pardon my absence

27 Luglio
Sorry about the lull in writing, but I have been occupied with my special guests, Fabio Diu and Ola from London and Aki from Japan. Fabio and Aki were classmates in my master’s program and are doing the grand tour of Italy, though separately. They were my excuse to get away from Nascondiglio for at least a few hours each night and we explored San Benedetto one night and Ascoli Piceno the next. Last night we topped it off with a bbq with sausage and fresh fish on the grill and Fabio and I watched the moon set at 0230, which is the 1st time I remember ever doing that. It is good practice for the Perseid meteor shower, which hits its peak on August 12.
What I haven’t mentioned is we have had 6 guests, 2 of whom wanted breakfast at 0700 each day. I have relearned the fine art of napping of late. Yesterday I slept in the full sun at the seaside while the other three constructed a fine fortress in the sand and today after taking Fabio and Ola to the train, I slept from 10-2.
My day then consisted of cleaning their room in preparation for our next guests and then treating the wood ceiling beams in room 6 for omnivorous insects similar to termites. I had already done room 6, so 2 down and 6 to go. I use a petroleum- based chemical which is not skin friendly and I really hope it works because this will be the last time I do this job! There are pesky little problems with 500 year old houses.
We are nearing a beautiful full moon tonight, which is visible again after the smoke from nearby dangerous forest fires has dissipated. Just like the western part of America it is very dry here and evidently this was started by an arsonist.
The z4 has been neglected as it is a car unsuited for 3 or 4, but tomorrow, but maybe Aki and I can explore the countryside a bit with the top down, tomorrow. It is really fun to drive on the curvy country roads around here! Beats the Doblo!
We stay ½ to full all of august and I am looking forward to my 50th birthday in a couple of weeks. Giorgio and Michele will be here and of course Raffaele and also Gio’s fidanzata Gaia and her cousin with his girlfriend. There is a festival of reggae at Ripatransone that night as well.
Finally, they called me from the port of Naples today to ask what I was bringing into Italy in my container so I will provide a general list. Too bad I am not a resident yet as I would have to pay only 310 euros for everything; instead I need to pay customs about a third of the value of the contents in taxes. I think everything together is worth about 5000 dollars! Ciao dalle Marche. After the last 4 days and nights, I am sure i am forgetting something, but more later! dwight