I’ve been in Florence two weeks, and it’s time to assess what I’ve learned. I came up with three things about time, “getting a grip” and learning to cross the road.

1. Einstein got it wrong. Time warps, but not around large masses. It warps around dull moments in life expanding them on the canvas of our lives to the point where they threaten to overtake the rest — the real living. When I’m having fun time vanishes at alarming speed. All this mumbling is to say, I can’t believe I’m half way through my holiday. But I’m grateful for every moment of it. Today I will visit   Michelangelo’s David at the Academia!
2. Being away from home is a wonderful way to “get a grip”. For example,  I’ve been collecting rejection notes from publishers, but the sting isn’t as bad when you’re away. Being in a foreign land puts things into a larger context and what might have been discouraging at home, seems a speed bump here. Or maybe it’s the wine:)
3. I’ve almost mastered crossing the road. How? The best way is to follow a beautiful young woman. Cars and trucks stop on a dime, creating a wide path to meander through like the Red Sea. If no pretty ingenue is around I fall back on the local way. It involves attitude that starts with the shoulders. You dip one in  the direction you are going and follow through with the rest of your body without making eye contact. If you make eye contact the drivers rev their engine and budge forward. It seems to be the way around here and it works best on marked crosswalks. I do, however, hear a lot of ambulance sirens so I prefer to following the path of pretty ladies. Does it bother me that traffic is ruled by hormones? Not at all. It seems wonderfully human.

Note: PJ’s picture is of the Ponto Vechio at night from a boat