Via Taranto, Apulia

unmowed, behind the fruit trees    //    Martina Franca, Taranto, Italy    //   2014

salwaterlogged

My nice and nephew, fresh out of the ocean, explored our beach house and let me photograph their adventures. The little house we rented for a few weeks is on the coast between Pulsano and Monti D'arena-bosco Caggione in Taranto, which is a quiet little area fairly devoid of tourists. It was also excellent for sea glass collecting, but more on that later.

Nonna Italiana

I met a woman on the bus from Rome to Martina Franca who couldn't have been less than 80 years old and was so enamored with my embroidery that it prompted her to chatter non-stop for hours in Italian to me knowing that I could only understand about a tenth of what she was saying. She told jokes which had punchlines I couldn't translate, held my hands emphatically, and grasped my face while saying "bella, bella" over and over. After losing two grandmother figures in the last month, this love found in the most unexpected place was nothing short of miraculous.