My Neighbor

lunedi, 29 maggio 2017

Today I want to tell you about my neighbor Giovanni.  He and his wife and their 2 dogs live behind me and use the road behind my house to get to their house.  One dog is a large shepherd and clearly is a guard dog.  He stays outside and anytime I come or go he barks so I guess that is a good thing.  He is not friendly from what I can tell.  The other dog, LuLu, shown below, runs loose as most dogs in Italy do and he will chase me enough to just bark at me and Oscar.  Seems friendly but doesn't get close enough to tell.  In this picture he came to visit when I first arrived in Italy but he didn't stick around too long.

LuLu

Last September when I came to make the arrangements for my move I stayed in this house.  I saw this man every day and he would just stare at me.  If you have ever seen "Under the Tuscan Sun" it reminded me of the old man that would never wave to Francis until the end when he tipped his hat.  One day Giovanni came right into the yard and walked all the way around the house.  The gates were not locked so it was easy for him to do this but by American standards he was trespassing.  I let it go as I was just here for a week.  But when I returned a few weeks ago to live I knew I would eventually have to meet him and try and understand him a bit.  

My first few weeks here we did not meet.  He would drive in and out and I might see him but there was never any acknowledgment by either him or me.   He would just stare at me as if I was front outerspace.  The day the moving van arrived I knew that might throw him and it did.  He stood in the street and watched.  He did want to leave with his car while the unloading was going on but the moving van was blocking the road so Angela told him it would be 15 minutes or so before the truck would be gone.  He seemed to accept that and left.  

Shortly after the moving van left we were introduced.  Angela was here and explained that I was a cousin from America and I would be living here.  So now he waves as he drives by and I do the same.  I also learned he is very hard of hearing.  So the ice has been broken.  His wife will wave if she is outside as I leave to go somewhere.  The dogs still bark no matter what.  On Saturday night before I left for the family dinner there was a loud pounding at the door.   Like an idiot I say "Who's there" in English (DUH!). No answer so I open the door and there stands Giovanni with a plate of cherries. You see it is now Cherry season and everyone has cherry trees.  I had already received cherries from cousins Giuseppe and Angela and now my neighbor Giovanni.  He also was "formally" introduced to Oscar.  I thanked him and he left.  

This morning before I went grocery shopping there was another loud knock at the door.  I have come to know now that it must be Giovanni.  He is holding a bag with 5 eggs in it plus a zucchini.  He asks if I life zucchini for which I reply yes.  I thank him and he leaves.  Not more than 5 minutes later another knock at the door.  Yes he came back with a bag of zucchini and zucchini flowers.  I LOVE zucchini flowers.  I have made them a few times when I could find them at the Mill City Farmers market in Minneapolis.  That wasn't too often.  So now I have some fresh picked.   So what do you do when someone gives you fresh zucchini flowers?  You cook them and eat them NOW.  I made my run to the grocery store and when I returned I started cooking!!  Here is a picture of the before and after. YUM they were delicious!  

So I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot of Giovanni this summer.  He is a sweet man but with his hearing challenges we may have some difficulty communicating but I am sure I will find a way.  

Fino a tardi!