Connecting with Nature

Como, Italy

Today was amazing. It definately started off interestingly. I awoke midnight-ish because a couple guys in the room were snoring horribly. I grabbed my nearby earplugs and fell back asleep. I awoke later at around six o'clock this morning because their snoring was so loud it bothered me through the earplugs. I wanted to go back to sleep so I decided to focus on my breathing. "Breathe in acceptance, breathe out Love. Breathe in acceptance, breathe in Love." And, as I drifted off, it became, "Breathe in acceptance, breathe out Love Jumanji." That's how I fell back asleep.
I took the cable car up the mountain. At the top, the air was fresh, the view was beautiful, and there was a delicious campfire fragrance floating about. I walked for a bit to the lighthouse. I continued on for awhile, working up a sweat and enjoying it. Eventually, I noticed a small flower on the ground near the road. I decided I would use the macro feature on my camera to take a picture of it. So I kneeled down to snap the photo. As I got closer to the ground, I realized the folliage was alive with grasshoppers. I took some close-up pictures with my macro. I also observed that some of the grasshoppers were mating. So I took more pictures. Additionally, I just watched for awhile. It was very interesting because they were so comfortable procreating just out in the open, sometimes right next to another of their kind. And shortly after their legs flailed wildly, the one on bottom, presumably the female, would climb over to a bunch of leaves and proceed to eat, with the other grasshopper still clinging to its back. While I was watching one particular couple, I saw another grasshopper poop a short distance away. I hope all of this is not too graphic for anyone... it was just so fascinating I had to share. Later, I saw a bee and wanted to take a picture of it, or thirty. So I sat down on the ground and then spotted a ladybug. The bee flew away so I leaned in to shoot the ladybug, completely oblivious to the plants around me. Within moments, my arms were lined with little white bumps that stung and itched furiously. I doused my arms with some of my precious water, and shortly thereafter, it started to feel better. I experienced two other plants of the stinging, devil family, although different species, throughout the course of my photographic adventures. Later, while hiking through the forest, I broke into song, as often happens when I'm happy. No particular lyrics come to mind, but they were priceless if I can recall correctly. The sunset was exquisite. Vibrant flames of orange and red. Of course I managed to take photographs and shoot some video. I had a small meal on the mountain, followed by a conversation with an Italian man, translated by the owner of the restaurant. The Italian man shared with me his philosophy on President Bush, American wine vs. Italian wine, and also that he is a fascist. I don't know if he was joking. He also mentioned a time when he met an American man who liked very much to eat vegetable soup. I Love Italia.