To Market, To Market, To Buy a Fat Pig

Brian’s kindergarten class went on a walking field trip to the local Italian market yesterday. Emily and I tagged along for the shopping, scavenger hunt, and then lunch at a local Pizzeria. Above is our loot: gummies for Emily, chocolate malted eggs for Brian, and fried mince-meat-stuffed green olives for me, yum!

 

His school is on a part of the base located in the town of Aviano, which has an outdoor market every tuesday. When we first arrived to Italy, we visited a local market as part of our welcome tour. Before we got to the market, I was picturing a farmer’s market. I was wrong. It has the farmer’s market part, like fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables. But also sooooooooooo much more. You can get fake flowers, potted plants and trees, cheese and sausages, fish, canned goods, trucks full of candy, kitchen items, rugs, curtains, baskets, scarves, yarn and other crafty items, clothes, shoes, sunglasses, belts, wallets, and purses. Oh, the purses! I’m sure my list doesn’t even scratch the surface of what the market offers. It’s so big, they shut down several streets of the town to hold it every week, rain or shine. Most of the larger towns have a weekly market. We have one in the town of Maniago about 5 minutes from us every monday. I need to go to market more, it’s a neat Italian cultural experience. And you can buy purses, shoes, and candy, what’s not to love?!

Our Little Patriots

While there are definitely some challenges to raising children while simultaneously being career military folk, there are times when I’m grateful for some of the experiences our children get to have as Air Force brats. One of them happened last week when we were leaving the Commissary. We got no more than 15 feet from the building when retreat started blaring over the base loudspeaker. Retreat is the lowering of the flag and also signals the end of the duty day (for some, Steve is never ever ever home at 4:45pm on a duty day, we wouldn’t know what to do with him if that happened). Retreat is followed by the Italian National Anthem and then our National Anthem. When retreat begins, you stop, face the flag (even if you can’t see it), military members stand at attention and civilians with their hand over their heart during our National Anthem.

 

I’m not sure when Brian learned it, but since a young age he’s always known to stop, be still and quiet, hand over his heart, face the flag. This time he helped his sister by instructing her to stand up in the cart and showed her where to put her hand. When the Italian National Anthem began she says “Is this our song?!” and Brian says, rather annoyed, “No, this is the Italian one, it’s been translated from English to Italian, now be quiet!” It was so cute, I didn't have the heart to correct him. I will one day. But for now I love that our children are growing up to be proud Americans and hope that their time as Air Force brats teaches them the importance of military service.

My Grandpa Lefty

On February 16th, my Grandpa Lefty passed away at the age of 90 with my Grandma, his wife of 69 years, by his side. I was so lucky to have him in my life growing up, he was such a great man, a warm and funny person, always friendly, always happy, and you just always knew he cared about you. There is no way I could do justice describing him here. He and my Grandma met in high school and this past December, they celebrated 69 years of marriage. They spent most of World War 2 apart as Grandpa served in the Merchant Marines and the Army Air Corp. They bought a house on Buena Vista Street in Burbank, CA in 1950 and raised 4 children, played with 6 grandchildren, and snuggled 6 great-grandchildren (with 2 more on the way) in that house. They owned a business together and when they retired, spent their golden years traveling the world hand-in-hand. You could tell how much Grandpa loved my Grandma just by the way he looked at her, I’ve never seen two people more in love. They definitely did their share of bickering, but it always ended with Grandpa making a joke and Grandma shaking her head and waving her hand at him to stop. “Oh Lefty!” I am so blessed to not only have had him as my Grandpa, but to see such a wonderful example of true love that lasted a lifetime.

(Oh and he was born Horace Everett Harris, but he quickly found some friends who would grant him the nickname “Lefty,” for, of course, his left-handedness, which my Dad inherited, as did I, and possibly Emily, who does a lot of coloring these days as a lefty.)

I have the bestest husband, who knew I needed to go be with my family and attend Grandpa’s funeral. He took a week off, turned into “Daddy Mommy” for a week, and sent me home to CA by myself. The service was just a small graveside gathering, just like he and Grandma had planned, but was a beautiful celebration of his life and included an Honor Guard to play Taps and for the ceremonial folding and presentation of the American flag for his service to our country. My grandma was able to attend and stayed for most of the ceremony before returning to the nursing home where they shared a room for two years.

My cousin Stacy and her husband Steve (with input from Grandpa’s kids) wrote the following bio about my Grandpa. I don’t expect everyone to read it but I need it here since this blog serves as our family scrapbook and I want my kids to know as much about their GGPa as possible…
Horace Everett Harris was born Jan. 25 1923 in San Bernardino, California. The son of William Oscar Harris and Katharine Mary Slater, he was the third of five children. The family moved to Glendale in 1928 where Lefty’s father built a large and beautiful house. But by 1931 the Great Depression had taken its toll and the family lost their home. This experience always stayed with Lefty and like many of his generation, he learned to be frugal with his money. In 1934, when he was 11, he fell from a rocking chair, through a window and broke his arm, exposing the bone and contracting lockjaw. He was hospitalized for many weeks in a polio ward and ended up being the sole survivor in the ward. Lefty attended Glendale High School where he played football. It was there in class at Glendale High that he first noticed a beautiful young girl in a purple polka-dot dress – he was instantly smitten and had to find out who she was. He was eventually able to get Miss Bunny Baker to go out with him and after that the two were inseparable. Lefty was playing football with friends at Nibly Park in Glendale on December 7, 1941 when he heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and ran to tell his family. Soon the war effort was in full swing and everybody wanted to go off and fight. He graduated early in January 1942 (the last mid-term graduation class at Glendale High), and Lefty immediately joined the Merchant Marines and went to the Maritime Academy. In September 1942 they later allowed him to transfer to the Army Air Corps. He always wanted to be a pilot and had taken independent flying lessons in hopes of flying for the Army. Unfortunately his medical records caught up with him and he was “washed out” of the flight program because of the damage the childhood compound fracture had done to his arm. Instead he trained as an engine mechanic at Shepherd Field in Texas. Lefty’s first assignment was in Idaho where he served as a navigational instructor. Told he would be granted a 2-week leave over the Christmas holiday, he phoned Bunny and, with a mere three weeks of furious planning on her part, they were married on December 18, 1943. After serving two years in the Army Air Corps he reapplied and was accepted back into the Merchant Marine where he made several cruises to the South Pacific transporting aviation fuel. On one particular cruise he was assigned to a ship that headed out for the South Pacific, but after only three days at sea it had to return to port due to engine problems. He took advantage of the unplanned opportunity to go home to see his parents; he found his mother Katharine not feeling well. He took his younger sisters out to dinner and came home to find an ambulance. After burying his mother he was assigned to a new ship, The Halls of Montezuma, which he brought down to LA from Portland. As he was bringing it into Long Beach harbor he heard the news that Japan had surrendered and the war was over. His son Kirk likes to point out that he was born nine months to the day after VJ-day. In due time Claudia, Wendy and Brian would be added to the fold. Two years after the death of his mother, Lefty’s father William passed away. Bunny and Lefty helped in the rearing of his younger sisters Marty and Ruthie. In 1950 Lefty bought the house on Buena Vista St. in Burbank and they raised their family in the unique and close-knit neighborhood where they were to spend the rest of their lives. After the war Lefty became an apprentice tool and die maker at Warner Manufacturing in Glendale. He then went on to Pioneer DieCasting and met Louis Betzol who wanted to partner with him. They did partner and on June 13, 1955 they founded Arrow Diecasting, Inc.. The company became successful and after running it well for many years, Lefty passed it on to his son, Kirk, who eventually passed it on to his son, Kyle. Bunny and Lefty enjoyed family life; they took many outings on their boat, The Queen B, and frequent road trips to Lake Tahoe with family, friends and neighbors. Once the kids were grown (and had kids of their own), they could enjoy their retirement. They bought a condo in Kona, Hawaii where they would relax for months at a time. Lefty loved to ride his bike. They took many cruises and toured the world, always bringing something back for the growing troop of grandkids. For their 50^th anniversary Bunny and Lefty took the entire family on a cruise to the Caribbean, and then again on their 55^th to Ensenada and their 60^th to Mexico. They were the backbone of the family and the central hub for many gatherings; nothing was more important than celebrating with the family. The holidays held beloved traditions. The grandkids sang for the family every Christmas Eve and every Christmas morning Grandpa made some mean cheese eggs. These rituals were maintained long after “Bunny and Lefty” came to be known as “Grandma and Grampa” and even as they became known as “G-G-Pa and G-G-Ma.” Lefty had many hobbies. He was a talented wood worker; he loved to garden. He was good with hands and would build his own sprinkler systems to water the tomatoes just so – he had the best tomatoes and oranges around. Hanging fuscias were G-G-Pa’s favorite flower and his yard was full of plumerias to remind them of Hawaii. He spent lots of time outdoors and even befriended the neighborhood squirrels. Pee Wee, a particularly tamed one, would even crawl in his lap to get the treats Lefty always had for him. Lefty had a magnetic personality; people were drawn to him. He always had a good one-liner for you and always made you feel comfortable and included. His devotion to his wife and family were legendary – married for 69 years, Bunny and Lefty were always in love. Bunny has said her life began when she met him. His delight in his children was obvious, and it only grew with the addition of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When Lefty passed away in the early hours on February 16, 2013 at the age of 90, he left behind two sisters, a wife, four children, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren (and two more on the way) who will always love and treasure him as they were loved and treasured.

Our Snow Bunny Family

Steve has been skiing since college at the Air Force Academy and although I took some lessons as a kid, none of what I learned came back to me when Steve took me skiing ten years ago in Austria. I really needed a lesson from a professional instructor. What I got was a “you can do this!” and a lift ticket to the top of the mountain. There was some decent instructing on his part, a lot of cursing on my part, but I’d never really say that I actually skied. I did toughed it out for 2 days though and on day 3 refused to ski, let my snow bunny dreams disappear while I got a massage for my sore and useless ski legs. Day 4 I went shopping and forgot about the whole thing.

 

Fast forward a decade, we live 30 minutes from a decent ski resort and just a few hours away from some of the best skiing in the world. I’m not getting any younger (or fitter) so I decided that now was the time but only after an awful lot of convincing from Steve and another squadron family we were going to tag along with. It also helped tremendously that our friend, Casey, was a ski instructor during his college days! Day one he had Brian and I and his kids on the bunny slopes. Day two I was skiing from the very top of the mountain, no blacks yet, but I feel like I did a good job. Oh, also I rented skiboards, which are like skis, only much shorter. My skiboards were shorter than Brian’s skis! They are easier to turn but trickier to balance on than regular skis. I only fell a few times and had a blast. Brian took a lesson the next day and loved it! He keeps asking when his next ski lesson is! Sadly, at the end of day two, we returned home to news that my Grandpa had passed away that morning. Within days, Steve had lined up leave to stay with the kids and I was off to California by myself. Steve took advantage of his time off to get Emily out skiing a few days. She loved it too and we are looking forward to getting her in lessons next year and skiing as a family all over Europe! Steve and Casey also tore up the powder at a resort called Nassfeld on the border of Austria one day and we have leads on a few more resorts close by to keep up busy until the snow melts.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

On monday morning of this week, our landlord’s son, Claudio, was in from Venice and came by to chat and visit with Emily and informed us that any minute now the snow should be starting. I hadn’t checked my weather app in a few days so I had no idea that any snow was headed our way. 10 minutes later some light flurries started and those turned into huge snowflakes. The pictures above are when Brian arrived home at 3pm and it had been snowing a few hours and it was starting to stick. Well, it continued to snow all day and all night and below it what is looked like in the morning when Brian and I went out to the bus stop at 7am.

Then in the early afternoon, after about 28 hours of snowfall, the clouds parted, the sun started shining, and it was absolutely beautiful. The kids and I bundled up and played outside in it for a few hours, until the sun set and then I had to drag them inside kicking and screaming. Claudio said it is unusual to get this much snow in one storm, that it only happens every few years or so. A dusting is usual, 6 inches is not. So we made the most of it this time and the kids are already watching out the window for more snow to come!

Carnivale

On Sunday, we attended a Carnivale Parade one town over in Maniago. Carnivale is a festival that occurs before lent in Italy, sort of like our American Mardi Gras, only less crazy, no beads, more confetti, and more kid friendly. It consists of a parade with floats and dancers and lots of confetti and loud music. Everyone is in costume in the parade and in the crowd almost all the children were dressed up too. Very similar to our Halloween, only without trick or treating. The kids had a blast watching the floats go by and dancing along to the most popular song of the day: “Gangnam Style.” (2012 called, they want their song back.) About an hour into it, we started getting cold and restless so we walked to the town square, where all the floats and dancers ended up and grabbed some Vin Brulee (hot spiced wine) and little sugared pastry chip things that came with the wine. All were hungry and tired so home we went but we are looking forward to our small town’s Carnivale parade tomorrow!

Israel

 Steve went back to Israel at the beginning of February for his second trip back. It was a small group so they were able to get their work duties done fast and squeeze in one long day of sighting seeing before the trip was over. They pretty much drove around the entire south and central part of Israel. I didn’t write a whole lot cause I wasn’t there and don’t really know what most of this was, but Steve gave me some detail and brochures, and I really don’t want to read through brochures night, so I’m just providing the basics. He had a blast though and something about Israel makes him bring back gifts. The man who never ever buys presents brought home a very very very nice diamond ring for me from the first trip and this time brought me back some expensive face masks promised to take 10 years off my appearance. I hope there will be many more trips to Israel in Steve’s future!

These are the ruins of Tel Beer Sheva, an early Arab fortress dating from 4,000 B.C. It is believed to be the first settlement the Israelites reached after wandering in the desert for forty years. Steve toured the ruins and then descended into the underground water reservoir. 

Above right is a replica of a four horned altar.

Steve and the Dead Sea, which he’s been to 3 times now, twice on the west side in Israel and once on the east side in Jordan. This is the lowest point on earth.
Next, they went to Masada, which was King Herod of Judea’s ancient fortification on top of an isolated plateau in southern Israel. It was attacked by the Roman Empire at the end of the first Jewish-Roman War and when the 375-foot siege ramp built by 4,000 Romans finally reached the fortress after 2-3 months, 960 Jewish rebels and their families committed suicide rather than become Roman slaves.

Everything below the black crack is original to the fortress and everything above has been reconstructed. 

They visited the Church of the Sepulchre, which is a church built over the site where Jesus was crucified. The bottom left picture with all the gold is the spot they believe the cross was placed in. The picture above that is the spot where they moved the cross to after he died and he was given back to his family. The picture on the right is the anointing stone where he was laid and cleaned after his death and prepared for the tomb. The stone is important because it is the only thing known to have actually touched his skin and therefore it is blessed. Steve put those two little boxes on the stone to bless them for the kids to have.

The pictures above and below are of the Western Wall (also known at the Wailing Wall) which is a very important religious site for the Jews because it’s the original western wall of the Temple Mount where the Arc of the Covenant was kept. The Temple Mount was destroyed during the Crusades and when the ruins were found by the Muslims, a Mosque was built where the temple used to be but they left the Western Wall for the Jews to worship at. 

The pictures above and below are of Jaffa, an ancient port city, the oldest part of Tel Aviv, having been inhabited since 7,500 B.C.  

Views from Jaffa back to Tel Aviv.