regular people have posted the exact location of all cameras on line, so you can see the physical address of the cameras and can really plan your route!

I wonder if all this uptightness comes from our puritanical roots. When something we don’t like pops up we scream our heads off, but when it doesn’t go away we put our heads down, grimace and bear it. That seems to strike me as very British, just the thing we were trying to get away from all those years ago.

This country is growing but it isn’t growing up. I think it time that we look back across the pond and try to bring some joy and a sense of vitality to life. Slow down!